Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

6x8 inches

Coloured pencil on Pastelmat

This was just a little experiment to see how the coloured pencils go on the Pastelmat. I have used pastels a few times on this surface and have to say it is my absolute favourite surface for pastels. But generally, I favour coloured pencils over pastels because of the lack of dust, and so wanted to try them out. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It was possible to get quite good detail, despite the fine texture of the surface, and was also possible to get lots of layers of pencils which is something new to me, after working on the drafting film so much. My brother took the reference photo of this gorgeous kitty on his iphone at a friend's house and as soon as I saw it, I fell in love, begging him to email me a copy. It looks to me like it is probably a Maine Coon - truly beautiful cats!!!

Contemplating Mischief

Contemplating Mischief

8x11 inches

Coloured pencils and Pan Pastels on wood

More experimentation with wood, only this time I primed the wood with Clear Colourfix primer and then sanded it with very fine sanding paper. I think this surface worked slightly better with the coloured pencils than just the acrylic or wood on it's own, although next time I would probably do another coat of primer and sand it even smoother. I do prefer the smoothest surface possible. I miss the fact that you can't really scratch the colour out like you can on drafting film, but there are so many other aspects that make the wood very pleasant to work with.

The reference photo for this cutie was provided by Ainhoa pcb on Flickr and was used with her kind permission. Some of you might remember I used this image before to do a graphite drawing called Whistful.

Str-e-e-e-tch

Little Tood

8x10 inch Commissioned Portrait

Coloured pencils on Terracotta Matte Board

Even though I have enjoyed the challenge of working digitally lately, I didn't realise how much I missed by beloved coloured pencils until I started working on this portrait. It is lovely to work on something tangible and watch a blank canvas evolve before your eyes. I was a bit unsure about this portrait at first when I saw the reference photo, as the front paws loomed larger than life, but the client reassured me that he wanted it just like that. As, I got into the portrait, it was the look of sheer contentment that showed on Little Tood's face, as he enjoyed his long stretch, that struck me more than the paws in front, so hopefully this is apparent to others who view this portrait too.

1st Prize Drawing Section ASMA Awards Exhibition

A Life Well Spent

6x8 cm

Graphite pencil on drafting film

I often forget to post if I have won an award, but have just come back from collecting my prize for winning the Drawing Section of the ASMA (Australian Society of Miniature Art) National Awards Exhibition for "A Life Well Spent". I wasn't able to attend the Presentation Evening last night, as we were on our way back from Canberra, but had the opportunity to browse the exhibition this afternoon. How inspiring!!! When attending these Miniature Art Exhibitions, I am always reminded of why I fell in love with this genre of art in the first place. This was a timely prize for me also, as the prize was a boxed set of 120 Faber Castell Polychromos, and those of you familiar with my work would know that these are my favourite pencils - some of mine are only about one inch long now. Whilst there, I was happy to learn that my painting "Hush Little Mouse" had sold as well.

A Couple of Commissions

Mini

6x8 inches

Coloured pencils on drafting film

Boscoe

2.5 x 3.5 inches

Coloured pencils on drafting film

I find it quite interesting, as I was keen to try some more pet portraits in pastel, and so reduced the prices on these so that they are cheaper than the pencil pet portraits, and yet people seem to have a preference for the pencil work. It is impossible to anticipate what customers will prefer. It can be challenging to do a background when working on drafting film, and so I usually opt for no background at all. I would have thought that people would prefer a portrait with some kind of colour in the background, but actually this isn't what I've experienced. I am happy if the commissions come my way, no matter what medium, but on the laws of average, for me, coloured pencil pet portraits far outway those done in either graphite pencil, or pastel. Yet, for people portraits, graphite wins hands down.

Latest commission - Little Cat

Little Cat

8x10 inches

Pastel on Velour

Here is my latest commission. I love working on the velour paper, but had problems this time with the pastel powder falling away. I usually do the whole portrait, fix it, and then rework highlights and details, which is what I did here, then went to scan it, and a whole lot of pastel powder fell on the scanner. So I reworked it, fixed it again, and here we are. I was wondering if anyone has used Pastelmat. It is not readily available in Australia, but I have read it requires less fixing than the velour, so thought I might order some from overseas. I'd love to hear if anyone has feeback on the Pastelmat. :)

Latest 4x6 inch artwork - Santa Claws

Santa Claws

4x6 inch

Coloured pencils on drafting film

Christmas is a funny time of year. As the decorations start to appear on the shelves of all the stores, I am filled with a sudden panic at the thought of all that has to be done in the 8 weeks between now and December 25th - shopping, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, cards, the list is endless and overwhelming. But then the inner child emerges and the bright colours of Christmas, the joy of listening to much loved carols, the anticipation of the season to come takes over and I am filled with an urge to kick the season off with a Christmas OSWOA. I hope it brings out your inner child as you all face the weeks to come.

Commissioned Portrait - Poppy

Poppy

4x6 inches

Coloured pencil on drafting film

Since my last post, the illustration job I was working on has fallen through as the client guided me through some of the sample illustrations she had seen and wanted me to do similar. However, all the illustrations she had seen had been done with a computer illustration program and there is no way I could hope to achieve the same effects with coloured pencil, so we mutually agreed to end the project. As an artist who prefers to work with materials I can use with my hands, it is hard to compete sometimes with the world of technology. Hopefully, there will always be people out there who still love to see a drawing or painting created by hand. At the moment, however the commissions are coming in droves, and I must say I'm enjoying them - The joy and appreciation that comes from the clients makes it all worthwhile!!!

It never rains but it pours!!!

To all my blogger friends, please excuse my absence of blogging and commenting on your own wonderful blogs lately. After a quiet couple of months, in the last two weeks, I have been inundated with 6 requests for commissioned portraits, and a large Illustration job. These are some of the commissioned portraits - the illustration job will keep me out of mischief for the next few weeks. So, I hope you understand if I am a bit more quiet than normal. It is always wonderful to have the extra work, so I'm not complaining!!!!

Latest Commissioned Portrait - Loki

Loki

5x7 inches

Acrylics on Claybord

This is a commissioned portrait, and my first attempt at airbrushing and also using the claybord. I love the effect of airbrushing - although I know I need a lot more practice. In this case I used acrylic inks when airbrushing, but I notice they wash off quite easily, so would probably stick to watered down acrylics in future, unless anyone has some hints. The Claybord is beautiful and smooth to work on, however, the portrait has scanned badly, with all the highlights being over exaggerated (pinks and blues) and I would imagine this is due to glare. Back to the drawing board - but oh what fun it is to experiment!!!

Latest OSWOA - Whistful

Whistful

4x6 inch OSWOA (Original Small Work of Art)

Graphite and black pencil on drafting film.

This is my latest 4x6 inch artwork. I will now be offering graphite pencil commissioned portraits from my Ebay, Etsy and Artfire stores. This original is available for sale now on ebay.

Latest ACEO - Wedgewood Blue

This latest ACEO is of a beautiful cat called Guisla, and once again, it was the eyes that drew me in. This art card is available to purchase in my ebay store.

For a short time only, I am also offering 20% off the price of all pet portraits. This is for the next two weeks, before we head up the coast for a couple of weeks of holidays (yahoo!!!)

All the best to everyone:)

Oriental Beauty

This is an ACEO featuring our own gorgeous Siamese called Dipsy, who is coming up to 11 years old now. He is the most loyal pet you could ask for, waiting at the door until I come home, follows me from room to room - even sits at the door of the shower until I come out!! I adore him. This ACEO was done with Faber Castell Polychromos, Lyra Skintones and Derwent Drawing pencils on drafting film and is available for sale in my ebay store.

Latest ACEO - Amber Eyes

This latest ACEO is a part of the series that includes Sapphire Eyes, Emerald Eyes and Turquoise Eyes which highlights the diversity of colours that can be found in cat's eyes.

This ACEO is available to purchase in my ebay store.

I had a trial period starting the bidding at 99c for three ACEO's, and found whilst one of them went for a reasonable price, one sold for $5 and one for $11, and since it then feels like I am giving them away, I will revert back to starting the bidding at a higher price. Interestingly, the one that went for $5 (Angel of Peace) was rejected for publication on postage stamps by Zazzle, due to it's "pornographic or sexual content" LOL - that was certainly never my intention!!!!

So, after a disillusioning week, I have decided to strive for a little more direction with my art and try to branch into illustration work, which I know is extrememly hard to break into, so fingers crossed. Hopefully with perseverence, hard work and a lot of patience, some doors might eventually open.

Latest ACEO - Shabby Chic Cat

I seem to have the artistic equivalent to writer's block at the moment. Sometimes I can't get to sleep at night with all the ideas flowing through my head, but at the moment, it is kind of the opposite, where I feel like I have come to a dead end. Hopefully this is just a phase and the creative juices will start flowing again soon. I am interested to know if other artists have the same blank phases, and how they become inspired again. Thankfully, this little ginger cat caught my eye, and I couldn't resist drawing him. He is available for sale in my ebay store.

ACEO Tutorial - coloured pencil on drafting film

This beautiful Bengal kitten is the subject of a tutorial on using coloured pencils on drafting film, a medium that has become my absolute favourite for the smoothness that the film gives to pencil work. The reference photo used in this artwork was a gorgeous photo taken by Sean Mcgrath (Flickr creative commons) and was used with his kind permssion. To view the full tutorial visit the Tutorial page of my website http://www.miniatureartbykhull.com/tutorial_19.html.

I would like to add more tutorials to the website and am interested if anyone has specific questions about miniature art, ACEO's, coloured pencil on film, or any or the other mediums that I use in miniature art.