A Couple of Commissions - Archie & Maisie

Maisie

8x10 inches

Graphite and Coloured Pencil on Bristol Board

Archie

8x10 inches

Graphite and Coloured Pencil on Bristol Board

For a while I thought I would readvertise the graphite portraits I used to offer as they are definitely the portraits I get asked to do most often. I see so many other artists doing amazing portraits using the graphite, but for me it is a struggle. I miss the strong contrasts that I find so easy to achieve with CP's. No matter how dark I go with the graphite, or even when I try charcoal, or some of some of the other mediums that complement graphite, I'm never a hundred percent happy with the result. These two lovely little dogs were wonderful to draw, and their 'Mum' seems very happy with her portraits, but for me it helped to clarify that I need to work with the mediums I like the best, and that is coloured pencils.

Last Entry and Last Tutorial for 2010 - Selective Colouring Graphite Portraits

Without a doubt, the most popular of my commissioned portraits have been the graphite portraits with selective colouring, in particular for the eyes. In this latest tutorial, I show with progressive scans how to combine your graphite and coloured pencils on drafting film for a realistic portrait with a bit more oomph. This was one of my earlier selective colouring portraits and I would probably use different techniques today to achieve a smoother skin tone. I discuss this all in the tutorial - the actual techniques used here, and what could have been done to give a softer result. Once again, I must thank Juno Kughler Carlson for sharing her beautiful reference photos!!

Finally, thankyou to everyone who has taken the time to view my blog. It is a humbling experience to find that anyone might be interested in my art and creative journey and all the support and wonderful comments mean more than you can know; and they also spur me on to try to improve and develop as an artist and as a person. I wish you all a very safe and Happy New Year and may 2011 bring each one of you much success and happiness!!!

Commissioned Portrait - Father and Son

Father and Son

8x10 inch Commissioned Portrait

Graphite pencil with a hint of colour on drafting film

Most of the commissions I do are either for babies or pets so it was lovely to do one that included a man as well - men are so interesing to draw with all the textures and shading in their skin, so this was a particularly enjoyable commission. I also loved trying to capture the wonderful look of pride and love as this father looks down at his little son.

Step by Step Tutorial in Fine Art & Decorative Painting Magazine

I get so many emails from other artists asking me what my techniques are for working on drafting film, which makes me realise the hunger artists have to learn about different techniques and mediums. I have had a welcome break from commissions in the last week and have spent the time putting together a couple of submissions. The first one is a step by step tutorial on doing a Graphite Pencil Portrait of an Infant (some of you may remember this was a portrait I did of my nephew) and this submission has been accepted by Fine Art & Decorative Painting, an educational art magazine that comes out monthly. It is published in Australia, but has world wide distribution. This article should be published some time in the next couple of months, so if anyone is interested in knowing when it becomes available, I will keep you posted.

The second submission is a more extensive one for North Light Books. In the past, they have expressed some reservations about a book with drafting film as the main support, but I decided it was worth a shot anyway. That submission was sent off today, and I will let you know how it goes. At some point, I know I will find a publisher, but it just takes some persistence and a lot of patience.

Latest commission - Burton

Burton

8x10 inch

Graphite and Black pencil on drafting film

One of the challenges I face by accepting orders for commissions over the internet, is that I don't have the luxury of seeing the subject in person, or taking my own reference photos. I can't emphasize enough to my customers the importance of having high resolution, quality reference photos in order to produce a quality portrait. But more often than not, the client only has low resolution, fair quality photos and for a variety of reasons cannot access any better quality images. I never knock back doing a commission, but definitely find the process more stressful when working with a lesser quality reference photo as it is difficult to know how much you can deviate from the photo with the aim of producing a more pleasing portrait, but possibly run the risk that you have changed the essence and character of the person or pet you are trying to draw. Which brings me to Burton. In this instance, the reference photo was a high resolution, quality photo and Burton was an absolute joy to draw. Because he was such a joy to draw, I have taken progress scans throughout the process, if anyone is interested in me posting them - it is late here now and time for bed, so there isn't time to post them now. Have a wonderful day!! :)

Happy Christmas to all my internet friends & a reflection on 2009

Kaja

8x10 inch

Graphite and coloured pencil on drafting film

What an amazing year 2009 has been!!!! I have been doing commissions right up until yesterday morning, but have decided to take a three day break to spend some quality time with family. Many of my customers requested that I wait until after Christmas, before posting their portraits on my website or blog. This time last year, I was flat out with my nursing career, feeling very stressed and quite disillussioned, and spent every spare minute on my art. This year has been such a journey of self discovery. I had no idea when making the decision to leave nursing whether art would provide me with a sustainable income, or whether I could find a sense of purpose and fulfillment from something which up until then was purely done for enjoyment. There is always a risk, when taking a hobby and turning it into a business, that some of the enjoyment disappears. I must admit it has been a year of ups and downs, where too many times I have been filled with self doubt. My wonderful, supportive husband and the fabulous friends I have made through various internet sites, especially through blogging, are the two treasures that have lifted my spirits whenever I feel lost. We come to the end of 2009, and I feel such a sense of peace and purpose. The commissions are coming hard and fast (I have 5 due in the New Year), and whilst this means there isn't a lot of time for being truly arty and creative, I think my current need was more to find a purpose from the art, and there will be time down the track for really exploring my own creativity. For now, I am thrilled to bring joy to others through commissions, and my other big goal is to write a book down the track on drawing photo realistic drawings on drafting film. I would like to take this opportunity for thanking all of you who have supported me and encouraged me throughout the year. You have no idea how much this has helped to lift my spirits on those days when despondency sets in.

Wishing all of you the most wonderful, magical Christmas and lets hope 2010 brings success and happiness to you all!!!!

Latest Commissions - Ashton

Ashton

8x10 inches

Graphite and black pencil on drafting film

Still going on Commissions, and in between commissions, I have been so inspired by Barbara A Freemans fascinating description about silverpoint, and have been experimenting with that, so will post a WIP once the commissions slow down a bit. A huge thank you to Barbara for sharing her knowledge and journey in working with silverpoint - please visit her blog if you are interested in this medium.