Happy Christmas to all and a couple of artworks

 Fatso

8x10 inches

Coloured pencil and Gouache on watercolour paper

 

The Hidden Garden

8x10 inches

Watercoloured pencils, regular coloured pencil and Faber Castell pitt pens on Pastelbord

 

It's been quite a long time between blogs and most of the artworks I've been working on lately have been commissions for Christmas so can't be posted for a couple more weeks.

 

I have an article in the latest copy of Australian Artist entitled You Can Draw on Absolutely Anything which discusses just some of the many surfaces you can use with coloured pencils. You can see my High Tea pictured on the cover of the latest issue.

 

Fatso is a gift for my Sister-in-Law who was devastated when Fatso passed away unexpectedly last month and this was one of the last photos taken of him.

 

The Hidden Garden was done just for fun to try out some different combinations of media. It didn't work out quite the way I had planned but it was nice to try out different subject matter and materials.

 

Hopefully I can get back into some regular blogging over the next couple of months.

 

Wishing all of you a truly wonderful Christmas and a really happy year in 2013 :)

Goddess of the Sea - Trying out a new surface

Goddess of the Sea

8 1/2 x 11 inches

Acrylics and Coloured Pencil on Wood

As many of you may know, I love trying out new surfaces and experimenting. One of the things I hate most in preparing for exhibitions is the framing process. I stumbled upon a small stack of pine bread boards in a clearance sale the other day, and thought I would use them to try out a different surface, with the idea of possibly hanging them in exhibitions with no frame at all, but just as they are. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the wood accepted the coloured pencils (the softer ones such as the Derwent Coloursoft were more receptive than the harder Polychromos that I usually prefer), particularly on the face where I had done a very light undercoat with white acrylic.

I know there will be some exhibitions, where this type of presentation would not be accepted, but still thought it was worth a try. I was reading about an American artist (I can't recall his name) who draws on wood, then applies two coats of fixative, followed by three coats of gloss varnish.

The other thought I had was that clients might like their commissioned portraits done in this way, which means they don't have to worry about getting their portraits framed, and offers quite a unique gift. Watch this space :)