Pet Portrait Completed

I have now finished Harley, the Boxer's coloured pencil pet portrait. Here he is:

Pet Portrait Update

Here is the latest stage on my current pet portrait of Harley:

New Pet Portrait started

I have just recently started a new Pet Portrait, a coloured pencil portrait of a Boxer. I love drawing Boxers, they have such expressive faces! Here is Harley:

Pet Portrait completed

I have finished Maddy's pet portrait today. It is in coloured pencil and is 5" x 7". Here she is:

Pet Portrait Update

Here is the latest update from one of my current Pet Portraits. It is a 5" x 7" coloured pencil portrait of the very cute Maddy:

A new Pet Portrait

Here is the first stage of my latest Pet Portrait, a coloured pencil portrait of a very cute Jack Russel named Maddy. As you can see I have just done the outline so far, but will start working on the colour on Wednesday:

ACEO - Golden Retriever

As I can't show you my current commision, I thought I would add a photograph of an ACEO I painted today of a Golden Retriever Puppy. I think i've probably said on here before about doing a series of popular dog breeds, and I have decided to do them ACEO sized and I can use them on greetings cards and maybe keyrings. I did think about doing some ACEOs and selling them, however I feel I will get more long term gain by using them on the cards and maybe as ACEO prints that selling the originals. Here is the puppy:

Original Art for sale

I have just listed an original Coloured Pencil painting of a Yorkshire Terrier For Sale on ebay. It is a 5" x 7" painting that I did a couple of years ago as a sample for a project that never happened, so I thought I may as well sell it as it wasn't doing anything just sitting around! Here it is

The auction is here: Yorkshire Terrier Painting on Ebay

I have also just recently started on a new graphite pencil pet portrait, this time of a pony. It is a surprise gift, however so I can't show the progress on here. I will be able to show you in August.

I also have some reference photographs ready for some ACEOs, so there should be some more art to show you soon.

Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus

Arillus has had another update on my latest coloured pencil pet portrait. I have added some of his chest fur to bring him in line with Pebbles & Pickles. Here is the portrait currently:

Arillus:

Pickles:

Pebbles:

Pet Portrait completed - Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus

I have finally completed the coloured pencil pet portrait of Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus. It is 12" x 16" and was quite a challenge, particularly Arillus. He was the first white dog i've ever drawn in coloured pencil and on white paper! Here it is:

A close up of the finished Arillus, completed today

And all together, (L-R) Pebbles, Arillus & Pickles.

Pet Portrait changes

The main reason I put the work in progress of my portraits up on my blog is so my clients can watch how their pet portrait is progressing and so they can ask for any changes as early on in the portrait's development as possible. This is because it is easier to make changes at the earlier stages.

The owner of Pickles, the Boxer I am currently painting in coloured pencil asked me to change one of her eyes to make it brighter. I thought I would put up the before and after photographs of the changes.


Pickles' eyes before:

And after I lightened up her left eye (as we look at it):

And an overall shot of her whole portrait:

Pet Portrait update

Today, I have been working on my current coloured pencil pet portrait of Pickles, Pebbles and Arillus. Pickles is now finished:


And I have done some more on Arillus:

Pet portrait update

I have done some more work on my ongoing coloured pencil portrait of Pickles, Pebbles & Arillus. I have been working on Pickles today, she is now nearly finished:

Portrait update

I have been working some more on my group pencil pet portrait today, as well as a new graphite portrait. Here are some photos from the group portrait of Pickles, Pebbles and Arillus. I have finished Pebbles off today. I love it how a portrait comes alive when I add the eyes and Pebbles' portrait did that today!!


Finished Pebbles:
The group:

And Arillus close up:

Pet Portrait update - Arillus started

I have started on Arillus today, the Westie in the coloured pencil portrait with the two Boxers. I have done his eyes and a quick start on some of his fur, just to create a base to work on showing the general highlights and shadows in the fur. Here it is so far:


A close up of Arillus:

Pet Portrait update

Today I have some updates on Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus' coloured pencil pet portrait, as promised yesterday. Pebbles is nearly completed now and Pickles is also coming on well. Here it is so far:


A close up of Pebbles:

A close up of Pebbles:

Pickles, Pebbles & Arillus - update

Here is another update on Pebbles, Pickles & Arillus. This portrait is taking longer than I thought it would due to the detail required with the coloured pencils. I was hoping to have it completed before we moved but obviously this isn't going to happen, but it will be completed by the end of January. Here it is so far:

And a close up of Pebbles:

Pet Portrait Update

Here is the latest update from my pet portrait of Pickles, Pebbles & Arillus. I have done some more work on Pickles and started on Pebbles' portrait. Here it is so far:


A close up of Pickles:

And a close up of Pebbles:

Pet Portrait update

Here is an update from my current portrait of Pickles, Arillus & Pebbles. This is the lovely Pickles, who I am concentrating on at the moment:

Completed Pet Portrait

Today I have completed Bertie's pet portrait. It is an 8" x 10" coloured pencil pet portrait. I have enjoyed this one because it is a bit different, as it isn't the standard portrait pose that I normally draw.

Work in progress - Bertie

I have been working on Bertie's pet portrait today. The hardest thing about coloured pencil portraits is getting the colours correct, especially with coloured pencil, as they can't be mixed like paints can. The colours have to be built up with layers of different colours and you have to be careful not to make the colours 'muddy' and eventually with coloured pencil you can get to the stage when no more colour can be put down. It took me a while to get Bertie's colouring correct, but I think i've got there now. Here he is, it's going to be such a cute portrait...

New Pet Portrait - Bertie

I have recently started a new pet portrait of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. It is a 8" x 10" portrait and is going to be in coloured pencil. It is a bit different to all of my portraits so far because the dog Bertie) is asleep. It's a really cute photo though and I think will make a really nice portrait and lovely for being a bit different. So far I have just done the outline. It is on white paper, I had to darken it show the outline clearly:

Pet Portrait update - Pickles

Here is an update on the coloured pencil portrait of Pickles, Pebbles & Arillus. I'm currently working on Pickles, so here is the current update on her:

New Pet Portrait

I have recently started a new pet portrait. It is a 12" x 16" coloured pencil portrait of two Boxers, Pickles & Pebbles and a West Highland Terrier, Arillus. So far I have just completed the outlines of the three:

Pet Portrait finished - Taylor

I have finally finished Taylor's pet portrait after having been working on it for an embarrasingly long time. Here it is!

Pet portraits in progress - Tiny and Taylor

I have two pet portraits to post work in progress updates on, so thought I may as well blog them together.


The first is Tiny. This is a graphite 12" x 16" portrait. It is only a small update, but there will be more to see after the weekend:

The second is Taylor. This coloured pencil portrait is really coming on now and the next scan is likely to be the final one. Here is today's progress:

Portrait in progress - Taylor

I have recently been working on Taylor's portrait. This 8" x 10" coloured pencil pet portrait is now nearing completion. Here is the latest update:

Pet Portrait completed

Here it is, Shadow's completed Pet Portrait....

Pet Portrait update - Shadow

Here is another small update on Shadow's pet portrait.

I am also currently working on a commission of a Pomeranian that is being completed for a Birthday gift. I am unable to show you the progress, but the pet portrait will be completed soon, so I will add it here as soon as I can.

WIP - Shadow's portrait

Here is the latest scan of Shadow's pet portrait....

work in progess update

I have been working on Shadow's pet portrait today. This coloured pencil portrait will be finished by the end of June. Here are a couple of work in progress images:

Pet Portrait update - Shadow

Here is another update of Shadow's pet portrait...

Pet Portrait update

Here is an update on one of the current pet portraits I am working on. This is Shadow and it is a 12" x 16" coloured pencil portrait.

Work in progress update - Taylor

Here is another update on my current coloured pencil portrait of Taylor:

I have continued working on this today in a slightly different way than I normally do. I normally work in sections, completely finishing one area before moving on to another. However, with all the complex shading in Taylor's fur I was finding myself overlapping sections and trying to do detailed parts before working on the intial layers that have to go down first.

So I have marked a basic outline of the darker areas of Taylor's coat, so I can build on these areas, making some parts darker and belnding them into the highlighted areas to build up the depth of the coat.

Pet Portrait update

Here is an update on the current pet portrait i'm working on. Taylor.....

Pet portrait update - Shadow

Here is an update on Shadow's pet portrait that I started way back last month. It is in coloured pencil and is 12" x 16".

Work in progress - Taylor

I have been working on Taylor's portrait today. Taylor is a little Terrier cross and is having a 10" x 12" coloured pencil portrait.

Shadow - new pet portrait

I have started a new coloured pencil pet portrait today. This is Shadow who is a Staffy cross Collie. The pet portrait is 12" x 16".

Chacho update

I have done some more work on Chacho this afternoon due to his owner advising there was actually more colour on his face and the original photographs had been slightly over-exposed. I have now been given some photographs taken in natural light. Here he is now:

Chacho - pet portrait completed

I have finished Chacho's pet portrait today. It is in coloured pencil and is 10" x 12". Here it is:

Coloured pencil portrait

Here is a scan of one of the pet portraits I am currently working on. It's a 10" x 12" coloured pencil pet portrait of a corgi / collie cross called Chacho.


It's been fun getting back to the coloured pencils as most of my recent commissions have been in graphite and Chacho has such gorgeous colouring. I've also recently purchased some new coloursoft pencils in different colours so I now have the full range of browns and golds which I think helps create richer colours rather than gaving to mix them, which sometimes makes them a bit 'muddy'.

Pet portrait update - Taylor

I started Taylor's Pet Portrait some time ago and have done some more work on it today. It is in coloured pencil and is 10" x 12".

New pet portrait started

I also started work on a second pet portrait today. I like to work on a couple of portraits at a time and this one is of Taylor, a little Terrier cross. His portrait is 10" x 12" and is coloured pencil. I have just done the outline so far and had to darken the photograph a lot to show the pencil marks. The paper is actually off-white all over!!

Cat ACEO's for sale

I have completed a second cat's eyes ACEO today and have put it, along with the one I did ages ago, on ebay today. It's of a black cat this time and is in coloured pencil. Both are up with a starting price of £14.99. Here's a reminder of the first one I did:

And here's the black cat I completed today:

Here are the ebay links:

• Cat's eyes ACEO #1
• Black Cat's eyes ACEO #2

Rat picture finished

Here is the final scan of the picture I have drawn for the rat craft swap. It is going to be mounted and framed in a 12" x 16" frame, with a title cut into the bottom mount. It is in coloured pencil.

Rat Pile update

Here is another update on my ratty drawing "rat pile". I've done two out of the seven rats and I need to get it finished tommorow!

Rat craft swap

I'm working at the moment on a piece of artwork for a rat-themed craft swap, which has been organised through the rat forum i'm a member of. It's meant to be a secret, but I can't imagine anyone from the forum looking here. I'm calling it "rat pile" and it's going to be in coloured pencil and is a drawing of seven rats all snuggled up together. Each one is going to be a different colour. It's not really on pink paper, I had to lighten it up to show the lines and the colour's gone a bit odd. Anyway - here it is:

Dylan's Pet Portrait finished!

I have finished Dylan's Pet Portrait today. It is on 12" x 16" Italian Fabriano paper and is in Coloured Pencil. Here it is:

Pet Portrait work in progress

Here is another update on Dylan's coloured pencil pet portrait.

Latest Pet Portrait

As promised, here is Dylan's pet portrait so far. I'm enjoying doing this one. I like drawing black dogs, either in colour or graphite pencil. There's just such a brilliant range of tones available.

Cavalier Spaniel Finished

I have today finished Jobi's pet portrait. It is 12" x 16" in coloured pencil on heavyweight cartridge paper. Here it is:

I have also been working on the coloured pencil pet portrait of Dylan, the Labrador cross Springer. I will upload the scan later for you to see.

Cavalier Spaniel nearly finished

I have completed Jobi, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel's second ear today. His pet portrait is now nearly finished. Here it is today:

New Pet Portrait started

I started my latest pet portrait commission today - a coloured pencil drawing of a Springer Spaniel cross Labrador called Dylan. I have just drawn the outline so far, but will have more to show by the weekend. I have had to darken up the scan so you can see the outline, the paper is actually white!

Yorkshire Terrier

This Yorkshire Terrier is a coloured pencil drawing I have produced as a sample for a potentially exciting project. Unfortunately I can't say any more than that, but here is the drawing:

Pet Portrait update

I have done a little more on Jobi's coloured pencil pet portrait today. I am waiting for a new black pencil to arrive - mine is about 2" long! - and then tommorrow, I can finish off his ears. Here he is so far:

Coloured Pencil portrait update - Jobi

I have been working on Jobi's pet portrait again today. I have used a pale blue and lavender coloured pencils to create a base layer for the black, then used indigo to depict the shadow areas on his ears. This blue 'underpainting' will create a base for the black to be layered onto and will help create depth as well as shining through in the highlighted areas.

Pet Portrait update - Jobi

Yes, i'm back. Don't worry, I didn't fall in a black hole - i've been doing loads of extra hours at work, I practically worked full time last week and have been so tired.

But today i'm back to my usual hours and back to the Pet Portraits. I did some work on the coloured pencil portrait of Jobi, the cavalier King Charles Spaniel today. Here he is so far:


Jobi's portrait is due to be finished the end of next week, then I have another commission to do that is a surprise for a Birthday in October and I have another Greyhound portrait to do, which is another charity gift voucher to raise money for Greyhound rescue. I am waiting for photographs from the winner of the voucher and I will be able to show you the progress here on the blog.

Cat's eyes ACEO

I haven't worked on any pet portraits today as I ended up having to go back to work to cover someone off sick. However, I have my latest ACEO to show you. I did this one yesterday evening and it's the first of a series i'm going to do of close-ups of eyes. I love drawing eyes so this seemed a perfect way to take advantage of my favourite part of the anatomy. I haven't done any for ages as i've been busy with commissions, but they have slowed down now so it seemed a good idea to fit some in in this quiet time. Anyway, here is the ACEO, called 'windows to the soul #1: Cat's eyes'.

It's in coloured pencil and is the standard ACEO size of 3.5" x 2.5". The original artwork is currently for sale for £14.99. It comes is a plastic toploader and is initialed on the front and signed, dated and titled on the back.

Completed Pet Portrait

I have finished Harry's portrait today. It is 8" x 10" and in coloured pencil. Here it is:

Pet Portrait update

Today it has been the turn of Harry, the Brittany Spaniel, to have his pet portrait updated. I have done his eyes and nose and will get it finished by the end of the week. Here it is so far:

Coloured pencil pet portrait

Here is the latest update on a coloured pencil pet portrait of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Jobi. His portrait is 12" x 16".

Pet Portrait update

Here is another update on Harry's pet portrait:

Brittany Spaniel update

Today I have been working on Harry's pet portrait. He is a Brittany Spaniel and is having a coloured pencil portrait. Here is the latest update:

New Pet Portrait started

I started my latest commission today - a 12" x 16" coloured pencil pet portrait of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. So far I have only done the outline, but here it is:

Brittany Spaniel Portrait

Today I have been working on the coloured pencil pet portrait of Harry, the Brittany Spaniel. I had a bit of trouble getting started with this one and started it 3 times, but I am now pleased with how it's progressing. Here it is so far:

Filing and Gallery updates

This morning I had a tidy up. I had loads of order forms, reference photos and proof of postage receipts lying around, so I got everything organised today. All my completed commissions filed with copies of invoice, order form, reference photos and proof of postage. All my reference photos I have on my 'to do' list which are purely for my portfolio and not as commissions have been filed away and any original artwork I had has been filed too, not left lying around in my art pads. I also found two graphite drawings that I started last year, just for fun, which I am planning on getting finished, one is a Newfoundland, the other a Bengal cat. I am going to do those alongside the two coloured pencil portraits I have as commissions, as I tend to get frustrated with the speed of coloured pencil so it's good to work on a graphite portrait at the same time as they grow a bit quicker! I think I can also use them for the Pet Portrait Diploma course which is useful.

This afternoon, still in tidy up mode, I added three new Pet Portraits to my galleries - Rosie, Winney and the 3 Springer Spaniels. Here are the two galleries if you want a look:

Graphite Dogs Gallery
Coloured Pencil Dogs Gallery

Coloured Pencil Pet Portrait in progress

I managed to get some more done yesterday on Harry, the Brittany Spaniel's Pet Portrait. I am a lot happier with this attempt. Here are two work in progress pictures:

Rosie is finished!

I finished the coloured pencil pet portrait of Rosie the Greyhound today. Here she is:

Another Greyhound Update

Another update on Rosie, the Greyhound in coloured pencil. Her head is now finished and i've done her collar and tags. Here she is:

Greyhound work in progress

Today I have done quite a bit more on Rosie, the Greyhound, my current work in progress. Here she is so far:

Coloured pencil Greyhound update

Well now I have finished and posted my graphite Horse portrait, I am going back to the other Pet Portraits on my waiting list. Today I did a little more of Rosie, the Greyhound, who I am drawing in coloured pencil. It's just a small update, but there will be more to see tommorrow. Here it is so far:

Pet Portraits in progress

Today I have been working on three different Pet Portraits. I have added the first layer of 'underpainting' on the coloured pencil portrait of Rosie, the Greyhound. Here it so far:

I have also started two new Pet Portraits, one is a horse portrait, that I only received a few days ago and needs to be completed by 14th May! I'm not sure yet if I can put that one on here though, as it's for a Birthday.

The other one is an 8" x 10" graphite portrait of a beautiful little Westie, called Jack. Here is the initial sketch:

Drawing grass in coloured pencil

I have been asked today for some advice on drawing grass from someone who saw my Pet Portrait of Strath. It was really nice to be singled out specifically for advice and made me feel all pleased with myself lol! In response I added some of my photos i'd taken of the work in progress and did a demo on the pet portrait forum i'm an administrator of. I thought i'd add it here too, in case it might be of interest to anyone else.

First of all I did about 4 layers of 'underpainting' alternating between layers of 'green' and 'light green' to get the depth of colour.


Even though it was underpainting I still did my strokes in the correct direction and kept them short. By using the different colours it started to create the illusion of light and shadow on the blades of grass:


I then used 'Indigo' over all the grass except for the very light areas. At this stage i'm drawing individual blades of grass. Because grass doesn't all point in the same direction, I drew the 'blades' quite randomly, overlapping each other and different lengths. I also dotted the blades around so I didn't end up drawing blades of grass in rows, I sort of drew clumps. After the indigo I went over the whole lot quite lightly, like a wash, with 'blue' which sort of created a burnishing effect and dulled down the really bright green:


Lastly I used 'black' for the shadow areas. I did the black like I did the indigo - random clumps of individual strokes of grass. In the shadow areas like underneath the front legs in this pic I drew my strokes downwards, leaving gaps, which created the illusion of highlighted blades in the shadows. Beacuse it's in coloured pencil I had to plan ahead and leave gaps for where the grass would overlap the body:

Golden Retriever take 2

I had another go at the Golden Retriever and am pleased with this second attempt. I've made the eyes and nose bigger and blended the colours a bit more. I also really like the expression - I think it's captured the 'smiley' look of a Golden Retriever. It's on Bristol Board paper which is very smooth and creates a lovely effect when I burnish the coloured pencils.

Golden Retriever - something different

I have been working on something a bit different today - I have been thinking for a while about trying a new style of drawing - something a bit cartoon-like and simple and quicker to do. Not instead of my detailed stuff, just as an extra - probably for the ACEO's so I had a try out today on a Golden Retriever picture:

It's only small, just over 4" x 3" and drawn with coloured pencil and a fine pen. I like the outline and I think it's recognisable but the eyes aren't level and both the eyes and the nose are too small, but other than that i'm reasonably pleased with it. By making the eyes and nose bigger I think this will add to the cartoon-like style as well. This time I drew the outline last, but ended up with some pencil lines showing so next time I will draw the pen outline before doing the colour. Watch this space for some more....

Great Dane Pet Portrait finished

Firstly, apologies for not posting for over 10 days - I haven't been that lax with my blog since before Christmas when I had Christmas commissions to do. No real excuse this time - except for overtime at work and moving furniture round at home.

But anyway - here's what you've all been waiting for - the finished Pet Portrait of Strath:

And I was playing around taking some close-up photographs and this one was one of my favourites:

A million blades of grass!

Well ok, a million might be an exageration, but that's how many it feels like i've drawn on Strath's portrait today! And i've only done the background grass. It has taken ages to do the grass - it's a large area and there's a minimum of 4 layers of coloured pencil on the brighter areas, and about 7 on the dark shadowed areas. I don't have a picture but will take one tommorrow, when hopefully I will have finished the background foliage and will only have the foreground grass to go.

Tortoiseshell cat in coloured pencil

Today I finished the drawing of Motley, our Tortoiseshell cat that I was drawing in coloured pencil. I have mounted it and framed it today as well, and it is all ready to go in the post for Mum to open on Mother's Day. Here is the finished portrait:

And here is a photograph of it mounted and framed. There are a few reflections as I had to take the photo in the conservatory to get enough light, but it gives an idea of the completed present. It's nice to get a photograph of one of my Pet Portraits framed as I just post them out unmounted and unframed so don't get an opportunity to see my artwork 'finished'.

Tortoiseshell cat update

I have spent this afternoon working on my Tortoiseshell cat in coloured pencil, which you may remember is Motley, our old family cat, who I am drawing for my mum's Mother's Day present.

As you can see it's nearly finished and I am really quite please with it. It's about 5" x 7", leaving a border round the edge so I can mount and frame it. This has taken me about 5 hours so far.



And just a completely pointless note - this is my 100th blog post! This is obviously nothing compared to some blogs, but it seems quite a large amount to me. Here's to another 100...

Tortoiseshell cat in coloured pencil

I started a new project today, the Mother's Day present I mentioned before. It's a coloured pencil drawing of our old cat Motley for my Mum. Mum and Dad got Motley before me and my Sister were born, so we grew up with her, she was a gorgeous friendly cat. Sadly she had to be put to sleep about 12 years ago. I remember going with Mum to the vets and sitting in the reception crying my eyes out. I thought I would do a drawing of her for my Mum as I wanted to give her a really special present that will mean something personal to her.

I have drawn Motley in coloured pencil, because of her gorgeous tortoiseshell colouring I just couldn't draw her in black and white. Here she is so far:

Great Dane background

Here is the latest update on the pet portrait of Strath, the Great Dane in coloured pencil. I have drawn out the background and put in the 'underpainting' layer of coloured pencil. This is just a base layer for the darker colours to go on top of, so it's very sketchy at the moment. I will start working on some of the detail tomorrow, but for now, here is so far:

Great Dane work in progress

I have another update on Strath, the Great Dane in coloured pencil. I am hoping to have him finished over the next few days and to have started on the background by the end of the week.



Here is the portrait so far:


And here is a close up of the recently completed section:

Great Dane Update

Here is another update on Strath, the Great Dane in coloured pencil:


Strath's Pet Portrait is one of the ones currently on my website under work in progress, so you can also follow the progress of his portrait there.

Coloured Pencil Great Dane update

This afternoon I have been working on the coloured pencil portrait of Strath, the Great Dane. So far I have put down a base layer of Peach and started on the detail on his head. I have done his eyes. I often do the eyes first as they tend to be one of the darker areas so they give me a reference to help me build up the other colours. Here is a full body image

And a close up of the head detail