Tuesday 30 August 2016

Pastel painting on Velour pastel paper

I painted this handsome little fellow as an anniversary present for my friends'. We often look after Buster who is very special to us as he used to be wary of people and other dogs until he started staying with us and our six pack lol. My friends were over the moon with their gift and as luck would have it already had a convenient space on their wall to hang it.
Thank you for visiting today.

Sunday 21 August 2016

Sunset flight

Today's pastel painting was inspired by a beautuful photograph taken by one of my talented photographer friends.
I used Inscribe pastels on Hanhemuhle Velour Pastel paper and am really pleased with the vibrancy of the colours. 

Inspiration taken from this photograph

Thank you for visiting and I hope you like my artwork.

Saturday 20 August 2016

Latest artwork

Kingfisher in Coloured Pencil.
I used Faber Castell Polychromos and Spectrum Noir Primaries on Windsor and Newton Bristol Board Ultra Smooth paper.

I am trying out different qualities and textures of paper at the moment and must say I love the smoothness of this one. The pencils just glide across it and blend beautifully. 

This Maine Coone was created using a magnificent photograph by Robert Sijka in Derwent and Daler Rowney pastel pencils on Hanhemuhle Velour Pastel paper, yet again it is a texture I was trying for the first time and I LOVE IT!

Here are the links to the reference photos I used 

Thank you for visiting today

Sunday 14 August 2016

Pippa in Pastel Pencil

This is a pastel pencil painting of a delightful little dog that we often look after. She is a Cavaschon ( Cavalier King Charles/ Bischon Frise). She and her owner have now moved away but we hope to still see her from time to time.  So as a memory for my husband, and at his request, I painted her portrait. Which I hope you like.

This is the reference photograph I used.
Thank you for visiting

Saturday 6 August 2016

Pastel pencil painting of Bam Bam and a very brief outline of my art journey


This is a pastel pencil painting of my friend's cat, Bam Bam. I painted it as a surprise for her, which fortunately she was delighted with.  Although I started painting about 20 years ago,  my art journey has not been a very long one. By that I mean I haven't consistently been painting all that time. I consider it more dabbling in art. I preferred cardmaking,  enjoying die cutting,  stamping,  embossing,  iris folding, etc. etc.  However having started watching Lindsey Weirich 'The Frugal Crafter' on youtube,  my interest in painting began to emerge. So I dusted off my watercolour paints, pastels and acylics,  purchased some new supplies (of course) and got stuck in. 
I watched several art videos on YouTube after that, looking at different techniques and this is how I truly learned to paint. People say I am talented but this is a talent I never really knew I had. This pastel painting has proven to me that I can actually paint.  So my advice to anyone is, you can do it, just have a go, watch other people and copy how they do it. After all, from a baby we have learned by copying, so why stop? 
 For inspiration why not visit Patrick Ley Greaves' website at http://www.purewatercolour.com,  There are some excellent tutorials, members' galleries and forums offering advice and tons of inspiration.



This is the photograph of Bam Bam  which I used for my painting.