Pet Portraits by Melanie Phillips\’Portraits Work in Progress\’

Hi everyone!

I had already started to add the work in progress to this portrait on my blog (probably scroll waay down to see it) but I thought I would gather the painting stages all together for this pet portrait for you to see as one set. You can view a closer version of the final scan of the pet portrait at this link - http://pet-portraitartist.blogspot.com/2008/04/final-scan-of-rottie-pet-portrait.html

This dog painting was created in oils on canvas to the size of 10 x 8 and was really lovely to paint. I really enjoy painting the smaller portraits, im not too sure why, often I think they seem less daunting. I am just in the process of a 4 dog pet portrait and although its a massive task, each dog on the page is relatively small, compared on one huge head on a large size, so im really enjoying this one. I will start to add the stages soon, although its already on my website work in progress. This portraits progress will need to be staggered in different posts as i fear there will be many many stages to it! Its going to take me quite a while.

Things have been busy in the studio these last few days. The proofs for my fairy book are complete, i have created some amendments for them and now its off to the designer and i get to see the final colour proofs in June which i am really looking forward to. The background to each page and the fonts will all be set out properly at that stage so its going to be great. I may even by then, be able to give you a sneak preview of it!

We are also trying to get organised here as well as we are going away on our hols soon, so im trying to write list upon list of things to do before we go so i don’t forget anything or to do things for anyone!

I hope you enjoy this painting and i will be back asap with the next!

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I have just added the final scan to my showcase blog, if you click on it as usual, you can see a larger version! Enjoy!

http://pet-portraitartist.blogspot.com/2008/04/final-scan-of-corgi-pet-portrait.html

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Hi Everyone,

Here as promised is my newest pet portrait off the easel, scanned with my new scanner so i no longer have ugly lines down the sides of each scan. Its fantastic, i have a cannon now and you can lay the canvas right on the glass, as one side doesn’t have a lip, which is really useful for 16 x 12 and below sizes as it fits snugly in there. You can see a final scan of the portrait if you visit my showcase blog as im just about to put it there. It gives a really nice clear sharp scan.

The steps below show the process i took on this portrait, i enjoyed this one as i love the earthy/ochre tones of corgies, and they have such beautiful eyes. This was a painted on stretched canvas to the size of 12 x 10 in oils.

Im just finishing a little rottie and i will show the progress of that too. i think i have already added the first couple of stages but ill add them again so everyone can see them together. Then im starting a 4 dog portrait - eeek!

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Hi All,

If anyone was to believe the weather reporters we would all have had snow in the UK today, possibly tomorrow as well, however the sun has been shining all day long! We haven’t had a drop of snow this year! So apart from taking a walk this morning, i have been in the studio today finishing off the final touches to the corgi pet portrait and also creating the amendments i needed to do the the coloured pencil course for the LAC. I have been wanting to update them for quite a few months now but haven’t had the time. I think they have been thoroughly improved and if any of my current students are reading my blog, do email me if you would like the updated versions.

I will be scanning the corgi pet portrait tomorrow and i will post the work in progress here and on my website. i will also add a higher res scan on my showcase blog for everyone to see. So that’s me done for the day, im off for a nice big plate of toffee cheesecake……. : )

Hi Everyone,

Here is a block of work in progress photos for my latest pet portraits painting as well as a small version of the final scan of my latest of two lovely spaniels. It was painted in oils on a 16 x 12 piece of stretched canvas for a returning client. I have been really busy in the studio so haven’t been able to post every day so im afriad this one has been posted all at once.

Its been hectic here, something seems to have happened every day, from people visiting the studio to birthdays and i cant believe its going to be Friday again tomorrow. Where do the weeks fly to! The weather is also really warm here at the moment and so we have been taking the opportunity to go for walks in the day time, otherwise we are like hermits here in the stidio if we dont take some time out! Having said that they say we could have snow at the weekend too!

Anyway if you would like to see a higher res pic of the portrait visit http://pet-portraitartist.blogspot.com/2008/04/final-scan-of-spaniels.html this should take you directly to it! I will post my next portraits in a bit as i am three quarters the way through two other gorgeous dogs, one rottie and one corgie so stay tuned!

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Hi Everyone!

Happy Easter! Although i know its a little late, i hope you all had a lovely time. We have been really busy with family staying and so i have been delayed in adding my latest pet portrait to the blog. If you click the link below you will see the final scan. It also took a lot longer to dry than i had thought, as it is predominantly black in colour. Black paint is notorious in its drying time and so if you are painting in oils and are working towards a deadline, try to leave yourself a little extra time for drying if the subject has a lot of black on it.

I’m going to gather together my next work in progress photos and blog them later, maybe tomorrow as i have my next dentist appt this afternoon…Ugg!

http://pet-portraitartist.blogspot.com

I have now completed the Labrador and these are the final work in progress stages. I have scanned the portrait and im just about to add it to my showcase blog. Ill make a quick post later to let everyone know its online and add a link! This portrait was great to paint as it has quite a dynamic feel to the composition. With it being a landscape form, i think it will look great framed. I think a modern frame would suit it well.

Today has been an organising day, i have been working flat out doing loads of little jobs. I’m a bit of a list writer and i love crossing off jobs i have done as it really allows you to feel you are actually getting somewhere. Unfortunately my list is always three columns of a A4 sheet of printer paper and they never all get crossed off!

Anyway i hope you enjoy this portrait and i will add the progress of the next one tomorrow!

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Hi Everyone,

We this week has been ‘one of those weeks’! Im sure you all have them. It started last Thursday when i came down with a Yukky cold and and still on the tail end of it, which has made working this week a little difficult. Then i came down with acute tooth ache last Friday and had to get an emergency appt on Monday to see what the problems was. Root filling! So with one thing and another i have been feeling a little sorry for myself! I am feeling better today and have to go back to the dentist next week for the filling to be finished. I can tell you how much better i feel without having a painful tooth as it kept me awake at night.

So anyway, this week i have been doing more work on my website as i have had issues and problems with it, hopefully it is looking and working better and more efficiently now. I have also been finishing some painting, which i need to put on my work in progress pages and here on this blog and in the showcase blog. I have been trying to help organise nick as well with his work as he has had some deadlines to meet this week and i have been trying to implement a new website for him also for his family portraits. PLUS! and you aren’t going to believe this i had been having emails go missing and all of a sudden 57 new emails came in on Tuesday! I couldn’t believe it, loads for me to reply to. I am on 39 at the moment, im ploughing through them slowly so if you are one of them im really sorry for the delay in replying! Technology!! So it has been all go!

Finally i have at last implemented the logo and banner for the AAPL. It has taken a while to sort the code out, and if you are an aapl member and you feel you can tidy my code please do so. Lets say its open source! As long as the text or design doesn’t change. I have had a professional graphic designer called Julie Binder create a logo for me, and i used css for the banner so that it was seo friendly. I wanted the banners text to be indexed by the search engines and this seemed like the perfect way.

If you are an animal artist and you are worried about your artwork or website content being stolen, you are more then welcome to join us. If you have some time to periodically search the next randomly looking for your own and our members work we would love to have you on board. Come and join the forum and see what its all about. You are more then welcome to contact me - or personal message me when you have joined the forum if you would like to be part of the AAPL. The logo is below!

Animal Artists Protection League protecting animal artists and their artwork

Well im off for breakfast and then i will get down to some serious updating of this blog with my work and the showcase blog too! Today is a day for updating me thinks!

I am currently working on a beautiful Labrador pet portrait, you can see the first two stages below. I completed these stages a couple of weeks ago and im now on the third and fourth stage, which i will blog for you tomorrow. This portrait is in oils on canvas and it being painted to the size of 12 x 16. This is an excellent size for a portrait, not too big, and not too small! I like to paint pets either life size or slightly smaller as it tends to feel more natural.

I have also upgraded my blog to a new theme, i wanted one that was widget ready and i found quite a nice one, easy on the eyes. At the moment i am having isses as i have added my navigation bar from my main website on here so viewers and readers can reach my other pages easily, however it doesnt seem to want to behave itself and move to the middle of the page. i have no idea why at the moment but hopefully soon i will work it out! Watch this space!

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We were going to visit the National Botanical Gardens of wales today, being St davids day, however the forecast wasn’t too good for Wales, it started off beautiful, but we have had rain and gales this afternoon so i think we were glad we didn’t go. Instead i have completed both the Labrador and cat pet portraits (will scan them tomorrow and blog them on my showcase blog), i have modified and updated my website a little and planted 4, 6 foot trees in my garden! Two apples (eating and cooking), a pear and a plum.

As you may know we only moved about 5 months ago and because the weather has been so bad i haven’t been able to get outside, one because of the weather, and two i have been busy with the pet portraits. We have had a few nice days over the last few weeks though and so i have been taking the opportunity in my spare time to pull out hedges, im finding areas of patio that had grown over, replanting bulbs that were hidden, planning a veg garden with raised beds and i haven’t even started saving the old pond yet. Its currently a small icky plastic thing with amazing stone and slate steps going up from it, so its crying out to be redone. We are going to make it about 4 or 5 times the size and convert it to a nature pond for frogs, toads, snails etc with reeds, grasses and lilies. Thats the plan anyway! So the trees were the first thing to be planted and they looks great.

Back to work now though and im currently completing some of my London art college assessments so i hopefully will be able to blog my next pet portrait painting tomorrow. I hope you are all enjoying your weekend! : )