Here is the final scan of Sultan, Nick has been working on it all day today and I have just scanned it so it’s hot off the press! Nick will need to paint the edges tomorrow as it will be displayed on a mini easel with a plaque with Sultans name on. It will stand alongside the other portrait of Monty and I’m looking forward to seeing them displayed.

Dog training went very well yesterday and we had my parents over after for lunch as my father bought his chainsaw for us to start cutting up some of the trees in the woodland that we had felled. The ground is so hard out there as it’s very cold here at the moment, I can’t wait for things to start warming up so i can prepare the veg patch. There’s plenty of things to keep me occupied here in the studio though! Hope you have all had a good weekend too!

Final Scan of Sultan

Final Scan of Sultan

Nick has been working on Sultans portrait over the last few days and I have added the first two stages below. its a 12 x 10 oil portrait on linen canvas for a client who commissioned us to paint ‘Monty’ in December. They will be matching portraits. He is a little further ahead than this so I will be hoping to blog the next stages tomorrow and a final scan hopefully over the weekend.

Toms girlfriend Meg came over this afternoon for their weekly walk, I say girlfriend , we are still trying to integrate him with other dogs and walking with Meg once a week as well as seeing her at training is helping, but its very slow going. We are doing ok though and its a lovely social afternoon for us too. I cant wait till the weather gets a little better so we can go further afield as meeting more dogs on our walk will be helpful for both Tom and Meg as she has her own set of problems too. She tends to ignore Tom though so that’s a bonus at least!

Hope you are all having a good day!

Oil Portrait of Sultan - Early Stages

Oil Portrait of Sultan - Early Stages

Here is the final scan of Sodas portrait in oils. I really love the way Nick has captured Soda and the beautiful colours he has used is just fantastic, its one of this best cat portraits to date I think. I will add it to the website in my next round of updates, hopefully next month. Nick has already started Sultans portrait and amazingly he’s half way through already so ill add a photo tomorrow.

We have had quite an exciting day today, the tree surgeons came to cut down two large trees in our woods and to remove a massive tree stump where I hope to have a veg garden. What a job! The chap who was cutting the trees must have been up about 50 foot sorting out the dead limbs on our trees and bringing the two trees down which we needed felling. He did each one safely cutting each section in 4 to 5 foot layers, so it was all very safe. While the chap was doing the trees, the other chap tackled the stump we needed removing with a stump grinder and it was utterly amazing. This machine removed the stump completely…it was like a monster!  It was a lot of work for the chap though, a good mornings graft as the stump was about 4 to 5 foot round with large roots protruding.

So now we have a lot to clear! Nick and my dad will no doubt cut the wood soon to stack and save for next winter and im sure we will ahve a bonfire to get rid of the excess twicks and rotten branches. It will look much better down there when the leaves start to from. Spring will be on its way soon!

Cat Portraits in Oils

Cat Portraits in Oils

Here is George the horse in oils framed in the ‘Gold Dots’ frame. It looks stunning here in the studio and I will be packing it up tomorrow ready to send. Nick has completed the portrait of Soda and it will be dry enough to scan tomorrow so I will blog it as soon as its done : )

George Horse Portrait Framed

George Horse Portrait Framed

We collected Capone and Georges portrait today from the framers and I have taken photos of Capones below. I haven’t done George yet as I wanted to get Capone out to the post office this morning as I had some other things to send and didn’t have time to photograph and pack them both. I’m hoping to take photos of George tomorrow and pack him up ready to go, so I’ll blog him tomorrow.

Nick has very nearly finished the portrait of Soda and it’s looking really lovely. He has been working on the fine details and the whiskers and I’ll see if I can scan it (when its dry enough to put in the scanner), probably Wednesday or Thursday.

Hope you are all having a good day!

Framed Pet Portraits

Here is the next stage of Soda! Nick has been working on it today, Sunday, while I have been doing college assessments.  Nicks painting is coming along beautifully and I’m looking forward to seeing it finished in a few days. Again he is one step ahead of this but its dark here now so I will take photos tomorrow. We are also picking up the portrait of Capone and the portrait of George tomorrow so I’ll hopefully take photos of those and blog them for you see – busy busy busy!

Next stage of Soda in oils

As promised here’s the next stages to Sodas oil portrait on Canvas. Its coming along well and Nick has started adding some detail on the cat and will continue to work on it over the next few days. I hope to have another stage by Sunday : )

Next Stage of Sodas Portrait In Oils

Next Stage of Sodas Portrait In Oils

Here are the first two stages of Nicks portrait of Soda in oils. He is actually one stage ahead of this but its too dark this evening to take photos so I will take some more tomorrow. Its looking great so far, I think it will be a stunning oil painting.

I have been doing computer work today, catching up from taking a couple of days out of the studio and I have been working on the forums today. The London Art College forum and our Pet Portraits forum needed to have new themes for security reasons and so it has taken me a while to find new themes that work for us. Neither of them are completely finished, not sure about the balloon  images on the college forum, I might modify it at some point and I intend to add a few images in the top bar for our Pet Portraits forum, but they will be fine for a while. The main thing is that they work and are safe and secure from spammers once again and that’s all that really matters!

Will blog some more stages of Soda tomorrow!

Cat Portraits Oils - Sodas Early Stages

Cat Portraits Oils - Sodas Early Stages

Here is a wonderful photo a client has just sent us showing the recipients with their portrait. The pastel painting was of a Section B Welsh Stallion, ‘Eyarth Beau Geste’. It will be definitely one that I will add to the website on my next round of updates : )

We have actually had the day off today as there was a birthday in the family so we had family over for the day. Back to work tomorrow, lots to blogs Nick has started the cat portrait of Soda and I have lots of stages to add and I have lots of emails to catch up on!

Happy Clients Pet Portraits

Here are the final scans of Capone and Skye. Nick has completed the pastel portrait of Capone to the size of 16 x 12 and will hopefully be taken to the framer later this week to be framed. Its going to be framed in one of our favourites, the Bronze and Black moulding, which will work really well with Capone’s colouring.

I have been working for the London Art College quite a bit at the moment doing various things for them and Also I’m still trying to get caught up with client emails and composites from the backlog from Christmas. So it was just lovely to take some time out over the last couple of weeks to relax and draw this pencil portrait of Skye. Its a 12 x 10 on Fabriano paper and I have left the paper a little larger as the client is having it framed in a particular frame and mount at her local framers so im really looking forward to seeing a photo of it on the wall when its framed. Its going to match a photography portrait they have already had framed in the same way of their children, so I wanted to leave plenty of room for the framer to make sure the sizes will match.

We have actually been cottage bound since last Sunday as our car has broken down and is waiting to be fixed, which is most unusual as our car is uber reliable. I cant remember the last time we were without a car. It has been a good excuse though to catch up with work and not have to go anywhere, particularly in this wintry wet weather we have been having. I do think that spring is just around the corner as the birds have started to sing. I can hear a blackbird out in the garden as im typing. Its a good sign! We have lots to do in the garden this spring and im just waiting for the weather to be good enough to hopefully have someone in to cut down a tree in the corner of the little woodland and to take out a huuuuge stump and we are talking massive here – nothing that you can dig out by hand …as I have tried! I think we have found someone who can do this for us. Just have to wait for the ground to be a bit drier.

Today I’m hoping to start another pencil portrait, this time of Kim and Nick has already started another oil painting of Soda. He has drawn Soda out onto the canvas and blocked the main parts of the cat in. As soon as he starts to paint the background I’ll try to take some photos for the blog.

Hope you all enjoy your day wherever you are!

Skype - Pencil Pet Portraits

Capone's Pastel Montage