For those of you who don’t live in the UK you probably may not have heard of a bank holiday weekend. We have quite a few of them scattered thought the year and it means that lots of businesses close, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The Monday being a bank holiday Monday. To be honest im not sure the full meaning behind them, im guessing it had something to do with banks closing but i don’t know why…and probably the majority of the country don’t care as long as they all get a day off work :)

And thats what we did! Well a day off in my book doesn’t mean lounging on the sofa reading and watching tv,…far from it! The last few days have been pretty tiring. I have been trying to sort out all the commissions so i can work out dates and schedules for each one for the xmas deadlines. I have printed out the reference photos for all the commissions and cut board and paper and stored them in the drying rack ready. I find myself at this time of year almost having a spring clean, i like things to be organized and to run smoothly as i know pretty much every hour of the day will be devoted to painting between now and xmas. I bought a huge load of bubble wrap which led me to clear out the attic where i keep supplies, along with those usual things that you don’t use any longer, or think, well i may need that one day….! The first to go were loads of boxes, you know the ones, where you have purchased an electrical item and though, ‘oh i had better keep the box…just in case’! They just seem to pile up and up. So we had a big bonfire!

We also had piles of books in boxes that we don’t use any longer. I have put some aside for the charity and set shelves in there for the ones i wanted to keep so that i could easily get to them if i needed too. Sometimes reference books can come in handy and both nick and myself bought many, many books years ago when we were illustrating. We were always scouring the local second hand book shops for a bargain but now all this time has passed, i feel that some of them could be put to better use by someone else. I also had a couple of boxes of things that didn’t sell at a car boot sale last year so that’s all ready to go to the charity too. The attic has never looked so tidy :)

So now this morning, im off to the post office to post a few things, drop some things off at the accountants and then back to my portraits. The cats are finished and today im working on the rottie! :)

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Below is a copy of my recent article in a Japanese Dog magazine.

My name is Melanie Phillips and i am a professional pet portrait artist, I specialize in painting and drawing Spaniels – they are one of my favorite breeds to paint. I have been drawing and painting ever since i can remember, I studied wildlife illustration at art college in the Uk and this gave me an excellent grounding in learning how to draw and paint animals. It helped me to understand the anatomy of the dog and how to create natural and realistic portraits.

I have been painting professionally for 10 years and i love every minute of it! I have a dream job! In actual fact my very first commission was a black cocker spaniel called Muffin in acrylic on artboard. I have developed a great deal since then and i now create most of my spaniel portraits in oils on canvas.

I paint Spaniels for clients from all over the world, some visit me here in the studio but the majority email me their photos. I really enjoy painting spaniels in a natural landscape setting, as i can really capture the spirit of their dog in their everyday surroundings.
My latest portrait is of the English Springer Spaniel in the reeds. Chilli is only a young spaniel and their owners wanted him portrayed in his favorite surrounding – just coming out of the water with wet ears! I felt that this really captured who he was and it really makes the portrait special to the owners.

Spaniels are a challenge to paint, especially if they have a bit of curl to their coat. Long fur is more challenging to paint than a short haired coat, you have to convey the soft delicate fine fur and keep the shape and contours of the dog, but its worth the dedication as the end results really do shine though!

Spaniels are special to me, they have such a great temperament, they have an unconditional love for you, and i see this in every spaniel i meet. It makes them all the more interesting for me to paint, as i have the challenge of capturing the heart and soul of every spaniel i paint.

As i haven’t been able to blog (being away on a short break)  i thought it was time to get everyone caught up on the recent artwork i have completed. None of these are in the website galleries yet. I am literally so busy with work, i just haven’t had time to update the site at all. I am very nearly booked up for xmas which is very scary as this is the earliest ever in my career. I could never really understand when artists would say they were booked up many weeks in advanced, i always thought, if you do one when it comes in, then you do the next one and so on, you could just keep up with each commissions quite easily. However in practice, as many of you who run your own businesses know, work and commissions are sporadic. One week you may not get any, another week you could get 5 in one day. This is what happened to me in June, i was doing ok and was working to a 5 week timetable, but madness hit and now i am booked for 14 weeks. Christmas is always a busy time, and the nights here in the UK are drawing in, so working in the evening is very much easier. In the summer i long to be outside in the fresh air walking the dog, however in the autumn and winter its nice to be in the warm studio with a cup of coco!

I hope you like my recent portraits below, oh and later on today ill blog my interview with a Japanese dog magazine :)

This is my latest portrait in coloured pencil. It was a 10 x 8 on fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper and is for a client who has commissioned a portrait from me before.