Waiting for the Call - Stage Two

The second stage of "Waiting for the Call"
After having completed the sky, I paint the farthest hills.

Mighty Fine Art

One of the blogs I follow is Mighty Fine Art.
Peter Williams, the artist whose blog it is, made a very kind offer on Boxing Day, that I -or anyone else- could use his photos as reference for their own paintings.

That is such a generous offer, I have taken him up on it - and am using one of his photos for my latest painting.

I have a great love of dogs, so the photo I'm using as a reference is one of Peter's own dog Murphy, on the snowy beach.

To see Peter's blog click here
Click on " Mighty Fine Art " to see the website


and here is stage 1 of "Waiting for the Call"

Presents

Painted and framed for hubby as his Christmas present:

Trojan




I was the lucky recipient of two new brushes, some art dvds and a book "Anatomy for the artist" which not only shows you how to draw body parts, but explains what function each has. Diamond present!

Missy's favourite two presents (apart from the edibles) - the supergold fleece and a kong on a rope

The last Pudding

The last Christmas Pudding - in watercolour this time.

more pud

The Christmas pud meets liquid - and the Inktense colours do as they promise - and intensify..

Pudding, anyone?

A lovely little Christmas pudding, all wrapped up.
Drawn with Inktense pencils in my sketch book.

For Lucretia, a Special Christmas Present

For Lucretia, this special Christmas present :

A drawing of your darling Jack and his QH, Buddy.

it was an honour to do this drawing -which Teresa and her family commissioned - I hope you love it and enjoy seeing this stage by stage recreation:

I



II




III




the finished drawing - with love xx




MERRY CHRISTMAS to the Hoffmans and Shackelfords........


and a very Merry Christmas to all,
love
Pat, Paul and Missy

Christmas Eve

and not a painting in sight..

Just some immortal words on Christmas from Charles Dickens:

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

and a very sincere wish

A Blessed Christmas to all...........

My two

My two loves enjoy a quiet moment on the sofa, leaving me free to do what part time artists like to do, play with cameras and arty things :)

Playing with Baubles

Still doodling with the Coloursoft range.. my eye fell on the Christmas tree.

Playing with Baubles


Over the Christmas break, I am going to try to make a worked up picture with these pencils - to test their range... and mine!

At Home, by the Fire

Twas cold outside, but inside the fire roared


and made us feel all toasty and warm



and as relaxed as a dog can be






Wishing all the dogs waiting for a home this Christmas a warm fire and a loving home:-

Battersea
Terrier Rescue
Dogs Blog

Good Luck all - God speed you being At Home, by the Fire xx

Charlie the Cavalier

another practice piece with the Derwent Coloursoft range

Charlie

Dreaming of a White Christmas

With every morning pretty view....


oh snow, snow... so beautiful in pictures, so treacherous to be out in.

Temperatures in the minuses.. a gorgeous dog who has forgotten her lead manners as she pulls for home!

Asleep at the side of the roaring fire is the place to be :)

paper makes a big difference

I was experimenting with the Derwent Coloursoft range, though I had no idea which type of paper they should be used on.

I did two quick sketches of my darling girl poking her head out from under the duvet - one on my usual watercolour paper of Arches Aquarelle 140lb rough - and the other on WHSmith pure white cartridge paper 135gsm.

Arches Aquarelle




WHSmith White Cartridge Paper




These were only quick sketches so I could find the paper I was happiest with. (its cartridge) Hopefully my next piece will be more artistic !

an early present

When I sent for some more art supplies, I treated myself to a present - an instructional art book. I'm looking forward in the Christmas break to practising the demonstrations.



Then my hubby kindly bought the coloured pencils for me to practice with!




And a certain little girl was hoping she could play along too :)

Missy opens her house to Leon

We had a lovely visit from our friend Sheree - who was the recipient of the painting Young Remy.
Sheree brought with her Leon the English Setter.

Now both Leon and Missy have had "issues" in the past with other dogs and have been known to be dog UN-friendly.

Both Sheree and I were pleased to see what these photos show..

that Missy wasn't bothered to have another dog in her house..



and Leon was happy to lie down near another dog and ignore her.



They both shared a bag of treats.. with not a sign of aggression to each other.



It was a lovely visit and a heartwarming one.
They've both come a long way :)

Young Remy - at Home

The best part of making a painting for someone - seeing the joy it brings as they hang it in their own home.

I received the photo of Young Remy hanging on the wall in her home, today - the day after she was picked up!
She's in a temporary frame until after Christmas, but hanging already.
It warms my heart to know how much Remy was loved and how much the painting will be appreciated.



To see the stage by stage painting click here

Giveaway Samples

I made an order for art supplies and got a freebie.. a small pack of 5 pieces of 11cm x 8cm watercolour paper.

So I had a play around with them and this is what I did.
Christmas and Dogs are obviously on my mind :)




I wonder which five people will get one in their stocking?

Christmas Comes Early in Texas

Long time ago, in a galaxy far away.....

I made a friend who lives in Texas. We share a mutual love of Jack Russell Terriers, and our jacks brought us close together.
I love her dogs as if they were mine, and she loves mine as if they were hers.

So when it came to Christmas this year, I made a painting of my friend Marie's beloved jack Jazzabella Jasmine Jacqueline Russell von Burkhardt (who now resides in Heaven) and the Peace rose given to her after Jazz's passing.
For the story of "You are Not Alone" click here


and my own darling Missy wanted her Arnkee Mawie to have a pikshure of her own self, and as Marie had admired this painting.. it was the one which wended its way to Texas.

Sent early to make sure they could be framed for Christmas.. and here they are, sitting under the tree !

Missy gets ready...

She's hung her stocking...




and a spare ( you never know)




and is keeping one eye open in case Santa comes early :)

Welcome, Goetz.

Goetz.



the pet name derived from Gottfried, meaning "God's Peace"
Given that Goetz will be marking the spot we re-buried Suzy, we think its a good name.
For Suzy's story, click here....

Gargoyle VI

First wash of grey on the gargoyle, will be building him up to look like stone. That's the plan, anyway :)

Gargoyle V

Once the first set of washes on the wooden breaker were dry, I added more detail, wet on dry.

Gargoyle IV

I took a while to decide whether the gargoyle would be standing on a wooden breaker or on a column of stone - eventually I decided wood for the support, stone for the gargoyle.
So here's the first set of washes on the wooden breaker..

Gargoyle III

Normally I would paint more than this before I took a photo - but I think these eyes deserve a post all to themselves!

Gargoyle II

after the pencil drawing , the background paints...

Gargoyle I

Gargoyle the experiment!
I'm just having fun with this one and seeing where it goes.
Hope you enjoy the journey!

Sioux, See!

When we moved into this house we were doing some work in the garden, and we discovered a shallow grave. On investigation we discovered it was the grave of the previous family's beloved german shepherd dog, Suzy.

We dug a deeper grave for Suzy, in the shade of the sycamore where she will never be disturbed.

We were keeping our eyes peeled for something to mark her spot, something that would fit in with our likings also. The usual pet markers didn't do it for us as.

Monday, we came across this chappie - who is temporarily named Sioux, See! until we come up with a better name. If you have the ideal name, leave us a comment, please. We'll consider all suggestions.

here's the gargoyle - and yes, I'll paint him.. I have an idea in mind :)

Pointillism, art technique

When I went to college for an art course, in my City and Guilds class we learned Creative techniques with Watercolour.
One of my favourite techniques I learned was pointillism - and here are a few examples which I painted:

The Duchess Remy -- at Home

One of the nicest things about someone having one of my paintings is getting the photo once the framed painting is hung.
Especially poignant when someone has recently lost their dog.
With great pride, I show you The Duchess Remy, at home.

Compare the Meerkat

And there's no comparison at all, is there? Much rather have my dog than any ole meerkat :)
One of my birthday presents was a book - 101 tricks to teach your dog. This one was in there, so we only have another 100 to go!
I might slot some painting back into my life soon... :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

There may not be any painting done today :)