Holidays, lochs, woods, deer and dogs!

We've been on a holiday, exploring our new country of Scotland.
We visited lochs and woods and had a boat trip on the newly launched Iolaire, run by Loch Tay safaris, owned by Highland Safaris.
We panned for gold, found gemstones and generally had a wonderful time.
There are many paintings, waiting patiently now for me to get my brushes wet!
A few pictures for you - and then a couple of paintings. The dogs were a prize donated to a raffle to aid rescues and the stags were from a photo I took at the Scottish Deer Centre.

and now, the paintings

Welcome

Two Friends

both painted on Saunders Waterford 140lb rough, my favourite paper, made by St Cuthbert's Mill.

Views, dogs, mixing up the painting and inspiration!

Good morning friends,
how are you all?

I've been visiting so many new places here in Scotland, garnering so many ideas for paintings that I am printing photos as I go now, in case I lose track of them all. Currently I have seven drawn out and sitting in paper stretchers, waiting for the watercolour magic to begin!

Firstly, let me show you a painted view of the beautiful Lomond Hills.
View

You may notice it isn't quite as realistic as previous paintings, because I am trying to convey an emotional response also. I hope you enjoy it.

Also, a new acquaintance wanted a portrait of her dog painted, so this is Blackie

after I drew that portrait, I drew a second of the same dog, so that I could experiment a little. I love exploration, whether it be travel or  painting!
Here is my experimentation, and it's a mixture of ink and watercolour.

Blackie Ink 

 
I'll have a quick run round some blogs, then I'm off to explore some more.
Have a great day!

(as always, all painted using W&N paints - and on St Cuthbert's Mill Saunders Waterford 140 rough paper.)

First full week of June Challenge

A painting a day. How hard can that be? Easy, right?
That's what I thought, but once you commit to say yes, sometimes inspiration flies out of the window. Or work gets busy, or there's the book needs attention and always there's the ongoing rehab for the ankle.

So on the days I got busy or inspiration was lacking, I fell back on my favourite fruit, the pear. Just so you know. It is possible to do the challenge, but sometimes a little leeway is needed. That's where my pears come in.

So sorry if I'm not around to visit blogs, but I need to do this. It felt as if some of my painting had become stale, so I'm hoping this will force me to be fresher and grow a little. In fact, perhaps if I'd done thirty different pears, I'd be forced to be even more creative!
But thirty different pears I have not done. I do hope you enjoy viewing what I have done. You'll see some experimentation over the next few weeks.
As ever, I do enjoy your comments, even if at the moment, I haven't the time to reply. Thanks for your patience as I try to grow as an artist.

The week's paintings.

Cider Days

Shepherd Snowman

Pear II

Poisoned Apple.

Roadside Flowers

Herb and Fruit.

Pear III

and finally, here's a bonus one - I had a lady ask me for a pencil drawing of one of her dogs. Not actually a June Painting - so I've not included it in the above section, but drawn in June, so here she is:

Amber

I'm for dogs !

The builders are doing the fiddly bits to the kitchen to make it beautiful and the electrician is fitting sockets and lights!

Somewhere in the melee, I found time to paint these three, which I have donated to a local dog rescue (South East Dog Rescue) for their online auction to raise funds for building some new kennels.
Auction is HERE if you'd like to bid :)

The paintings:

and, in other news, for all my blogger friends who have been concerned for us, we are not near the areas in London where the riots have been taking place, we have only watched it on the news, as you have. 
Thank you for thinking of us. xx

Sand

Once the sea had been painted, it was the turn of the sand.

I love the seashore, such a wonderful place to visit - such a lovely place for dogs to run free.

We've been fortunate enough whenever we've taken Missy to the sea not to have encountered anyone who doesn't like dogs -though that's not everyone's experience.

We always endeavour not to let our dog be a nuisance.

Pam, who owns these two, is the same, I know :)

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

Commission Paintings

Usually, I paint whatever I would like to paint, as the inspiration grabs me.
Sometimes though, I am asked if I would paint a particular subject that holds special memories for someone.

So the commission is born. Usually they are dogs, but not always.
Now, I love dogs, so have no problem painting them, I can still be creative.

Anything else I always ask for free rein so I can interpret and be creative.
You can see that in the boots painting which was a commission. (below)
I've also added a few dogs, for your enjoyment.

Two cats, Two dogs

I've been playing with the new toy again!
Here are a few quick sketches I made with the Inktense pencil.

I drew them first, then selectively wet certain areas - and voila!
Two cats , two dogs .

Each sketch took about Two minutes to draw ..

Playing with paints is great fun, keeps my drawing skills up and makes me smile. That's good enough reason for me to do it - I hope the pictures make you smile too!