Dog portraits - and Lottie's Wheelchair Fund.

I have a friend called Lottie Bennett, who is just 26 years old.

She suffers from Klippel Trenaunay Syndrome. 

Klippel Trenaunay Syndrome is a rare condition affecting 1 in every 20,000 to 40,000 people. It affects each sufferer differently. 

For Lottie, it causes chronic and acute pain, mobility difficulties, internal bleeding, thrombosis and chronic fatigue. 

Lottie has to use a wheelchair in everyday life, and she has recently discovered Wheelchair Dance. Being the positive person she is, she has taken part in her normal wheelchair, but will need a dance wheelchair to continue. 

It gives her such joy, that I wanted to help. 

I am offering anyone who wants a dog portrait, the chance to have one painted by me, for £100. 

This is a painting I made for Lottie a few years ago, but you can see more dog paintings on my gallery site.

There are other ways to help Lottie - and if you'd like to help, her wheelchair fund raising site is Lottie's Wheelchair Fund

To order a dog portrait, you need to do that through Lottie's site. 

Thank you for reading.

Listening with Intent ... and a little break.

Good morning friends!

I thought you'd like to see my latest painting - of the darling Paddy.

Listening with Intent

 Painted on Saunders Waterford paper, 140lb rough. Size 15" x 11"

This will be the last painting I pop on here for a little while, because I am taking a little break. Not from painting, but from my online presences.
Last year was very draining for me ( see HERE )  and to regain my energy fully, I'm stepping away from the computer, to concentrate on resting and recovering.
(For those who don't know, I have kidney problems and stress exacerbates them.)

I will still post any paintings I might create on my gallery site HERE , so if you'd like to see them, just sign up to the mailing list.
I'm hoping that it's not long before my batteries are fully recharged. 

Thanks for your understanding and patience.
love, Pat xx

When your vase is filled with flowers, paint them!

Good morning friends.

In the last post I told you to look down if you needed inspiration - and today I'm saying if anyone gives you flowers - once they are in the vase - paint them!
That way, you get twice the pleasure from one bouquet.

Which is what I did when my darling OH brought me flowers.
Funnily, when he was buying them, he was asked what he'd done wrong, that he needed to buy flowers for his wife. Isn't it a shame that was someone's first thought? He was told, nothing wrong, it's because I love her and she loves flowers, so I buy her some!

In this painting, I experimented with a few different techniques.
All great fun  - and very important to experiment, I feel. It makes you grow as an artist.
I hope you enjoy looking at this painting; painted on Saunders Waterford and measuring 8x11 inches.

Gratitude

If you are wondering what to paint, look down!

If you ever struggle with 'what shall I paint next?' then there is no better recommendation than to look around you. If you love painting flowers, look down!
Even the humble weeds can be inspiration for a painting.

Here is my version of a common weed in the UK,

The Happy Dandelion

Painted on Saunders Waterford, 140lb Rough paper, using W&N Artist Quality paint. 

8" x 11"

Making and painting a card using Saunders Waterford paper

Do you still write letters, or do you only stay in contact via email?
I still like to write a letter every now and then.
So when I do, I paint a little card to go along with it, to make it extra special.

I take a piece of Saunders Waterford paper 140lb, Rough. Size wise - about 8x 11inches.
Fold it in half and run a ruler down the fold line to make a proper crease, that works like a hinge. Then the card will sit flat when you pop it in an envelope - and stand up like a bought card when the recipient opens it.

Once that's done, I tape it down to my drawing board, like so

The reason for this, is once you paint the card and take the tape off, it leaves a lovely neat edge which enhances the painting.
The tape is low tack masking tape, specifically designed for painters. 

Something like this:

and somewhere in the world, someone will be opening a card like this, very soon.
Why not make your own and send it out in the world? I know it'll be appreciated. 

After the demo, incorporating negative painting into a picture.

Good morning friends,
after demonstrating the hearts, I thought I'd show you how you can incorporate some negative painting into a picture.

So here is my painting - if you look closely, you will see where the negative painting has been applied. Remember, negative painting is where I paint the area around the object and not the object itself.
Or you could just sit back and enjoy the view.

Queen of the Lilypad

Painted on Saunders Waterford, 140lb Rough.

Always - a demonstration of hearts and negative painting, ahead of St. Valentine's Day.

It seems such a long time since I did a step-by-step demonstration.

Here though, is one for a hand painted card, made up of hearts, in time for St. Valentine's Day.
Go on, give it a go, and surprise that special someone in your life with a handmade card!

This is what the card will look like when it's finished:

'Always'

Here is how to get to that finish, step by step.

Firstly, take a piece of watercolour paper, 8" x 11" and fold it in half.
I use Saunders Waterford 140lb Rough.
Then tape it to a board, with half an inch of the paper covered, like so:

Line up your palette, with three washes, one yellow, one red, one blue.
Mine were winsor yellow, cobalt blue and rose madder genuine

Then you wet the whole of the paper with plain water. Dip your brush in one wash then apply to the paper, with a random swirl, while the paper is still wet. Do the same with each wash.
Here is how my random swirls came out:

Then draw your first few hearts, with a pencil:

Using just the yellow wash, paint around the hearts and all over the background. This will give one unifying wash under all the others to follow.
Never paint over the hearts! We are painting the space around them. This is negative painting.

When the painting has dried completely, go back in with your pencil and draw a few more hearts.This time, use the yellow, blue and red wash in  line with how they appear on the under painting. Don't worry if they fizz in together as you paint. Never paint over the hearts you have drawn.

Then when completely dry, add some more hearts.
Once this level is completed, it should look like this.
This is what I call the ugly stage - but don't panic! It is simply a stage - it will get better. Persevere! 

This time, we're going to take the blue and red washes, and mix them together.
With this new lavender/purple wash, you are going to paint all around the hearts again, remembering not to paint the hearts.

Now, we could have stopped here, but it didn't feel finished to me. I wanted to go wild with hearts - so we draw in some more!
You might have to look closer to see these. Click the image and it will come up larger. 

For this next background wash, we are going to take the mix of blue/red and add in a touch of Payne's Grey.
Then make sure you don't paint over any hearts, simply the space between them.

When you have painted every space in between the hearts, you should have a card that looks like this, before you remove the masking tape.

and once you remove the tape, here is the card your beloved will enjoy on St Valentine's Day.

What a great way to express your love! Much better than a card from a store.
I hope you tackle this project - and get as much enjoyment from it, as I did.

Thanks for following along.