Maisie finished

Well I think I am done with this one now, will leave it on my board for a few days, in case I need to tweak it here and there, but as I don't want too much detail in the tree/leaves to distract from the cat I will resist the urge to fiddle. As you can see Maisie herself was very impressed by the whole procedure!

Today's update

I have adjusted the nose, and now need to alter the mouth area. Her colours are not correct in the photo, due to lighting and tree/leaf shadows, so am now working from Maisie herself, while she lies asleep on the sofa!! Her underneath and legs in particular are a much creamy colour than in the pic and her markings vary from a very dark sepia to a true black.

Update on Maisie picture

This one is beginning to turn into a real labour of love (a labour anyway!)

Slow going today, but have made quite a bit of headway, I am getting a little concerned about the nose mouth area as it is "not quite her" so thought I would get the up date on here, and finish for today, then compare with the photos at the same size as the portrait to check on the positioning etc.

I have tried turning it upside down and in the mirror but so far no help, Hopefully a fresh start tomorrow will show me the error/s in the drawing. Anyway here is where we are at!

Afraid the photos are a little dull due to lighting (we have rain again!)

Have progressed some, and I think this is going where I want.

Her face needs some adjusting around the nose area but I will do it as I get to it.

A bit late starting my latest project, as real life keeps getting in the way, including an accident with a coffee table this morning, that means at least another hour or so to try and fix it! So thought I would post where I am at......

This is a personal portrait of my cat Maisie in her favorite tree, an old Bramley at the bottom of our garden.

I am using the reference photo mainly just for composition, and will adapt the colours to my liking and also to her true colour as the tree shadows make her look greeny/grey as opposed to the creamy /sepia/grey that she really is, and as its my cat, my tree and my picture I can have it anyway I like ;-)

I have spent a couple of days trying to decide what medium/support to use, as I want to give Coloured pencils another go, but I have decided to play safe and use pastels and pastel pencils for this one as it has elements in the picture that I don't usually draw/paint (namely everything except the cat!) and also I would like it to be hung near my portrait of Oskar (my J.R.T) which I did a while ago, also in pastels on mount board (its the one of him sat on a wooden chair on the website)

As the mount board is a grey/brown I have transferred my drawing using white graphite so that I can see it, my main worry at the moment is that the trunk of the tree doesent over power the cat, I originally planned on just a wash of soft pastels suggesting them, but it did not really work so have gone in with stronger colours and a little detail.

My normal way of working in pastels is to underpaint the whole thing with soft pastel and then build layers with increasingly hard pastels, finishing with pastel pencils for details, but I have deviated from this as I want to get the trees in first, so that I can then judge the values for the cat! Anyway enough waffle for now, will update soon.

BUSTER/FINISHED/adjustments made

or NOT AS THE CASE MAY BE !

Have been looking at this all day as I can see something is "off" and have just realised I have committed the cardinal sin of rendering what I think I see instead of what is actually there.

I had problems with the far front leg and now realise why, the near front foot is too big! so correction is in order.

BUSTER/FINISHED

Pretty much done, but Buster will be left upright on my drawing table for a couple of days in case there is anything that needs doing, then he will be placed in a mount ready to give to his owners. I am not sure why I can't seem to get a good clear pic, without the "foggyness"around the leg and foot, might be the poor light as once again it is raining.

Buster update

Thought I had better show that I have been doing some work, I have had a few problems with the far, front leg, due to my poor photography it doesn't really show well on photos , that will teach me to be more careful picking refs, I have just realised that the batch of photos I took of Maisie in the Apple tree make her look rather green too...... but will have to cross that when I get to it, maybe some more pics with a different background, I could just sketch her in the tree, IF she stayed still long enough!!!!

Buster is nearly finished, we have a wedding to attend tomorrow and sunday is "family/grandchildren" day so Hopefully will get to finish him off next week.

Buster update

still looking a bit rough but

the layers are going down well,

hoping to smooth out

and get some detail in tomorrow

BUSTER/TERRIER

After transferring my initial drawing

to mount board (cream), Buster has been blocked in
with soft pastels, this looks a bit odd to begin with as the colours tend to be rough and patchy.

Further layers are built up and refined, the top layers in pastel pencils to provide fineness of line and affording more control.

I normally work from top left to bottom right, covering the work with layout paper as I go to avoid smudging.

I have started to work on some of the head and neck detail, and will work down through the body, to legs and feet.

BANKSY EXHIBITION

Hubby and I spent a very interesting day at the Bristol museum, as Bristol is barely an hour away from us, we really felt that we could not miss the Banksy Exhibition, especially as we have seen and heard so much of the hype surrounding it!

After queuing for over two hours, we decided to have some lunch before browsing the museum (I am ashamed to say it is the first time we have visited it) and enjoyed many of the exhibits that are on display in addition to Banksy. Some very beautiful traditional paintings including some pre-Raphaelite work (my favorite along with art Nouveau/Deco) Paintings by local artists, as well as Ceramics, pottery, glass, Egyptian carvings, sarcophagus's, Dinosaur fossils, wildlife etc

August 1 09

Another wet summer day! Maisie our Bengal cat is driving us nuts with her too-ing and fro-ing from back door to front door, hoping that the weather has improved between each journey I presume! Her favorite spot is an old Bramley down the bottom of the garden, not so inviting when dripping with rain!

Joey has been delivered and well received, and now resides on the graphite page of my website.