Weird day today, after really bad night with strange dreams, and little sleep, most likely due to sore throat/chest infection, me and husband have managed to pick up, I did not think `I would be doing much in the way of art.' My commission is still on the easel untouched, but looking at a picc of my Late G.S.D girl Kess, who was pts, almost a year ago, I suddenly had the urge to draw her, something I have been planning for months but have been unable to face.....(is this what they call the "muse"?)

my printer isnt working properly , so bringing the main computer down from upstairs (my laptop is useless for drawing from) its a MAC so not the massive task that it sounds like!

I started with an eye and have just carried on........ no pre drawing just this urgent need to get her on paper!!!!! I used the first paper I found that was the right colour, feels like sandpaper, I had put this away for experiments some time......and this is the result so far.....and it is her, even down to her odd gaze due to a fixed retina from birth... I have run out of steam and am looking after my grandson later so have to clear away, and may or may not finish this, but it feels good to have started......

some thing different

I have a surprise Christmas Portrait to start, (a bit early , but am back at college next week so won't have much time for commission work then. ) so won't be showing it on here.

I have been playing around with acrylic and also oil pastels, the former still not going where I want it too, the latter looks promising.

This is acrylics and soft pastels on heavy watercolour paper

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.