Commission Harry and Poppy

Just finished this double pencil sketch of Harry (a Scottie) and Poppy (a Shih Tzu), as payment for some building work a builder did for me. We both benefitted, me with the work done in my art studio and him with this sketch of his two dogs, which is a Christmas present for his good wife. 

I decided at the outset to sketch each dog inside it's own oval background, wasn't really sure if it would look OK, but it seems to work. The builder absolutely loved it.

Here are some WIP steps before the finished pieces:

Commission - Murphy

Medium: Acrylic

Paper: Stretched Canvas
Size: 20″ × 16″ (400 × 500 mm)
Duration: 6 – 7 hours

This is a commission, of a beautiful old Retriever called Murphy and the client specifically wanted Murphy (the name of the dog) standing full pose and on a black background. Here’s hoping the are happy with my attempt. I enjoyed this as it has been a while since I used a black background, that funnily enough was another Golden Retriever

Commission - Shorty

Medium: Acrylic

Paper: Stretched Canvas

Size: 30 x 40 cm

Duration 4 − 5 

This is a commission I've just completed in acrylics, using a decorators scraping palette knife, brushes and borrowed my daughters nail painting brushes (for those hard to get to whiskers LOL). 

Really enjoyed this piece as I got to play with the background with a big fat palette knife to dab strong greened, limes blacks and white, trying to achieve a christmas holly feel (not sure it works, but like the texture I got). The reference was a compilation of a couple of photos the client gave me as sadly, Shorty is no longer with us (this is a Christmas present for the clients wife) I played around with the head of one photo and the front legs of another and stitched them together in photoshop then just started painting. With me, whenever I paint (or sketch for that matter) I try and begin with the eyes, capture those little beauties and your halfway there! Anywhoo, it is off to the framers on Monday, hopefully the client will like the finished result.

Earth Mother

Medium: Soft Pastels
Paper: A2 Lightly Textured 180 gsm paper
Duration: 3-4 hours

This is a fairly quick soft pastel sketch I drew in tribute to that great western artist Howard Terpning. I’ve always loved his portraits of life in the wild west and especially how he used the native peoples of North America as his subjects.

Charcoal practice - child

This is a practice charcoal I did in my art class I teach, for the reference I used an image I saw on Facebook awhile back, can't remember who posted it! Just loved the colour version in watercolour, and wanted to try it in charcoal. This is the result. Size A2 Duration 2 hours.

WIP Jessica Ennis in Oils

This is a work in progress of an oil painting I was inspired to paint after watching our wonderful Team GB in the London Olympics and would like to dedicate this piece to one very special olympian gold medalist, Jessica Ennis. Well done girl!

This painting has taken me two days so far and will eventually have a mainly black background with a few bits and bobs from the audience (flashes etc.)

Oil Painting - Waters Edge

Medium: Oils

Paper: Stretched Canvas
Size: 20" x 16"
Duration: 4 − 6 hours



Well I've finally finished this oil painting (after watching Murray thrash that lump of Swiss Cheese!) which I started painting yesterday. Is it only me, but it is getting really difficult to sketch or paint when the Olympics is on, isn't it?


I'm calling this piece "Waters Edge" and it is a memory of when I went walking with my daughter Jasmine (that's her in the water) earlier in the week. We went to a local beauty spot,  down to the Gil, on the river Wansbeck just outside my local town of Morpeth in Northumberland.

Charcoal Drawing - Megan

This is a time lapse YouTube video I put together when I was sketching my niece Megan in charcoal, I put it together in iMovie on my iMac. I was really just practicing and getting to grips with some new willow charcoal sticks I bought. I forgot how beautiful it is as a medium, I was kind of put off as they always seemed to be really messy whenever I used them. It seems that having the paper nearly vertical helps to keep the artwork clean, well it did for me.

This whole sketch took me about 2-3 hours to complete and although a fairly nice image, I don't think I captured my niece as well as I wanted to.  I ended up using only one stick of charcoal for the whole image, by the time I had finished, that stick had shrunk to the smallest stubble of charcoal you could just about hold!

Though I have really enjoyed this session in charcoals and I expect I'll be visiting my willow charcoal sticks again, soon.

Here is the final image:

Free iBook Download Acrylic Painting Tutorial

If you know anything at all about me, you will know I love putting together drawing and painting tutorials on my own web and some of my other art sites I'm a member off.

Now that is all good and well (and I hope you've enjoyed all my how to's and sketching and painting tutorials in the past) but poor Bob Scratchit here, has to feed Mrs Scrathit and our very poor tiny Tim.

So, I've just created and uploaded my first Acrylic Painting Tutorial in the iPad2 iBook format, and whats more it's FREE and available to Download, yeah, yeah, I know I'm never going to get rich overnight by giving away my books for free, but, if you like this one then hopefully you will pay to download further tutorials I create.

The iBook, is called Acrylic Painting Tutorial The Cottage. You simply search in the iTunes Store for Acrylic Painting Tutorial from your iPad, iPad2 or PC.

Big, Big Favour to ask
Could any of my Art, Redbubble, Paintings I love and DeviantArt friends, if you have accessed, and downloaded this iBook, could you do me a really big big favour? 




Can you rate this or perhaps write a review for me? On the iTunes Store, there is a row of stars underneath the writing describing the iBook, any stars you give will be greatly appreciated, apparently it helps on future sales.


Thank loads.

Jan



Screenshots

Commission - Portrait of a boy

Medium: Acrylic
Paper: Canvas cut to size
Size: 16″ × 20″
Duration: 5 hours (over two days)

This is a commissioned portrait I painted for an overseas client (the USA). I had only a few days to meet the deadline (for delivery).

I worked from a photo provided for me (normally I like to use my own).

This was a wonderful journey in painting with acrylics again, I would of loved to tried this portrait in oils, but as their was a time issue with this commission, I stuck to my tried and tested acrylics.

Beagle - Acrylic

 
Medium: Acrylic
Paper: Bockingford Not 140Ib
Size: 11″ × 15″ (38cm x 28cm)
Duration: 2 hours

I painted this as a practice for an acrylic demonstration/workshop I have coming up, and set myself only two hours from start to finish to complete the painting. The demonstration is actually about two and a half hours long but I thought it best to restrict the painting to only two hours which leaves me a comfortable thirty minutes for my talk and presentation. I found that two hours was more than enough for the demonstration, but if I had longer, I could probably refine the painting and add more photorealistic detail.

WIP - Started m first oil painting today...

Finally got round to using those oil paints left undisturbed in my studio for so long! This is my first WIP in oils, which I started today, and it's also my first ever attempt at using oils, and all I know about them is what I've read or heard.

The subject reference I chose, is of an iconic local landmark and scenic view in the Lake District, recognise it? So far I've spent about 4-5 hours up to this stage, and have been using only a couple of small palette knives. I started this painting with the intention of using only palette  knives, as I wanted to experiment with a the texture of oils to define the picture, not sure if I'm there yet, will work on it some more tomorrow.

I'm finding that oils does have a real advantage over acrylics (what I'm used to) but has a few cons as well, namely the only way I can get another colour on top of an area I've already painted is by literally spreading it on top of the existing colour, with the edge of a palette knife, hence the rough textured look.

But I cannot deny that some of the colours, especially in the stream where the pebbles are underwater, are coming up beautifully/ I think I need more time to find what I can do with this fantastic medium, experiment more. I definitely want to finish this painting, hopefully tomorrow.

Watch this space.

Acrylic - Girl on the Beach

Medium: Acrylic
Paper: Stretched Canvas
Size: 27.5 × 39.5 inches (700 mm x 1000 mm)
Duration: 10 − 12 hrs over three days

The reference I used for this painting comes from a fellow RB member Ademac and his photo of a model Halo (Thank you kindly Ademac for giving me permission to use your photo)

I had, in my studio, one fairly large canvas, and it was always in my mind to attempt this particular painting on a larger scale (on this canvas) funny how you seem to know how one particular canvas is far suited to a certain painting than another. I was fortunate enough to find a few days together to attempt it. I spent about 10-12 hours over three days and am quite happy with the result, which I feel is a fairly accurate interpretation of the photo.

Self Portrait - Finished!

Medium: Acrylic
Paper: Stretched Canvas
Size: 20"x 16
Duration 10-12 hours over three days

This is my own personal Dorian Grey which I recently completed for a monthly challenge at my local art group in Killingworth, to do a self portrait. Out of about 18 entries in the challenge, I came joint second (not too bad, if I say so myself LOL) I really enjoyed painting this, my second attempt at my self portrait, it seemed to flow easier onto the canvas than my first attempt (which to be honest, was when I began my painting journey over twelve months ago. My latest self portrait attempt, seems (in my opinion) to be a vast improvement on this first one, not only in accuracy but in technique.

WATCH THE STEP BY STEP YOUTUBE VIDEO

Close ups

WIP My Self Portrait

Well, as I have a bit of free time between commissions, I have decided to have another attempt at painting one of the ugliest creatures ever to roam the mainland, me! So far, I've spent about three hours painting, I'm taking photos of each step, and will probably write a tutorial of my efforts. Please warn any children before looking!


So far, I've spent about 3-4 hours getting to this stage, as the light has started to go, I'll revisit it tomorrow. I want to try and get it finished before Friday, when I attend my local art club in Killingworth and can enter it in the monthly challenge, to paint your self portrait, so I'm kind of painting real fast! Here is it is before I put in his evil eyes LOL.

Commission - Sketching Bruce

This is a recent commission I have undertaken in pencil. The portrait is of an old friend and fellow ex policeman, Bruce Coltman. He asked me to sketch him holding a silver cup with a crest. Here is the Reference Photo:

Here is Bruce in deep thought admiring? his cup (wish he had worn a plain shirt, but if you know anything at all about me, I sketch what I see (checked shirt an all!)

Medium: Pencils (2B and 4H)
Paper: Goldline Bristol Board 220gsm
Size: A2 23.4 × 16.5 inches (594 mm x 420 mm)
Duration: 3-4 hours (so far)

STEP 01

Here I’ve started on the head, working from the ear in view. I had previously sketched out the outline using my Slip and Slide Method So I’m really just texturing the skin on his face, this time instead of cross hatching, I thought that a squiggly hatch stroke gives me a better skin texture on his face, takes a bit longer but the effects are looking OK. You may notice that I’ve also started using my embossing tools to create this fine white hairs on true brows and a few spots here and there.

STEP 02

I’ve got my skin tones of his face just about there now, I can (and will) go a plane darker on the hatching where it is required. I’ll sketch the full pose of him holding his cup, but I still like to print off a couple of extra printouts which I cut up and use for reference. This stage I cut out a close crop of his face, asa I’m working on his face at the moment it’s invaluable to have the reference right next to where I’m sketching. This closeness, I find really helps me achieve the likeness I’m striving for. I used a couple of my embossing tools to emboss the highlights of his hair, then go over lightly with a hard pencil (4H) I’m only using two leads on this portrait, a 2B and a 4H, this is enough for the moment.

STEP 03

Now I’m really starting to get into this shirt he’s wearing (Tip to self: ask the client what they will be wearing on the day of the Reference shoot! – avoid checked shirts!). Although I’m moaning about this shirt, it is fairly easy to sketch it onto the paper, I just have to make sure that I follow the pattern like for like, I’m actually helped by the fact that there are heavier stripes in the pattern with a couple of double track lines in-between each. The elbow, is more fun to do, I lay a circular squiggly texture hatch with my 4H to begin and go over with my 2B to pick out details in the skin, especially those feint creases going diagonally (those lines really are fine, but patience and a steady hand prevail). Well this is enough for today. You can come back to read how I’m progressing, I’ll be posting my progress over the next few days.

STEP 04

Continuing on from the previous steps, I’m now concentrating on the arm of Bruce, which I began in STEP 03. I’m still using only two pencils leads, a 4H and a 2B, these I’m finding are more than enough to carry on with the tones I need on this portrait, the 4H allows me to ghost hatch the tones I want, I then go over with the 2B and lock them in with an additional hatch of 4H. I kind of sketch layers on each other, the 2B glides beautifully across the 4H, and allows me to go as dark as I require with the minimal of pressure.

STEP 05

Carrying on I begin work on the hand and fingers, to achieve that old experience weathered hands look Bruce ha, I really have to task the 4H with swirls, squiggles and hatching strokes, these are more subtle on the hands, especially around the knuckles and the fingers themselves, I have to pay particular attention to the skin hi-lights on the fingers, almost imperceptible, but nether less there, I use the finest 2B I possess (3mm Pentel P203 Series pencil) to give me those subtle wrinkles on the back of the wrists as well as those darker freckles/spots he has on his hands. I’m really enjoying working on his arm, trying to maintain an even consistent skin tone at the same time, trying to show the underlaying shapes of muscles in the arm and wrist.

STEP 06

Standing back I and taking a moment to view my progress, I see that I am on the halfway mark on this sketch. The work on the arm and wrist gives me a much need break from the details on the shirt, even though I still manage to sketch in at least one half of it.

STEP 07

Now I’m concentrating on the check pattern detail of the shirt under his arm, by adding thin horizontal and vertical lines between the darker main stripes, emphasising the contour of his belly. As I work up towards the fingers I cannot resist to begin sketching in the tankard’s shiny handle, I love sketch shine on metal, it really adds that something special to a plain sketch, hopefully here, it will be a focal point after the face, which hopefully draws the observer from the subject’s face looking at his cup. Working on the handle, also means I have to start working on the fingers holding the cup and each of their relevant reflections in the metal on the side of the cup, I have to make sure these reflections are slightly darker and the area outside each is a tone darker for this reflection to stand out inside the cup.

STEP 08

I continue shading in the reflections on the cup, having to use the 2B to get the darkness around the reflected fingertips, the darker I go, the more they stand out and look as if they are on the surface of the cup. The fingers and especially the nails are taking the slightest tones, these I achieve with a 7H, it’s a never ending balance between the lightness of the fingers holding the cup and the darkness of the reflections in the cup. There really is no fast way to achieve this effect, other than with pure bloody patience and concentrating with a focus I’m used to doing. My dear friend and companion of this sketch, patience, does finally pay off (as I know it always will) and the effects are starting to look AOK in my book.

STEP 09

I now being the lonely process of returning to this near impossible shirt! (if truth be told, I love it really) and using the 7H I begin sketching in the feint horizontal and vertical lines travelling to the right, these lines are generally lighter, the direction the sunlight is hitting Bruce;s shoulder, so again, a very light touch is required, no more than a feather brushing a dusty glass picture frame.

STEP 10

Concentrating on the on the shirt, and the light direction, I work around the other collar and on my way down the shirt towards his pocket. This check pattern is nearly complete, as I can now begin looking at the shirt as a whole, I darker it here and there and using a kneadable eraser, give it some hi-lights especially on folds where it is require. Just one more thing left to do, than it is finished, my trademark signature, in pencil, using the thinnest (3mm 2B) lead I own. Now it is finished!

Here is the finished portrait in it’s entirety,

Thank you for your patience and thanks for taking the time to read my tutorial on the steps it has taken me to complete this portrait.

Happy sketching.

Jan