Kiya

 

"Kiya"

We have a saying here in the UK to describe when an event doesn't occur for a very long time and then all of a sudden it happens multiple times. We say "They're just like buses ... you wait all day for one and then three come along at once". That's what has happened to me with regards to Dog portraits.

A short while ago I was asked to do a double portrait of Rocky and Alfie for a relative. That was quickly followed by a request to paint Buddy for the relatives friend after he'd seen the Rocky & Alfie portrait. When I handed Buddy over to my Brother-in-law for him to give to his friend, he quickly followed it up by asking if I'd do another one for the friends friend. 

This time it is a Cocker Spaniel called Kiya who passed away unexpectedly. Apparently Kiya's owners only had a few photo's on their phone and desperately wanted something better to remember him/her by. Obviously I agreed and sharpened up my pastel pencils.

Previous Dog portraits in pastels

"Buddy"

"Rocky and Alfie"

Buddy

 

"Buddy"

After the success of the last double dog portrait I did for my nephew, my sister and brother-in-law asked me to do another for their friend who has recently lost his Collie called Buddy. 

Once again it is with Pastel Pencils. I have always avoided Pastels because my one brief early attempt with them was a disaster and created nothing more than a horrible, dusty mess. I decided they just weren't for me. When someone bought me a small tin of Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencils I attempted to paint a tiger and was very surprised with the result. Now they are my medium-of-choice when faced with a pet portrait to paint. I remain in awe of all those who can create their art using the chalky stick variety.

Other animal portraits on my web site

Gorilla

Tiger

Rocky and Alfie

Rocky & Alfie

A while ago, when the second of my nephew's two dogs passed away, my sister asked me if I'd be able to do a painting for him that included both dogs together. Obviously I agreed to do what I could and asked her to send me some photo's. 

When I received the photo's I was far from happy. Rocky, the small collie, was never looking at the camera, and all the pictures of Alfie, the German Shepherd, had his fur drenched with water and plastered down. I couldn't see any way I could get a decent painting from the references I had. I considered using artistic licence to paint Alfie dry, with ears up and soft, fluffed up fur, but doubted my artistic skills would stretch that far.

I spoke to my sister about my dilemma and suddenly things didn't seem so hopeless. She explained that Alfie was a terror for diving in the river. Every time he went out for a walk it was his destination of choice and he always came home soaked through. Even other walkers my nephew met along the way knew Alfie as the dog that swam in the river. Getting wet was his character and it would be nice to remember him that way. As for Rocky, despite his strong name he was a timid dog who looked up to Alfie and followed him everywhere .... except in the river.

Other animal portraits on my web site

Eagle

Gorilla

Tiger

Tiger

Some time ago I was looking at my Gorilla drawing and quite liking the close-cropped tight composition and I decided I'd like to try another one. As I said in my Gorilla post I very much liked the intense blacks achievable with charcoal (as opposed to the greys of graphite) so I also fancied working in charcoal again.

Looking for a suitable subject I came across this Tiger. I briefly contemplated doing a black & white study but decided it wouldn't be the same without colour. The end result of my deliberations was to tackle a close-cropped Tiger portrait using pastels (Faber Castell Pastel Pencils to be precise). It's taken much longer to produce than I'd expected but I know more about pastels now than I did. LOL.  ;-)

Pastel Pencils

"Sally" - Pastel Pencils - 8" x 6"

It's been a long time since I last participated in blogland as 'life' gets in the way sometimes, as we all know. Though I'm not properly back into my art yet I did have an opportunity a few days ago to draw or paint for a short while. Last Christmas my daughter bought me a small set of Pastel Pencils because I'd expressed an interest in them and I thought it about time that I got them out and had a play. I don't know what sort of thin card I used so don't know how typical it is or how it compares to 'proper' pastel card but this oddment was lying around so it seemed sensible to use it for my first trial. I have to say I found the experience quite enlightening. I  found the mixing of colours on the 'canvas' and the blending process so much easier than with coloured pencils. On the negative side I did find sharpening the pencils difficult as some of them kept breaking and obviously they don't keep their point for long. All in all I really enjoyed my short venture into Pastel Pencils and hope to do a lot more with the, in the future.