Rottweiller

Hi all,

Gosh this is a first two posts in one day lol! I started my Rottie drawing today and there is her ref photo on the right...isn't she a real beauty and I just love that bright pink collar. This is going to be quite large about 11 x 14 inches, coloured pencils on Fabriano paper. I scanned it in today and by messing around with the settings, it just scanned in the eyes, which you can see above, as well as the whole body shot which is really cool as I can get a nice close up on the smaller parts of a picture. More to come soon, along with another picture that I am going to do, which is of a young Neapolitan Mastiff with head and paws way too big for his head!

Hi all,

The last few days has been fraught with computer problems, but I have now finally got my lappy talking to my main PC, so I can access one from the other if need be. I also went out and invested in a brand new three in one scanner, printer and copier with fax....not sure if I will use the fax machine or not, but you never know. Got to say that the scanner is tops and I am well impressed with it as is the print quality. It is an Epson Stylus Office BX300f, which I have always found to be reliable, price was good too reduced by £30 in Tesco if anyone is interested. I finally got my little graphite dog up which you can see to the left, not quite finished yet, and have a few more of these to do size 5 1/2 by 4 inches.

I have also being messing around with my pens and had great fun in designing these. I used my hand as a template and just did whatever felt right, although I am not sure what type of art they would be considered. I had some friends come round yesterday, and I thought it would be great to use their hands so got a copy of them too, watch this space for updates on that !

Fracture and Air Cast.

Hi all,
I went to the fracture clinic Monday and saw the consultant, but came away none the wiser really. My fault as I should of asked more questions, but I always feel a bit intimidated by these top medical people and take everything they say as gospel. As I am being referred to physios, I will talk to them, much more approachable and get a better idea of what is going to happen. The long and short of it is that I do have a fracture, but because it was not x rayed the first time I went into the minor injuries clinic, he cant tell whether it is a new one or an old one,which he did not seem too happy about, but either way it seems that I have been walking around on a fractured ankle for the past six weeks or perhaps longer, which really would account for all the pain ! Good news though is that they took that pain in the ass back slab off, and I now have a much lighter,removable air cast which I will be wearing for six weeks.I can walk on this as well, with the aid of crutches, and that makes life so much more easier for me. Updates when I know more.
I will post up a drawing later, just a small one of a graphite dog,(should of been done Monday I know,but have been so knackered of late )and am starting a new drawing of a beautiful Rottie. This dog I managed to snap at one of last years dog show, she is a real looker and had this bright pink collar on. I might do this as a wip as well, so watch this space.
I also found out this morning that I had sold a one of my Zendala T shirts on Zazzle......yippee, so am making a few sales over there, which is great. I am going to make a more in depth post about Zazzle later on, as it has now been four months or so since I joined, and I have managed to formulate a better view of it.

Sleepless night.

Hi all,
No art in this posting I am afraid, just good ole plain text. It has been a sleepless night, as PooPoo has gotten himself a bit of an upset tummy, so we have been up and down with him needing to go the loo for most of the night. As he is an old boy (12 yrs) I am very cautious with his diet so do not make any sudden changes or give him something that I know will upset him ( old english always tend to have sensitive tummy's). Not sure what has caused this bout, and bless him he is lying at my feet looking all sad and forlorn, so now it is a 24 hour starvation and if it does not get better off to the vet. He is showing his age now and can only manage short walks to the park and back and I think his eye sight is not so good as he tends to follow his nose all the time,which requires me to keep eyes on him 24 hours plus, cos he is a dustbin for food, which is possible that he may of nabbed something outside whilst my attention was diverted ! Every few days or so he has a good day, and does a bit of silliness and whilst he is still doing that then it is ok. I am aware though too I might have to make that dreaded decision at some point as the last thing I want for him is to suffer, he is my mate and has been through thick and thin with me,so will see how the day progresses.
On the art front a few little graphite drawings in progress will post them up when I am done and a few more mandalas which will go on my other blog.

Mini Zendalas.

Hi all,
A little behind with updates on this blog as I have been busy working on a drawing as a WIP for my other blog. In between I did mange to knock up a few mini zendalas in pen and ink.....had great fun doing these and they have been created to fit some circle mounts that I recently purchased off eBay.

I do have on my drawing board a mandala with an Egyptian theme and hope to post that up soon, but as always it will be worked on in between everything else !

On a lighter note we are still unpacking stuff, doing tip runs, getting carpet laid and all the other bits that come with moving but we are making progress, and the weather is being kind to us at the moment, so that does help.

Troy Done.

Hi all,
Well after much um and arghing I have finished Troy..and have to say that I am happy about it too. I don't know why I have really struggled with this one, but I have half an inkling it may be to do with the fact that I find myself going a stage of change and exploration.Don't get me wrong I still love doing my animals and pet portraits, but if I am honest I would rather be designing my mandalas and more creative stuff...again it all comes back down to finding that balance between the two. This is not something that has just happened, it has been with me for a while and I will adapt to it in time.
Just this last week on Redbubble I came across an Aussie artist Karen Hull, doing some really wonderful miniatures on Drafting Film,which has inspired me again to try my hand at this dreaded support. I have tried it out before and failed miserably....it was orrible lol, but I have one piece left and will give it another go...wish me luck, cos I have already binned two pieces of work already this week lol.

Ps I forget to mention that the background is done in Pastels....not sure about that though and the size is 12 x 10 inches.

Latest Updates

Hi all,
This the latest of Troy, and is almost finished. I am not entirely happy with it, and can see a few mistakes, but I don't feel to make too many corrections now as I have spent way too much time on this piece. The lump of fur on the left needs doing and a little more work on the neck,along with the ear, but we are almost there. I have used the same colours previously listed through out just building up layers and colours.

I did write a post a little while ago about setting up a blog for selling some of my original art, but I never actually got round to getting that off the ground, and have decided to delete it, and put in a page on my website, which seems to make sense to me as I do update there regularly as well. At the same time I have also added in a page for my zazzle shop, with the intent to post a new product up every week or so. It is still very much about trial and error and testing the market, but my zazzle shop does seem to be doing ok as I have made sales over there wooowoo, 4 postcards today! Like anything nothing happens over night and you do have to work at things like this, update your pages,shop,blog etc and keep on making great art !