Border Collies Finished.

Hi all,
This is my Border Collie pic, just about done. Really enjoyed doing this and working in Graphite again, sometimes as a CP artist we forget that most of us probably started out using the humble pencil, and so much can be achieved with it.....note to self...must use graphite more !
The Basset is coming along nicely and I will blog that over the weekend, and in case you were wondering what has happened to the Rottie, she is almost done.Looking at my desk today I was amazed at how many pieces that I have waiting to be finished, so my top goal is get these done before starting something new.....she says ! It is gonna be hard as we are set to have a super sunny weekend, so perhaps I will set up outside for a while see how we go.

Poo is doing well, looks like the meds have done their work, and he is still bounding around, although Bluebell seems to have a permanent wet head where he keeps giving her bath !

Boot Sale, Sunburn and Two Drawings.

Hi all,

Here are my two latest works, the Border Collies are from a photo I took at a dog show last year. I just loved this pose as they were looking up at Mum after winning a class, very pleased with themselves. I am doing this in Graphite on Winsor and Newtons drawing paper medium surface but on the back. The other drawing is of the Basset that I am re working.....not sure where I am going with that waistcoat, but I think my imagination just went a little wild lol, but I think the blue works better with the Bassets colouring rather than the red.

Poo Poo is feeling alot better now I am happy to say, so much so he is bounding around like a baby elephant, and whilst out walking the other day went into stalk mode, which is something he has not done since a youngster lol. Have to say he is a funny old boy, not much brains, but I absolutely adore him, and as I am writing this he is a kip on the sofa with his legs dangling off the side. Yep the sofa is his bed, and our bed is shared by Bluebell who sleeps full length down the middle......I am sure my home is owned by my dogs and not us lol.

On the Saturday I had a good clear out of my shed and other places, it is amazing how much stuff one holds on to, and decided to do a Boot sale on the Sunday. Up at 4 am out the door at 5 and setting up by six. The sun shone and silly me did not think to bring any sun tan cream....I should not of sat out in as long as I did, but the sun was so warming and just made me feel relaxed. Like most arthritis sufferers heat is good and we long for warm sunny days, but being a fair woman I did catch the sun a little too much and it is a lesson well learnt....remember to slap the cream on ! As it happens I did quite well and got rid of a load stuff, but the rest will go to a charity shop as I am sure they will make good use of it. I love going to boot sales and always find something that I can use, and have picked up a pine coffee table, frames for my art, second hand clothes, portable gas cooker(camping one),wind break, even pencils and paper...you just never know what you are going to find.

Latest Work

Hi all,

Just a quickie from a glorious sunny day here in the UK, this is my latest just finished. I really like this one and reckon that when I have re worked the other two that they will look great as part of a series. I do intend to add more to the group, with different colours and ideas but at the moment they are in sketchbook mode. 10 x 8 inches on Stonehenge.

Png,Jpeg and a big headache.

Hi all,
No art to show today as such, although I do have some ready to up, but I am so behind with everything as I have been playing with gimp, and learning alot about jpegs and png s. I really did not know that there is that much difference but it seems there is. I cannot say too much about it at the moment as I am still messing, but methinks in about 10 light years or so I might have a basic understanding lol.

Poo has been very unwell too and I thought for a moment that his time had come,bless him he is 12 years old and has a few ailments due to his age. After taking him to the vet it is not as bad as I had thought, but it seems he has a chest infection of some sort, so is on anti biotics for that and anti flammatorys for his hips.....two days in and I swear he is bounding around like a big baby lamb. Cant tell you how pleased I am....he is my soul mate and has been with me since 13 weeks old, and it is a joy to see him back with a bit of zazz in his stride.

ACEO Questions

Hi all,
Just another quick posting this morning.....have to say it is dreary, damp and cool here in the UK, hoping the sun will return soon !
Ok I am aiming these questions at all of you ACEO artists out there, who sell their cards or otherwise. I do make cards but have never tried to market them so I am curious to know a few things.
1/ What details do you put on the back of your cards if any ? (ATCS have name, date, medium, series no)
2/ Do you sign your cards on the front or the back ?
3/ Do you find that marketing your cards to be sold in sleeves better so they can be collected, or do you design them in such a way that they can be mounted and framed ?
4/ What in your opinion sells better originals or prints ?
5 / What would your lowest starting price for an ACEO be whether you would be selling it from a stall/craft fair etc or at a place like Etsy, Artfire, Ebay etc.

If you chosse to answer just leave me comment or email me, and my thanks to all for any input on this.

Another Celestial Kitty.

Hi all,

This is another one of my Celestial Kitty drawings that I am working on. I started this a while back and I was not too sure which way to go with it, but inspiration strikes when you least expect it, and as usual with these types of pictures, I just do what feels right. I have also decided to rework the two that I did before this one as I feel they can be done a little better. The original idea was to do these Kitty's as Mandalas focusing on the eyes and the mystical/spiritual side that cats seem to have. Each one would have different coloured eyes, combined with shapes and colours representing symbols as in stars, moon, teardrops the ying yang, swirls and whirls, flowers, butterflies etc. I really like the idea of doing animals in this type of way, so different from the realistic pictures I do, but am not too sure if it would work for every animal. For instance I thought about trying to do a doggy one, but to me dogs are all about fun, food, play and generally being doggy lol, I don't really perceive them as having a mystical side, but I do see Wolves that way. I think alot of this comes from what I have already read on the net about animal symbolism/spiritualism/totems going back into history. Even so methinks I might try to do a domestic doggy one, perhaps imbuing it with a sense of fun and joviality...much like my own two nutty dogs lol.

Bassett and Rotties

Hi all,

Ok here is another update on the Rottie, although I am not totally happy with it at the moment. After leaving it for a couple of days and coming back with fresh eyes I can see things that need changing and you will see some of that on the left hand side of the face, where I have erased some of the colour. I don't want to do too much of this for fear of ruining the paper, but hopefully the next update should see it finished.

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you well may remember this piece from a few years back. I really enjoyed doing this as apart from the Basset the rest of it came from my imagination the title being Lord Basset.....bit naff now when I think about it lol. Sadly for this work and unbeknown to me until I had got half way through it the paper has a terrible score across the bottom starting left to right. No amount of colour would disguise this and to my eyes it is a very noticeable thing. I have kept this picture for two reasons one to remind me to check my paper for flaws before I start to draw, most important if you are buying by the sheet rather than a pad. The other is because I had always intended to redo this, but perhaps I might change the colour of the waistcoat into a deep blue, but keeping the cushion red. So this is going to be my next WIP after the Rottie, and as usual will be in CPs but haven't decided what surface to use yet. I do have a few other drawings on the go, and these are in Graphite and I will post them as they are finished. I have yet to get a decent photos of my stones as I have packed them away for the short term, but at my next bout of rock painting I shall get the camera out.

Rocks and Rotties

Hi all,

It has been such a busy week, so much happening on the art front and still getting my new home the way I want it, but it is all coming together slowly but surely ! After making my last two posts I had some lovely comments from my readers about integrating my two blogs and I thank you all of taking the time to give your thoughts. The overall opinion seems to be keeping it exactly as it is, so this is what I will do.....methinks the mixture of different art forms all in one place works, so watch this space for my more of my rocks and other creative endeavours.

I have spent a considerable amount of time painting rocks this week and have had great fun in doing so, the possibilities seem to be endless and I will post up a photo of the new ones later on today, and hopefully displayed just a bit better than on a tatty old newspaper lol.

Grabbed a bit of time for the rottie drawing too, but had some major problems with the mouth area, if I erased it once I did so about three times in the end, but no more as I don't want to ruin the surface of the paper. It is not quite right, but will tweak it later on when the picture is finished.

It is May Day Bank holiday here in the uk and the sun has been shining through for us, lovely and warm. Tomorrow there are a few celebrations on and I will be out and about visiting, just generally chilling and taking in the sun. I am not sure what I have in mind do to do next art wise, and was thinking I might run a poll so you can all vote for what you would like to see drawn next, more on that in the next few days. Hope you all have a good weekend, with lots of fun and sun !

PS I am still putting in the links from my mandala blog into this one, so if you dont see it now you will do in the next few days or so.