Red Fox painting progress

Apologies for the awful photo quality but here is a quick snapshot of my latest fox painting as it stands on the easel at the end of another days work in the studio.

Fox painting,building detail

Another day's work in the studio see's the beginnings of fur detail being added to the fox.I'm working over the dry underpainting wet in wet to build up fur texture and details.once ive been over the whole animal in this manner and the work has dried i'll then add more details onto the dry surface and use glazing to knock back some of the 'sharper edges'.Work will be interrupted tomorrow as i have a trip to devon planned to do some photography for a client commission.

Finally some progress

Well its been a while since i last posted a wip and i am extremely happy that ive finally shaken off whatever it was that disabled my ability to paint over the last couple of months.At last i'm able to bring some concentration to bear and for the first time in a while felt that things were going my way with a painting.So here's where i am with this fox painting.I had to completely re-think the initial background ideas and simplify matters in order to make sense of it and i'm still working on elements of the foxes surroundings.Meanwhile the fox itself has been underpainted and a little more work completed on the head,there's still much to do but at least i am progressing.i hope that this will now proceed swimmingly,i guess it was probably a little too much to expect that the transition from graphite artist to oil painter would go altogether smoothly without hitch's.i have a further 3 paintings underway including my large leopard painting which has well and truly ground to a halt as i try and work out how to effectively portray the tree its perched in to my satisfaction,it has been re-worked many,many times now and only my stubborn nature has prevented me from binning it and starting on something more in my 'comfort zone',only time will tell if that proves a wise decision.

'Hare Raising' exhibition at Nature in Art

Let out of the studio for two days on the trot,now there's a treat!.Today i went to visit the latest exhibition to be held at Nature in Art at Wallsworth hall,twigworth,gloucs entitled Hare Raising a celebration of the Hare in art.set in two of the upstairs galleries the exhibition is an eclectic mix of art featuring the Hare,apart from the fabulous paintings on display there are also some wonderful sculptures in both bronze and ceramic that caught my eye.my own painting 'Evening light' featured in the gallery i photographed above and i am so thrilled to have a painting on display at this fabulous venue amongst such talented artists.The show runs until the 9th october and is well worth making a trip to see.

something a little different

During the MIWAS annual exhibition i was visited by a client who since i had last produced a portrait of his Ocelot has taken up reptile keeping.Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth i wasnt slow in coming forward when the opportunity to visit his reptile collection was muted and so today i arrived armed with my camera at his premises a little apprehensive but nonetheless excited to view the collection.pictured above are an Emerald tree boa and a hybrid royal python,just two from the many reptiles in the collection.i was particularly taken with the Boa and really would like to try and produce a painting one day but whilst there i learnt so much about these beautiful creatures and just how popular reptiles are with collectors.the Royal python pictured above is a hybrid snake bred for the amazing colours/patternation and was one of many wonderfully exotically marked snakes within the collection,some of them looking almost hand-painted in there exquisitness.i am hoping to re-visit soon and capture more images of the reptiles in the collection as its a subject ive only visited once before with my Young Croc drawing below which proved a big hit with reptile fans.

MIWAS annual exhibition update

this years MIWAS annual exhibition was one of the best attended ever with the new venue of Rookesbury Manor bursting with visitors for all three days of the show.thanks have to go to pip mcgarry and the rest of the MIWAS committee members for all the dedication and hard work that went into putting on this years event at the new location.even in these tough economic times the art market was buzzing with activity throughout the event with visitors absolutely riveted watching artists demo-ing and awestruck by the talent on display.on a personal note i had very good print and card sales throughout the event and managed to attract a couple of commissions for some unusual subjects that i look forward to meeting and photographing.

A client of longstanding for whom i have previously drawn a portrait of one of his Ocelots(yes you read that correctly) visited my stand with another of his animals Steve the Skunk who was very cute indeed and as you can imagine caused quite a stir amongst artists and visitors alike.i am looking forward to producing a drawing of steve in the near future.

Marwell International Wildlife Art Society Annual exhibition

Friday 14th september see's the start of the annual MIWAS art exhibition,being held for the first time at Rookesbury Park Manor near Wickham in Hampshire,UK.This is the largest wildlife art exhibition in europe and runs from 14th-16th september.As well as the stunning exhibition itself,running alongside this event is the ever-popular Art Market where participating artists will be demonstrating and selling prints,cards etc and is a fantastic opportunity to meet the creators of some of the finest wildlife art.I will be exhibiting three pieces in the main exhibition as well as having a stand in the art market where i will be displaying limited edition prints(including some very special show offers),fine art cards and some original works of art.For a great day of wildlife art viewing and the opportunity to chat with some of your favourite artists why not pop along to Rookesbury Manor,parking is free,entry is free thus leaving you more money to spend on goodies in the art market.

An ambition fulfilled

                                                              'Evening Light - Hare'
Ever since i first visited Nature in Art the worlds first art gallery and museum dedicated to art inspired by nature and saw the inspiring collection of works on display i have considered that it would be,for me at least,the ultimate accolade to have a piece of my own work hung on display at the museum.Since that first visit i have been fortunate enough to have spent several very enjoyable weeks there as artist in residence in the wonderful garden studio and met many fine artists along the way.The latest exhibition to be held at the gallery is entitled 'Hare raising-a celebration of the Hare' and i am absolutely delighted that my painting above  'Evening light' has been selected to appear in the show,fulfilling my long-held ambition, which runs from 11th september through until 7th october.
Nature in Art is based in Wallsworth Hall,Twigworth,Gloucestershire,UK and houses a fabulous collection of nature inspired art,sculpture gardens and a working art studio with artists in residence changing on a weekly basis.For more details visit the museums website at www.nature-in-art.org.uk