A peek inside my new studio/gallery

Starting in the new year my working studio and gallery in Warsash near Southampton,UK will be opened on occasional weekends to allow visitors to view a working studio in action as well as to view and purchase from a selection of original artworks,limited edition prints and fine art cards.
The studio will also be opened by appointment should anyone wish to view an original piece of art or print prior to committing to a purchase.if you would like to visit my studio then please do drop me a line in the first instance at clivedmeredith@gmail.com and I will respond asap
I will post here on my blog any studio open days as they are arranged.

Latest Fox drawing complete

My latest Red Fox drawing is now complete.Its as yet untitled whilst I think of some appropriate prose,funny how after all the effort and unlimited concentration required to produce images I always struggle with titles for the images ive often spent weeks staring at!.Any way this image is an amalgamation of references from my own garden visiting foxes and a wonderful face shot of a very handsome fox taken by a good friend,who has graciously allowed me to use it as the basis of this drawing.i don't often use photographic references that aren't my own and in this case its just the face but it was just such a good looking animal and so I transferred this foxes face onto a body shot taken of one of my own animals and this is the result.The drawing is once again large scale at 26" x 17" and like my previous two large pencil drawings has been produced with a view to publishing early next year.

London International Horse show 2014 at Olympia 16th-22nd december

This year a large collection of my original works and limited edition prints will be on display on my publisher Collier and Dobson's stand N25/26 at the London international horse show held at Olympia.Some of the available original works are shown above but there will be many more and my full range of limited edition prints will also be on display.This is a unique opportunity to view so many of my artworks collected together in one prestigious venue.

New Fox drawing taking shape

My latest fox drawing is really starting to take shape on the drawing board.Its quite a large piece once again at just over two feet in height.The image is based on foxes that visit my garden and studio daily and so I'm never short of a sitter or reference to work from.

Something Foxy on the drawing board

Another large scale pencil drawing on the go in the studio.This time its a full length portrait of a particularly handsome foxy fellow modelled on my own garden fox visitors who are frequently to be found waiting patiently outside the studio for a bite to eat.

Leading the Way 17" x 26" pencil drawing

My latest elephant drawing is now complete and with my publishers for image scanning prior to being released as a limited edition print.I called it 'Leading the way' and the back story behind the image is where that title originates.The image is a recollection of a scene witnessed in Chobe national park in Botswana last September.Along with my travelling companions we were sitting on a trail near the Chobe river in our safari vehicle when a small herd of elephants appeared over a rise and walked downhill straight towards us.They were heading for the Chobe river to drink and as they approached the vehicle they would acknowledge our presence with a flap of there ears or a wave of the trunk as with the lead elephant in my drawing.the animals briskly crossed the trail directly in front of our vehicle and headed off across the flood plain towards the river and the water they were craving.the larger animals were to the rear forming a kind of reargaurd to the herd of about 30 individuals of all ages.the elephants in Botswana were definitely the highlight of the safari for me and I will be returning to the subject many more times.

Elephant drawing almost complete

The drawing is very close to completion now with just the lead animals trunk and tusks to be finished.

more progress on elephant drawing

another days work on my elephant drawing and the lead elephant is much more complete.loads of graphite layering has gone on to create the shadowed areas with a little more to complete on the front legs before I can make a start on the detail on its head and trunk.

Update on Elephant group drawing

My Elephant drawing is progressing nicely in the studio with a start now being made on the fourth Elephant of the group.The lead elephant of the group acknowledged my presence with a quick flap of its ears and a swish of its trunk as they walked towards me and crossed directly in front of my vehicle on there way to the Chobe river to drink and i hope to show this acknowledgement in the final drawing.

First Two Elephants complete

The first two elephants are now complete and I will make a start on the two closer animals after the weekends break.the nearer animals will be more tightly worked helping to give the impression of depth to the piece.still havnt made the decision as to whether to include background but I'm leaning towards keeping the image clean and possibly more striking without a background.

A new elephant picture on the drawing board

This snapshot was taken this morning of my latest pencil drawing.This is a portrayal of an encounter I had with a small herd of elephants in Chobe,Botswana.I have drawn the outlines of four animals from the herd but have yet to decide how much,if any,of the dry background to put into the drawing.i will let it progress a bit further before making the decision,but either way I can see me spending some time over this piece,which,like the tiger drawing,is quite a large drawing.As the piece progresses and the narrative unfolds I will talk further about this thrilling encounter.

Tiger drawing complete

The Tiger drawing is now completed and awaiting a title.The image measures 16.5" x 34" and is certainly one of my biggest drawings to date.the original drawing and limited edition prints will be available in due course,please keep an eye on my website www.clivemeredithart.weebly.com for further details.

Lounging Tiger drawing update

My new tiger drawing is progressing well on the board and another full day's work in the studio should see it completed.Much layering of graphite to go on the remainder of the cat portraying the body stripes but the tough part is over now and its on the home straight.

There's a Tiger watching me!

Yesterday was a bit of a marathon session in the studio as I wanted to make sure I had completed the tigers head before I take a short weekend break away.Having completed all the facial markings I treated myself to completing the eyes of the animal.I love it when,finally,the eyes are put in place and at last all that hard work pays off and suddenly the animal is right there looking back at you! I often save the completion of the eyes in a drawing for later in the piece,particularly after many long-hours spent building up the basics of the image,as a kind of little artists treat,the 'icing on the cake' if you like.i hope you are all enjoying this drawing coming together,have a great weekend.

bengal tiger drawing progression

here are two shots of my latest tiger drawing taken in the studio on subsequent mornings which show the progress from initial graphite layering on the cats face to the fully worked up area of fur on the cats nose.This equates to a long day's work in the studio and demonstrates how time-consuming it can be when working large-scale in graphite.Luckily in my new studio I get very much less interruption during my working day than I used to suffer from in my studio in the house and can really crack on with a piece over many hours.

New additions to website

                                                                      Brown Hare
Whilst many of you will be aware of my website some of you may not be and therefore with Christmas on the horizon I thought I'd post a reminder that on my website,apart from original works of art there are limited edition prints including my latest edition featuring the lovely Hare pictured above and fine art cards.So if you know someone who loves wildlife and has a space on there wall then why not have a look at my site www.clivemeredithart.weebly.com .The site is constantly updated,prints are all strictly limited edition and each is hand-signed and numbered by me

Tiger drawing update

Lots of layering of graphite later the facial markings of my new tiger drawing are in place and I'm ready to begin building the tone on the cats face and constructing the head.The hardest part (for me) of any cat drawing are the ears because of the complexity of fur and the depth within and  I always take a great deal of time to try and make them look convincing and after a couple of days work on them in the studio I'm happy that ive achieved all that I could.i hope youre enjoying watching this piece come together.

Creation of a new studio in pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures show the emergence of a studio/workroom over a period of 5 months from an ugly and very tatty concrete sectional garage and attached cement-bonded asbestos shed to a lovely timber building that fits nicely into the environment of the back garden.I took down and disposed of both the garage and shed and then my builder friends took over and over a period of 4 months in there spare time and at weekends they built the art studio and seamstress's workroom to my specification.there are still a few little finishing touches outstanding but the building is now fully operational.in the near future I hope to be opening the studio on alternate weekends where visitors will be able to view my entire range of limited edition prints and cards as well as a selection of original works.if anyone is genuinely interested in a private view of original works or limited edition prints then please do contact me at clivedmeredith@gmail.com  to arrange a viewing.