Saturday 24 December 2011

Merry Christmas to all



Merry Christmas to all of my friends and followers here on my blog.Ive thoroughly enjoyed reading all your comments this year as my artistic journey reached another significant turning point.2011 has been one of my best years as a professional artist and no-one is more surprised and delighted than i.2012 promises to be even better with the release of some long-awaited limited edition prints including some from my latest oil paintings as well as an exciting new range of greeting cards.I do hope you will all continue to stop by and enjoy the art here in 2012,my best wishes to all.

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Avocet painting progress



Avocet painting is coming along nicely now,ive added a further coat of oils to the bird and largely completed the reflection.A little refinement will be needed here and there but i dont think there's much more i can do if i want to keep it simple and fresh.

Tuesday 20 December 2011

I'm not fixated honestly!



I do love Avocet's however it is purely coincidental that this image comes so soon after my last avocet painting.Sometimes when i'm playing around with images to find the best composition to suit the image i cant make my mind up between two or they both warrant a painting in my mind.in this case i had two paintings of avocets on the go at the same time a my last fox painting and some new larger works unfortunately the larger works are taking a little more preparation and mulling over and so the smaller simpler pieces are being worked on whilst my mind contemplates the final composition of my large pieces.on this particular painting i had already done the under-painting and now ive added a further coat of paint to the background and water and i shal be strengthening the colouration of the bird as well as re-painting its beak.

the London International horse show at Olympia has now ended and i'm delighted to report that my last fox painting which i rushed off to the framers in order to have it on my stand in time sold on its debut at the show.

i would like to take this oportunity to wish you all a very merry christmas and to thank all my readers and clients for they're on-going support and kind words over the last year.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Red Fox portrait 8.75" x 12.25"

This little study of a red fox displaying a submissive posture has already been framed and is currently on show at the London International Horse show in Olympia,London along with my last pencil drawing 'Drifter'.I thought i would post this updated scan of the painting to show the true colours in the piece as my previous attempts at photographing the painting in the studio resulted in too much glare.Ive been very pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome this piece has recieved and as a result i think i may publish it as a limited edition print in the near future.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Avocet oil study update

After my short break in Somerset ive returned to an inbox full of xmas orders and so havnt had a lot of time for painting.I have some ideas for larger images filling out nicely in my head and am about to start preparing mdf boards for upcoming paintings.In the meantime i had a little piece of prepared board lying around in the studio and so i decided to put it to good use on a new avocet study.This Avocet was observed yet again at my favourite birding spot Titchfield Haven nature reserve here on the south coast.I'm depicting the bird on the edge of one of the scrapes and rather liked the viewpoint of the bird from the rear and at this angle it fits my little bit of mdf perfectly.It is for the most part complete ive just got a little more work to do in the foreground with a bit of vegetation.The size of this painting is 12" x 7.5"

Sunday 4 December 2011

short break in somerset

since my last posting ive been rather busy with getting artworks out to various xmas shows and preparing boards for new works.There will be several new limited edition prints added to my portfolio over the next couple of months which has meant a lot of to and fro-ing to publishing house of late.As i write this i have taken off for a few days in Somerset for a short break with my family and friends and am enjoying walking along the local coastline and moors armed as always with my trusty camera.it was while taking a short stroll along the esplanade at Minehead that i came across a young peregrine falcon that had just taken a pigeon and was busy plucking feathers whilst being accosted by a growing band of crows attempting to drive the bird off its kill.luckily i had my camera with me and shot over 100 photo's over a period of 15 minutes or so during which the falcon plucked and fed on the carcass whilst fending off the ever more daring crows.As the band of crows numbers slowly swelled they started to venture very close to the falcon and tugged at its tail and wing feathers much to the birds annoyance in an effort to drive it off but the plucky bird refused to be driven away for some time as it ate its fill before abandoning the pigeon carcass to its tormentors.this was my first morning in Somerset and i thought it was a great omen for the rest of my stay here.looking forward to a long walk on the beautifully desolate Exmoor today and i wonder what i may encounter.