Buster and Tess portrait update

this past week has been one of those weeks when everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and ive spent the majority of it dashing around or on the phone fire-fighting the seemingly endless stream of hitches that have come my way.yesterday there was finally light at the end of the tunnel that is this eminently forgettable week and i managed to reach the sanctuary of the studio and make a start on Busters companion Tess.Ive managed to complete one ear and have started the layering process on tess's face that will build up to give shape and form prior to adding details.due to the stage that this process is at you can clearly see the different layers in action here as i progressively build up the darker tones and leave lighter those areas of the coat subject to shine

Buster completed

just a quick update today as ive not had much studio time due to other committments.i shall be moving onto Buster's buddy Tess very shortly.

Almost there

Buster the german pointer is almost complete now,just some dark toning to add and a little more work on his coat required and then it's onto Tess his companion.

Someones looking back at me

Had a long day yesterday,firstly, handing in and setting up for the forthcoming 'Along these lines' exhibition at the Sir Harold Hillier gardens in romsey,uk which will feature the work of prominent hampshire artists working in many different styles and media an exhibition which will feature 5 of my original pieces as well as limited edition prints and the new greetings card range and secondly a delightful meal and drinks in the evening with some old friends who i dont get to see often enough.Hence this mornings start in the studio was slightly belated and i havn't therefore got quite as far with this drawing today as i would have wished but nonetheless theres good progress to report here not the least of which is that Buster the german pointer is now gazing back at me.always nice to get the eyes complete and bring life to the piece.

Dog commission-a little more progress

Another long day in the studio see's Buster the german pointer starting to emerge from the paper with the aid of lots and lots of graphite layering.in some of the darkest areas completed so far i have used pencils as soft as 4B on top of every other grade of pencil from H thru to 3B.i like to set a couple of the darkest toned areas at the outset of a drawing as it helps with judging the overall tones to be used elsewhere and means i can approach other areas a little less tentatively.There is an awful lot more layering of graphite to go before Buster finally arrives but you can see the way the drawing progresses here.

The start of a new commission

My tiger drawing has been set to one side for a while as i have a new commission to undertake and time is a little short as the drawing is wanted for a birthday.The subjects of this drawing will be a very handsome pair of german pointers full of character that i hope to get across in the finished piece.It has taken a couple of days to get the dogs sketched out to a nice size and having stretched the paper ive made a start on one of the dogs.regular readers of my blog will know that i build up my images using many layers of graphite applied with a full range of pencils,starting with the harder grades and gradually working my way through the softer grades in turn.here you can see my outline that ive transposed from the rough 'working out' paper onto stretched HP watercolour paper and my initial layers of graphite that have been applied.ive applied two layers of H grade pencil over most of the face as a starting point and now i'm working up the details by layering from H thru to 2B grades so far on the left hand side of the dogs face.the ear is pretty much complete and im busy layering and blending over the rest of the face until shape,form and tone is correct and then i can add fur details etc.there is a good deal of careful blending to be carried out as the dog has a lovely shiny coat that i want to stand out.at this stage i'm blending using just the pencil and variable pressures to acheive the required result.

New Greetings cards to order

Winter Barn Owl 8"x4"

Red Squirrel 6"x6"

Lion 6"x6"

Black Leopard 6"x6"

Bengal Tiger Cub 6"x6"

African Elephant and calf 7"x5"

As well as over 50 limited edition prints available from my website i now have a brand new range of fine art greetings cards available to order.There are six designs in my current range with another six new designs to follow shortly.Each card is made from 300gsm white card and includes an envelope,clear polypropylene sleeve and labelled 'blank inside' and features one of my award winning images.The cards are available to order direct from me by emailing your order to clivemeredith@hotmail.com whereupon i will advise you of payment options.Cards are priced at £2.50 each including p&p for UK orders,for overseas orders please email for a price.