Brown Hare study 13.25"x9" oil on board

Finished this little painting this afternoon.I'm happy that my oil painting adventure is progressing and indeed getting a little faster.ive tinkered a little with some added fur details,added the whiskers and of course the eye.i like to leave eyes till last as a little treat as i like to see the whole piece come to life at the last moment.i shall leave it on the easel for a day or two in case the urge to tinker comes upon me but i'm pretty happy with the result.

Brown Hare update

The first detail coat of oils is now complete and this painting will be put aside for a day or two to dry.The next step will be to add a final detail coat of oils to refine the fur details,add whiskers and little touch's here and there and of course to complete the eye.

Brown Hare oil progress

Progress has been slow on this little Hare painting due to out of studio committments but ive nearly completed the detail coat of oil on the head of the animal

Two new works underway

Bull African elephant pencil drawing

Brown Hare study oil painting
Ive finally managed to get a little studio time to make a start on two new images.The first is going to be a largish pencil drawing of a bull african elephant and will no doubt take me forever to complete.I have started to lay in the background in a loose manner and have made it look slightly out of focus with the use of a paper blender,the intention being to tighten up in the foreground only,although i still havnt quite worked out how to make grass look anything other than sketch-like as yet.Lots of practice on spare scraps of paper should see me come up with the solution when the times right.My second image is of a Brown Hare and is in oils.i havnt painted for a while and so i decided to try and ease myself back into the swing of things with a simple study piece.the underpainting has been completed in Alkyd oils and for the first time in 15 years i'm using pure oil paints to render the detail coats.i had forgotten what a joy real oil paints are to work in,quite apart from the fantastic smell!

i still have a few exhibitions on-going and so progress is likely to be a little slow at first but i'll post an update as soon as there's something more significant to see

Update on marwell exhibition and art market

Invariably i forget to take a photo at exhibitions etc and so i made a conscious effort to get a shot of my little stand in the art market marquee at this years MIWAS exhibition to share with you all.The marquee was packed with fellow wildlife artists for 3 days over the Bank holiday weekend and saw record numbers of visitors attending many of whom were enthralled to watch some of the many demonstrations of artists at work in a host of different mediums.I decided to concentrate on my limited edition prints as i thought it easier for buyers to carry around a busy zoological park than hefty framed works and i'm glad i did as there was steady trade all weekend.It was particularly nice to catch up with so many artist friends and meet new ones in the marquee as well as the many that popped by to say hello on a rare day out from there studio's.In the main exhibition hall i had 3 original works on display and i'm delighted to report that 2 of the 3 sold including my award winning cape buffalo which ive already delivered to its delighted purchasers.i have a couple of shows to go before the season winds down and then i can return full time to my studio and try to realise the many new images swimming around in my head.

Marwell international wildlife art society annual exhibition

Recieving my runners up award for 'best non british wildlife art' from tv zoologist and conservationist Mark Cawardine

'Cape buffalo' award winning pencil drawing

'Bengal tiger cub' SOLD on preview night

Last night was the preview evening for the Marwell International wildlife art society's annual exhibition held at Marwell zoological park,nr winchester,hampshire.In a packed venue i was delighted to recieve the runners up award in the 'best of non british wildlife art' category and was presented with my award by Pip Mcgarry and Mark Cawardine.Marwell Hall was packed with invited guests and artists for the 13th annual exhibition and it was a real pleasure to bump into many artist friends on a rare trip out from there studio's.As the evening progressed many 'red dots' appeared on an array of different artworks and i was delighted when i learned that my oil sketch of a bengal tiger cub was one of those sold.The exhibition runs untill monday 29th august and alongside the show an art marquee hosting a multitude of artists demonstrating there skills and selling art including myself will be open for the Bank holiday weekend running from saturday 27th through to monday 29th august.if your at a loose end over the weekend or interested in viewing magnificent wildlife art then why not pop along to Marwell Zoological park for a great day out.

'Cockling on Hill Head beach' 6"x10"