Max

Max, Coloured Pencil and Neocolor crayons A2 size

I made the foolish suggestion to my niece that I would draw a picture of her beloved dog Max for Christmas. I did add the caveat that it could be a complete failure and she would be getting a gift voucher if it didn’t work.  I have not done many dog portraits and he is difficult colour to be drawing.  I did spend some time on fellow blogger Rebecca Anderson’s site , she does amazing drawings of her black dog,

After a shaky start I am pleased with the result.  The eyes, in fact, have turned out too well and they  follow you around the room.  There were a couple of times when I was drawing it that I could feel him watching me.  Because he is so black, there are times when it is only the flash of the whites of his eyes, that let you know that he is curled up into a dark corner.

He is a rescue pup, we got him at around three months, but he must have had a rough time as he is still a very nervous boy and easily spooked.  My niece has done an amazing job with him and he is well trained, though prone to getting into trouble.  He is visiting us at the moment, while Katie is at the beach with friends.  Our girls love having him to visit, Rosie loves her elder brother, but he is more interested in basking in the sun.

Rosie, Max and Hannah. Max had to voice is objection in being disturbed from his afternoon nap.

Karen

 

 

 

 

Commissions and new web site

Wellanbah (Commission) Ink and water soluble crayons 40 x 40cm

It has been an incredibly busy and exciting lead up to Christmas this year. I now have a website, where you can buy my original art works or prints of your favourites. It is something I have been wanting to do for ages, but not had the time (or energy) to undertake. So have a look around it is at Karenbaileystudio.net. To compliment it I have a Facebook page Karen Bailey Studio and I have renamed my Instagram account the same. I have most of my social media organised (or as much of it as I plan to drive at the moment), of course I now have to keep up with it all.

My other exciting development is that I am taking commissions. These will be in three different formats

1. Mixed media paintings of your home and garden.
2. Coloured pencil drawings of your favourite bloom
3. Mixed media painting of your favourite travel or holiday photo.

I advertised before Christmas in my local community Facebook page hoping someone might be interested, but not expecting much. The support I received was amazing, over 100 likes and three commissions. I was soooo excited, then of course I panicked, all the horror stories I had heard regarding commissions flooded into my head and what if the drawings didn’t work out!!!! But the people who wanted the commissions were really lovely and I had such fun. It was challenging, but I enjoyed drawing different things.

The commission I have included here was very different from what I usually do. Painting a autumnal landscape was fun and I channelled some Vincent as I did those poplars. It worked out well after a few problems with the shadows. I wasn’t dark enough, then I went overboard and went too dark and had to lighten again. Thank goodness the water soluble crayons were forgiving. (Thanks Julie for putting me onto Neocolours by Caren dAche).  The colours are actually a lot closer than these two photos indicate below, just shows you the difference scanning and monitors can make to the images.

Original photo the paintingwas taken from

Wellanbah (Commission) Ink and water soluble crayons 40 x 40cm

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, I certainly did, spreading the celebrations over two days.  I spent Christmas day at home with my sister and had the most tranquil of days, walking the dogs, cooking a feast and pottering in the garden.  Boxing day was our family dinner and another lovely day spent with everyone, lots of people, dogs and of course food and drinks.

Christmas breakfast under the grapevines on a lovely sunny day. 

So please pop over to my website and have a look, it is still a work in progress as I am making it myself, but I hope you like it.

Karen