Black on Grey on White

I've jumped a long way out of my comfort zone and used a few spare hours on a cool inter-blog project: Virtual Sketch Date Here's the result using the gorgeous reference pic provided.  This was provided by fellow artist Sharon K.M . Thank-you. It's not a sketch (too much detail), it's not a finished drawing (too rough for that), it's a study with a million mistakes that have been taken aboard and not forgotten .  "Peony in Vase" 10x12 cm, s tudy in graphite This was fun and definately a much needed exercise . Looking forward to next months challenge.

Welcome back to the sequel in the creation of my Greyhound portrait . After a good-night's sleep, I carried on by tackling the connection between girls and dog (see close-up of stage 4). This meant I had to ignore her hand.(- always a good idea to back-off until the frustration dies down). A quick recap on the material used: Mellotex paper Derwent graphite pencil 2B, 3B and 8B Staedler clutch pencil F and 2H Chamois leather Blu-Tack (kneadable eraser) The great thing with this piece is that it seemed to take shape from the very start and flowed easily all the way through. For stage 4 I used my clutch pencil filled with F to render the girls features and skin. Light strokes are then blended with a chamois leather, this is repeated until the right effect is achieved. Her eye was drawn with my 2B Derwent. No blending Close up on stage 4. Here the tongue and the connection between the dog and the girl has to be established.   Her hair was drawn with a 3B. No blending just layering.   S...

I have made good progress with my new project. I am, as usual, up against the clock and have very little time left.  The entries are due on the 19 th . Here are two more steps in the process. My biggest challenge here is to get the hand right...smooth, soft and young yet showing strength -holding on tightly enough to not let go.  If the look and feel of the hand does not work out it will break the whole piece.... I have spent quite a long time on it and I am still not happy... Will sleep on it....  Need a little bit of "shut-eye". Sweat dreams.

Robert is now officially finished. After week "away", I brought him out for a tweak and he has now gone back to safety with a new improved pair of ears ( I do believe lookin much happier for it!).   He's has also been priced and entered into the show:   Helping Paws 2008.   " Robert " Graphite on Paper, 26x23 cm $ 350 (20% donated to DCGR ) Have a great week-end.

School is most definately bringing out the creative side in my girls! The oldest has started sketching (not sure I even knew the term at the grand old age of 5) and the youngest is following suit. Only she is  bringing a wee bit of a variation to the word. She has gone in for animal art! Jess was her muse. I think it was her bemused look and little plea in her big eyes that brought my attention to her freshly coloured blue tummy and back paws. (She had been sound asleep on her chair as the artists were creating ...She knows all about her 9 lives!) The photo illustrates the left over marks . Jess charmingly (hastily) and elegantly (expertly) washed herself and magically found her silky snowy white fur without hurting the artists' feelings in anyway ...! (Must ask her how she did that.) Moments like this are priceless and just have to be shared. OK off to put pencil to Mellotex paper.

This new piece is still untitled but despite being nameless is starting to take shape. There is no way you can make a lot of sense of what has been drawn.  The top of the back of a greyhound is showing as well as the beginning of both a leather collar and thick cotton jacket. I will post a follow-up which will shed a little more light. Promise! This is my second piece for the Canine Art Guild' s " Helping Paws 2008" exhibition. 20% of the sale will be donated to the Dumfriesshire & Cumbria Greyhound Rescue. The medium used up until now are  2B and 8B graphite Derwent pencils.  The 8B was used for the darkest areas. I am drawing on Mellotex paper. I have also been spending time researching into the work and life of a seriously good artist. Should you ever see any work with this signature make sure you take a double look (or triple!)... He was just plain excellent. I will be posting all about him over the next 10 days As always thank you for popping by and have a great...

Today has turned out to be a quiet yet brilliant day! Gayle Mason (Fur in the Paint) has awarded Black on Grey on White with the Arte y Pico award. I am very flattered and performing quite an impressive happy dance on this side of the water (last weeks waltzing can't in anyway compete!) Gayle is a very talented and accomplished animal artist who produces some exquisite work in not only pencil and pastel but also acrylics. Intrigued (you should be!) you can see her work on both her blog Fur in the Paint and her website. The Origin of The Arte y Pico Award: The designer of the award explains it in the following way: "The Arte y Pico Award has arisen from the daily visits that I make to many blogs which nourish and enrich me with creativity. In them, I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain and enrich me day to day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick jus...