Black on Grey on White

Back on track. Below the proof. Step 5: Top line in neck defined and detailed helping to accurately define the neck muscle. Step 6: Leather bridle and pelham bit added, more work on muscle structure in both chest and neck. Music, back bone and inspiration to many artists, was my rescue as I started work this am. Song #3 on Depeche Mode 's Sound of the Universe saved the day (and more grey hairs!) The title: "Wrong" !!!

Step 3: Jaw line finished, nose band and a few shadows added to face. Chest started. Blank spaces left for the leather on the neck. This is what one could refer to as the ugly phase... I can't believe the way I'm fumbling around with his neck muscles...I'm not getting the shape right. No worries: I know what I'm looking for and I will get my (misbehaving) pencils to humour me:) Step 4: chest darkened to help establish depth, neck mapped out and top line penciled out. Somehow I feel I've taken a wrong turn and have now found myself at a dead end... Only one cure: take a short break, find bearings and post new update tomorrow. Cheers from a frustrated graphite artist.

A horse. Yeah! It has been a wee while since Black on Grey on White has featured a horse. The last being Drawing a Blank my interpretation of an equine nose This is the start of Charisma's action portrait. My classic combination of Hahnemule paper and Derwent pencils are being used harmonising (indirectly) with a very classic show jumping perspective. The contrast has been pushed a wee bit to bring out more in the scan. Step1: initial layout mapped out, eye brought to life and darks established. Step 2:Work on expression and shape of cheek and jaw line Charisma is my center of attention this week so there will be more progress steps posted over the week. Looking forward to sharing them with you until then back to the drawing board for step3. Cheerio for now.

Re-arranged Desks Daylight light + view of drawing board New wall unit for files,books and music + trolleys for pencils and other tools. Spring has brought its annual wind (and rain) of change. This is good. Good for millions of us. Good for many reasons. Good for one place in particular: my wee nookie of a room I love to call "my studio". You can see more of my nest in a previous post and picks , for those of you familiar with this post you may well realise that the changes are minute...but important! A new wall unit allowing to organise more literature, files and better sound (hi-fi sitting high and proud). repositioning of desks making room for better movement: "rolling around in chair" (the slant in roof makes standing virtually impossible). new daylight artist light (most excellent xmas gift). The studio faces south and is not ideal for working without artificial light...long story! de-cluttering trolleys of unnecessary bits and bobs ( we all know about those ...

"Lilly" 26x22.5 cm, graphite on paper Sheona Hamilton-Grant. 2009. Finished. This portrait has been a long time in the making. Many external influence kept dragging me away from the drawing board and because it took my wee brain way too long to figure out how to render all the intricacies and in's and out's of the tartan without going O.T.T. After much deliberation I opted for a looser effect. Her wee face is in the spotlight (and very detailed) by over working the tartan the piece would have become too rigid. I'm really chuffed by all the lessons learned and the result. The icing on the cake: the client is over the moon and cannot wait to have her hanging on their wall. Before saying cheerio for my Easter break I would like to extent a big cheery wave to ALL my followers. Sadly time has not allowed me to personally welcome you all, but please believe I am so excited to have you all follow my wee tribulations as an artist. Will be back in 10 days. Very best Easter...

More work has been done on Lilly's portrait. The internet connection was close to non-existent yesterday allowing for more drawing and unfortunately no blogging. Todays steps show how the hand, the dress and the baby's head have taken shape. Step 4 There is more detail coming into the dress. A 6B was used, lightly mapping out a route for the folds in the dress, the tartan squares and the shape of the mother's neck. I have not quite worked out how to render the tartan and to be honest if I wasn't a Scot I would be cursing this gorgeous material to "kingdom come"... The hand was drawn using light 2B shading which I then blended with... toilet paper. A top layer in F was added. Step 5 Here progress is made in both defining and refining the shape of her head, the expression of her mouth and the lay of her baby hair. Before doing this a darkening layer was added to the background jacket. I felt the dark value was too weak and could use a bit more oomph! I work...