Black on Grey on White

Time to say cheerio for this year.  Pencils are resting after another scribbled packed year. So without any further ado and a massive cheery-hohoho, wishing you all a   merry Christmas and a  fandabidosy New-Year !

Took an invigorating jump out of the old routine (of Christmas commissions) and into a batch of new discoveries (texture and movement of feathers, self-filming, relaxing in front of camera, getting into the zone when in the spotlight, drawing without spontaneous OTT dance moves…) Pencil in hand, a new challenge of rendering a feathered subject was taken up and deciding to hit two birds with one stone (super bad pun intended!) went ahead and learned how to capture the process on my iPhone. The result (an succession of photographs shot at 3 minute intervals over a five day period) is really fun. Next step: repeat with a new drawing and improve on the whole relaxing and just scribbling thing... "Rooster" Pencil on Paper 24x23 cm Sold Sheona Hamilton-Grant 

Finding myself all caught up in totally new terrain has been frustrating yet stimulating, unhinging yet grounding. In a wee winter nutshell: inspiring! My new Paper Clone had to be fun, difficult and unusual. I had a picture in my mind. My pencils had another at their tips. I managed, with the invaluable help from a groups of artist friends (thank you so much!), to learn from my mistakes, to bust new barriers and to bring "Unstuck" to life. "Unstuck" Pencil on Paper 48x42 cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved

Do you have growing gift list, a tighter and tighter time frame, and growing angst at the oncoming Xmas stress?  Can't help wondering how great it would be to get all of your Christmas shopping done ahead of time this year? Maybe I can help! How about a Limited Edition Print? This year, in time for the Holidays (yeah!), a wonderful selection of my favourite drawings have been selected, assembled and reproduced into very small edition prints (keeping the exclusivity high).  These are lovely pieces of art you can share with friends and family.  Exclusive Limited Edition Prints available through my new catalogue or online (Prices start at 40 Euros) Buying my prints is convenient and easy and best of all can be done from the comfort of your own home . All prints are available online . Simply follow this link http://sheonahamiltongrant.com/collections/58155 ,  have a wee browse until you find and select your favour...

Who else will nod in sympathy when I admit to finding organising memorable Birthday parties tough? Finding that cool weather proof party idea, (one that has not been done a million times), a great venue (yep house is too small), something that's not too hard on the already pulled to a max time frame or thin wallet is somewhat of a challenge. This year the "party mission" grew in difficulty: number one daughter has now reached the grand old age of tweenhood... Totally unsure in how to proceed, I turned to what I know best and where many of my problems and solutions lie: art. Success: the Kunstmuseum in Bonn organises a number of different (fantastic) birthday workshops! Having Max Ernst  (1891-1976) turn up (well his legacy ) and lend his ever trendy talented approach to surrealism and art was magic. The girls rolled up their sleeves, got chatting & laughing. Submerged themselves in a world made their own by the simple use of wire, plaster and creativity. ...

" Chinese Whispers " and " Shooting Star " are off to Lausanne Switzerland to be in this years Drawing'13 exhibition. Really wish I could be there... in person.

Drawing Henry was easy. A warm friendly aura encircled him, reflected in his eyes, echoed in his sun-bleashed forelock, highlighted by his bold sprinkled blaze, completed by his soft snuggly nose. It was an honour to immortilise this noble soul. It is so easy to see why he is sorely missed. "Henry" pencil on paper SOLD Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved.

Ever wondered if, we artists, like writers, have to tackle the notorious "page blanche" syndrome? The big white gaping blank page hole? We do. Sometimes. These infuriating times, times when everything you know goes blank, do plague our creative muses. Paper Clone and " Uncrushable " are results of blank moments. Symbolic pieces. Drawings tentatively touching the third dimension. Nothing is quite as it seems. Nothing crushed remains crushed forever. Strength and beauty always rise to the surface. "Uncrushable" Pencil on Paper 42x50 cm 1550 Euros Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved .

Summer's ending, schools have started and the studio is where I am heading with a wee skip in my step. (We've been apart for too many moons!!) Over the last three months, work has had a strange staccato rhythm with interruptions sometimes hitting very loud fortissimos. The emphasis now is on creating a beautiful flowing melody with strong Vivaldi tones and Beethoven hues. "Chinese Whispers" is the result of this interesting mix of working rhythms and scribbling hours. I love this drawing simply because it's all about perspective, emotion and lazy manic summer days. Chinese Whispers - DETAIL Pencil on Paper  30x59 cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved. Chinese Whispers Pencil on Paper  30x59 cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved.

The Pencil Art Society , a young society well on the way to becoming a force to be reckoned with, has a philosophy that totally struck home. The Society is just what the pencil art world needs: a strong dedicate voice lobbying the power, the beauty and the versatility of pencil art. Member artists have a talent in abundance and I really could not miss the opportunity to  discover their pencil world. The amazing news that followed was so very humbling and made all the "struggle moments" over the years so very worth while. On the first of August, along with three other fantastic pencil artists  Denise J. Howard ,  Karen Hull  and  Wendy Thompson , we received wonderful news: The judges selected us as the first artists to receive Master Pencil Artist Status (MPAS)  Woot woot woot!!!! ~ The jury has examined all information and portfolios submitted by those PAS members wishing to obtain Master Pencil Artist Status (MP...

Born into a world that did not want him, this wee chap’s fate changed. He can now be found frolicking around the daily life of his new warm and loving forever home.  His cuteness and adorability reaping smiles, hourly. A joy to be around, a joy to draw. Meet Nemo ... Nemo Pencil on Paper, 32x27 cm Sold Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved

Mea culpa. Stalled my blog!!!! Life went into overdrive. Foot slipped off the clutch, releasing it too way quickly, timing went up the creak and the word flow came to one terrifying standstill, lasting not days or even weeks but months. Two to be exact. Neglect like this has not happened in the 6 years I've been blogging. Quite shocking! Behind the scenes, in the depth of the studio, my pencils have been active, totally ignoring (and forgiving) my poor blogging skills and have been working scribbling near to non-stop. No bad driving going on in the studio.... Instead new explorations have been concocted, fun combinations have emerged. The result a combined rendering of my favourite subject ( Hurricane ) and favourite substrate ( paper )... Fingers crossed life resume a touch of normality ...soon. "Paper Clone" Pencil on Paper, 35x49cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved

Sweet and sour lemons. They're coming from every direction, fast and furious. Seriously, life's throwing lemons like there's no tomorrow! In some sort of defensive response, I find myself very very busy catching them in the hope of making some sort of lemonade! (Not really liking lemonade and having no firm idea what a good lemonade should taste like is not helping!). So, I'm juggling! Juggling the little lemony things,  juggling them into a fusion of harmonious mixes, working out delicate blends of sweet and sour that would knock even Jamie Oliver and Michel Roux's socks off! There's no hiding place right now, a fighting smile the answer. The day life's' lemons forget about "moi" is near. Until then it's a stoic chin-up, warmish smiles and making darn sure to remember the little things in life really are the very best.

It's fantastic! So many of you are asking questions that I know the answer to and that I feel confident answering! Happy dances! Therefore, it may very well be time (after thousands of hours at the drawing table) to, finally, create a wee series of tips and share my experience with all of you here on my blog. My Short Drawing Tips (SDT) are going to be short (yep!), exclusively about the technical side of graphite drawing (double yep!) and will all be based on my trials experienced and errors made. Some of you may remember I shared my drawing recipe a while back with a more poetic focus. The objective this time round, is quite simply to share, in a short and snappy way, how I approach my craft. These SDT s are never going to boast being the right and only way, they are just what works for me . Topics covered will be the very popular topics of choice of paper, pencil choice, drawing surface, sharpeners, fixatives, blending but also extra personal tips of the trade. ...

Unique Trust Pencil on Paper 57 x 46cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved After spending a little more than six weeks hand in hand with my feelings, memories and pencils, I proudly present "Unique Trust". In line with my 2013 resolutions, I was determined to jump out of my comfort zone and roam a little in the unknown suburbs of my drawing ability. A different approach had to be taken. So I went big much much bigger, stepped away from the classic head pose and began discovering how to convey a very special intimate, precious moment.  "Unique Trust" happened in layers: a layer of technical knowledge topped with a double layer of whipped emotions, sprinkled with a wee bit of pencil magic. 

Currently on the board: a new drawing. Pencils have been scribbling dreamingly and slowly on this new piece. Leaving marks highlighting tenderness, trust and emotion. Technically I wanted to push myself and work big (57x46 cm). Emotionally it's all about pulling off combining that very special contact between horse and man. So far :  one (half-closed) eye and two ears closer to my goal! (Untitled) Pencil on Paper WIP Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved.

Sandor 41 x 29 cm pencil on paper. SOLD Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved. "My horse is ugly!" These words were said to me a few years ago after the subject of a portrait came up and they  bothered me ... no end. There is no such thing as an ugly horse. Every time my pencils get scribbling they prove it, show the world just how erroneous those words were. Each stroke merging tones, combining strength, proving in black on white the fallacy of this perception. A beautiful chiselled equine face has a “wow factor” but take one, like Sandor (pictured above) shaped out of honesty, wisdom and kindness the “wow factor” is just as big and lands just that little deeper. Underneath the muscle and the power is a mind blowing personality and astuteness that is anything but … ugly!

The "Christmas Secrecy Act" is lifted (and has been for the last few weeks...wee bit behind again whoops!) Christmas commissions #1 is the handsome Gizmo. A great big chocolate lab with a lovely nature. A beautiful subject to render, my pencils had no problems getting dug in with gusto and enjoying all the details from his vivid eyes all the way down to the small wave in his coat. "Gizmo" 44x25 cm Pencil on Paper Sold Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved

Yeah! 2013 is here ! 2012 was a year in which I believe I stood too still. Enjoying my comfort zone a tad too much... artistically not taking risks, trying too please, my curiosity asleep. 2012 is being archived just after this post. 2013 is when I step FORWARD pick up my pencils out of our snug comfort zone and into a colder  unknown & un-tackled world that we have ignored for too long To prove my point, here's "Touched" my brand new drawing. An amass of verticals and horizontals, stark and dramatic yet soft and tender. A mix of contrast, texture and shapes. A study of both equine and human body language. A little girl lost safely in the world of big gentle equines. " Touched " Pencil on Paper. 57x44 cm. Sheona Hamilton-Grant. 2013 All rights reserved  2013 will be my year of marching FORWARD one focused step at a time. ... left, right, left, right, left, right...