Black on Grey on White

Big, strong, playful and sadly missed! My pencils were given the mission of portraying immortalising Aloïs in action... "deep water stick fetching" Aloïs pencil on paper, 60x44cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant.  All rights reserved. SOLD Drawing this commission was a fantastic experience. I love the forward movement the slight tilt, shift to the left. Both implying life and the past, both so symbolic and fundamental in a tribute portrait. Aloïs is no longer but has left without a doubt the biggest paw print on his family's heart.

Mention "big black fluffy Newfoundlands" you can be sure you are referring to cuteness overload :D This, a big mixed media (graphite and charcoal) drawing of mother and son Newfoundland pooches, was created in stages.  The most important stage: deciphering shapes through bundles of deep black fur.  Once the noses, ears and eyes were pin pointed and sketched in: the real scribbling began.   The final stage involved a layer of Nitram charcoal to create more oomph and depth. William & Nikita graphite/charcoal on paper 41x50cm SOLD Loved discovering and developing a new approach to my work and the best... the unequaled feeling of success! Next up on the board: equine with a somewhat shorter coat ;)

After 8 weeks of giving them all the cold shoulder, I warmed up my scribble friends and got tucked into a new compositionally unusual dog portrait. The reason threefold: I hadn't drawn a dog for ages wanted a break from the traditional head portrait Couldn't resist those wee eyes. The result threefold: pencil shavings on the floor once again back in the groove new drawing on the board What's Up 21 x 29 cm Pencil on Paper Available  Up next a horse, a beautiful bay stallion. Back soon ....

Yikes, more than 17 months have passed since I last drew a dog! Reason enough to give this new canine portrait special attention. Meet Paul. Paul is cool. Paul is tall, black, goofy and ... camera shy. Looking away, relaxed, eyes focusing in the distance, anticipating his next move is how I met him, got to know him and had to render him. Paul Pencil on Paper 24 x 28 cm Sold Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved  Step1 Eye drawn, lay of fur and darkest darks established Step2 Further work on eye, lay of fur and outline of mouth Step3 Adding on layers of darks to establish shape of nose and detail in  mouth. Step4 Adding more layers of fur and work on nose, mouth and teeth.

Some wee dogs are so much bigger than the mother nature intended. They ooze personality and their character is boundless . Finntjebelongs to that clan. She's the size of "thruppence a-penny" but only for the initial minute after which her presence takes over and size becomes "so last season!" (yep there's a tween in the house and it's having quite an impact on my outlook on life ;D) I am very happy to have more wonderful pics of her and will no doubt find her back on my drawing board. Finntje Pencil on Paper SOLD Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved. Back to mummy duties... I believe they involve the use of beautiful smelling green liquids, colour sorting and programming a digitalized screen...

"Paula" Pencil on Paper, Sold Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved. I would love you to meet Paula. Her portrait was wrapped and placed under a big festive German Christmas tree. Paula is a wee “pup” with curls from here to kingdom come. She's a real cutie, as her collar indicates pocket size would be an apt description. Pass the collar and look into her eyes and you will see she is as kind as she is wise. Paula lives with a brown boxer, a giant Poodle and a yard full of dressage horses. Let me tell you she is very much against the word doll and gives big a definition of her very own...

Untitled Black Lab Graphite on Paper, 17x22 cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved. Finished and awaiting approval (and a name). Below: the vital steps that led me to the end result. Following on from where I left off last week here are steps 4, 5, 6 and 7. Step 4 Here more work has been done on the bone structure and depth. This was done by refining the layer of 4B and adding to the nose and mouth. Remembering to follow the lay of the hair.Work has also begun on the longer hairs around the neck. Step 5 More emphasis is brought to the jaw line and start given to the ear. Invisible on the scan: work was also refined around the eyes. Step 6 This step was all about getting more hair blocked in and establishing movement and texture to the neck. The ear also takes on a little more shape and texture. At this stage I am only working with a 2B and varying the layers over the blocked darks. Step 7 This step is were the nose and the lighter areas of the head get "covered" in ha...

I love labs especially when they are that traditional wise black. My own lab was black and lived by my side for over 16 years. I am amazed at the speed this portrait is coming along. Subject knowledge and memory lane are the paths I am following. The pencils making the marks: my good & faithful Derwents in 4B and 2B. Their marks are going down on Hanemuhle 200gr paper. The only one thing truly bothering me: I don't know this chap's name...and will have to wait (not cool!) three whole weeks until the owners are back in reach of modern day communication... Oh and tomorrows a pARTy .... a first for Black on Grey on White!!!!

Here they are Jack and Libby finished and framed.  The flip side to having worked so big was the difficulty I had in photographing the portrait.  The image is 39cm x 56 cm making it only possible to capture through digital photography.  I really enjoyed creating this drawing, mainly because I was faced with new difficutlies that needed attention.  The size: when working this big I find I have to be that extra organised and careful not to dirty or damaged the paper.  (I also found that I went through quite a few pencil sharpeners as well!) The colour of the subject. I found the best way to get around the monotony the dark colour could bring was to focus on the folds and wave in the dogs coats. To focus on the way the coat shaped the dogs, their expression and facial shape. This did demanded a little more concentration and time but was well worth the effort. Srangely enough there is no such thing as pure black even when working in black and white.  The third difficulty I had to overcome ...

The school holidays are in full swing and the days are somewhat shorter and faster!  Needless to say, I'm getting very good at spinning and multitasking.... Amidst the chaos, I am finding time and energy to make it to the drawing board and open my terrific trolley drawers.   Here is the progress I have made on the Libby. the first of the Giant Schnauzers in my double portrait. I have continued using both 6B and 3B pencils for detailing the coat and drawing in the other side of the face.   She is finished as mush as possible for now.  The last layer is missing.  The finishing detail layer, this will add extra depth to the coat as well as give the collar a semi-mat tag. I will also adjust the  contrast by pairing it up  against Jack's portrait when I have him nearly finished.  This allows me to get everything to flow properly. I have started Jack's eye and it is looking good so I should be able to make some progress tomorrow. Thank you for stoping   by.   More soon.

It has been  a quite while since I last posted about what was actually on my drawing board...I seem to have taken to talking about what's going on around it more than showing you the actual creating. I  really have been busy drawing as well as typing. A new commission  has started. It is a portrait of 2 Riesenschnausers (Giant Schnauzers.) Jack and Libby. Both are dark and have beautiful expressive eyes hidden under their long haired fringes. I researched a little to find more about the particularities of the breed - this helps me really pin-point elements which are crucial and typical to a specific breed. Here is the first stage of the portrait: it is an initial layout and the beginning of detailed work on the eyes.  This is Libby. I am using 6B and 3B Staedler clutch for the hair and 2B and 2H Derwent pencils for the eye. This portrait is being drawn on Steinbach paper (250gr. 73 x 110cm).  I have penciled in the second dog Jack and will start on his eyes in the next session... ...

Last Sunday was not only an inspiration for my equine art but turned out to be quite inspirational for my canine art as well.  The show brought back vivid memories of our beloved Border Collie Bess. (Working sheepdogs were present and were just as keen, responsive and sharp as I remember our wee Bess.)   Reflecting on those memories, I came to the conclusion that I am clueless about the history of Border Collies (part of my heritage) and the making of the modern day Border Collie. We (my parents) bought Bess from a working shepherd in Scotland nearly 30 years ago.   In those days the breed was purely a working dog and had not reached the international and commercial notoriety that it has today.  Bess was small making her very agile and fast, had a slow heartbeat allowing for very fast recovery, had the kindest disposition and temperament, herded cats, horses and cars all with the same dedication and skill.  Not a very extensive knowledge to say the least. Today's post is, I shamef...

I proudly present Rien Poortvliet (1932- 1995) Rien was born in Schiedam, Holland. (His name may not ring a bell straight away but mention the word Gnome and bells sound, resound, loudly, happily...) Rien's "shortish" Biography His parents were strict Dutch Reformists. They had Rien's future firmly mapped out and were quite opposed to the idea of their oldest son going to study art. Rien's talent was apparent at a very early age. After finishing his primary education he went to work for an advertising agency. (Where he was able to let his talent mature and learn the "in's and out's" of the publishing world.) Poortvliet's heart really lay in illustration and it was by the end of the 1960s that he felt it was time to resign from publishing and change career. He became an independent illustrator. Not having enough work when starting out on this new journey (rings loads of loud bells for many of us out there!) he made ends meat by publishing a ...

Finished.  Here is the final version of "what's on the Table?" On hindsight I had a great time with this drawing...I have learned a little about the intricacies and subtleties of wood and the variety of blacks found in a black dogs' coat... Now what is on that table?

Here are the first steps of my new piece "What's on the table". Inspiration for the piece is taken from a photo I took last summer. Layout is first sketched in, the tones and values established, the work starts.  5B and 2B pencil used for the dog and HB and 2H used for the table.  A total of 12 hours work.  The table was drawn first as it a major player in the composition. The first dog is finished and just needs a little tweaking...