Black on Grey on White

To be more precise Rock is a German cold blood or draught horse with amazing eyes and the latest portrait off my board in time for the festive season. Big honest kind eyes, smooth velvety nose, massive round cheeks, wavy blond hair... what's not too love. Drawing this gorgeous equine was a great finish to the year. 2017 has new projects and commissions lined up but none I am sure with this guys  special  zen aura. Rock 26x20 cm pencil on paper SOLD

Hoppeditz Pencil on Paper Sold Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved Erlander Pencil on Paper Sold Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved Here's the first unveiling of my Christmas commissions. You have all been so mega patient and super understanding (thank you), the least I could do is give you a double dose. Meet Hoppeditz (sire to Hurricane ) and Erlander , two Rheinlander stallions (Rheinisch-Deutsches Kaltblut) from the Warendorf Landgestuet in Germany. Both these g orgeous equines joined me for a few weeks last September in the studio. Commissioned to draw their portrait in time for Chirstmas, my pencils eagerly took up the challenge. No wonder: these are fantastic models. Big eyed, loads of personality, mass of muscles and oozing charisma in over-load, they are every equine artists dream to render. More stunning equines to come, stay tunned.

Time was shuffled around and re-arranged over the week-end to give my pencils a wee gap to add a few more bricks and muscles. Below the result of a few hours: a Clydesdale with an ever increasing chest and a wall with a new wonky bricks. Next update coming soon....

Due to big urgent commissions needing all my attention, weeks have gone by without Black on Grey on White featuring any WIP. So, it is with great rejoicing jubilation that I post the first steps in my new non-commissioned drawing: Bricks and Stones . The reference comes from my good friend & photographer Juliet Harrison . She spotted this Clydesdale while visiting Scotland last summer and let her camera record a wonderful vision. The piece is big and complex with strong contrasts in both light, shapes and textures, a great subject and an unusual composition. Masses to get my teeth dug into. "Bricks and Stones" Step 1 Tools chosen: Mellotex paper Derwent 2B & HB Staedler Clutch F & 6B The first step shows a few bricks who still need a big chunk of attention. I'm drawing them as they come, having only mapped out horizontal lines to give me guidance. They are still time consuming as I have to figure exactly how best to render them. A first darker layer is made in...

Would you agree that, as an artist, knowing your subject is not only important but crucial? Which is why I could not believe my luck when the opportunity to not only photograph (once again) but actually ride one of the most charismatic horses I know arose. I'm a long way off knowing him as well as I could but I can honestly say a giant step closer than I was... the day before I rode Hurricane . Below the two of us in action - I hadn't been on a horse in nearly 5 years. Amazing (and comforting) to see that all the instincts and feelings were still there and he did not seem put out by my lack of strength and agility. A real gentleman.

Long hairy legs really do make for nice viewing...who would have thought? (insider tip: make sure they are from the animal kingdom.) Another Christmas commission finished and a few more hours spent on the dashing Hurricane. Wanted to share a detail of the progress. A few more hours still needed tweaking here and there but overall looking OK and then it will be on to the chest and right shoulder muscle. May well be a few more days before the next update. The week end is approaching fast and I'm already tucking down taking on tackling position... Cheery waves to all of you wherever you are!

Here he is, the big chap with all sorts of strange feature problems. Notice how the eyes and the nose are wonky. Easy fix (phew!) and not a big worry at this stage as all is still in the "getting it just right" process. I will ask you however to forgive the quality of the scan. This drawing is so big and getting it to sit on the scanner is pretty challenging. I will have to revert to my Eos's help from now on. Thanks for popping by. More to come... soon. Tomorrow is another "no school" day.

Zoomed in and cropped: due to the size of the piece this is all my scanner could cope with (sadly all I could get done this week) I did however finish another Christmas commission, sort out paperwork and miscellaneous data before the school break next week, so all in all it has been a successful and busy week. Hurricane is coming along smoothly (if still a little bit bland and without much muscle shape.) This is has all been rendered in light layers of 2B on Mellotex paper. Must admit to wondering if I have not bitten off (size-wise) more than I can chew draw... One thing for sure: there's nothing like a new challenge and pushed boundaries to keep an artist on hers toes... Thanks for popping by. Have a great week-end.

Have you all started thinking of Christmas and tackling it's yearly challenges? Affirmative at this end. Christmas commissions: the challenge facing Black on Grey on White. Keeping the surprise intact implies keeping the image and drawing hidden and therefore depriving my blog of a substantial amount of material. To counter this, I have started a large new piece (26x61cm = 10"x24"). A "full frontal" view. My targeted subject Hurrican. In August I was granted a private photo session with this gem of an equine(big thank you to the Warendorf National Stud ) . 150 frames to work from . Really can't help thinking this is the first in many Hurrican portraits. Work will be done in-between commissions. Slow progress a certainty. Updates a promise. Until then, feel free to get know this big chap: he has his own website . It's in German but a horse is a horse...right?

There's something magical as well as reassuring to having a base in ones home country. Having been out of Scotland all my life, I really relish in the joy of going back there for a few weeks every year. The air, the wind, the sun, the landscape, the smells, the people and the world famous liquid sunshine all bring a much needed boost deep within. This year was no exception: I've come home re-energised with 12GB of photographic evidence which I will be sharing with you over the next weeks.  Don't run away - these are NOT holiday snaps- rest assured but crucial references for my art .   To proves this to you and without any further ado here are: Katie and Lola. Katie and Lola are best friends at Mabie Farm . I first met these two gorgeous equines last summer and the result was a big portrait entitled "Gentle Gentlemen" (I was then unaware that they are mares and not geldings - no comment!). The new photos I have of these ladies will no doubt lead to a follow-up port...

Would you agree if I said the best things in life are free? Would you still agree if I went on to say the  best  things in life are not things at all?  Today the best thing was equine. My collection of vital reference photographs grew by 300 pics...  A little thing for most people.  For an artist who needs loads of well detailed photographic info as well as home made photos for inspiration it is pretty major. We went to a small local show.  The weather was good.  The children love horses and are up for anything that allows them to be exuberant lively little girls.  Well by the time we had closed the car doors and had our first peak, they were not the most excited exuberant giggliest wee things there... their mother was like a child in a candy story!  Thrilled to bits...  Cold bloods were lined-up, rustic, unpolished, straight off the farms, out of their fields, foals in tow, the real deal. Authentic Belgian (Brabant) draught horses.   Heaven... I had my camera...a full battery, an extr...

The coffee shakes finally wore off (bad time management there!) and the finishing touches were finally drawn with a steady hand. Here's "Elbow Room". The wee story behind this drawing is the direct result of Albert Camus' fantastic quote " freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better ".  SO, I decided to take a (well needed) break from commission and exhibition work, let go of the various pressures and see what my mind would give me. I became deaf to "what might be nice to draw" and set myself instead a biggish technical challenge.  How do you or rather how would I give a vertical line energy ? "Elbow Room" is taken from reference photos I have had (stashed away in both my mind and studio) for over 7 years. This is the foreleg of a Rh.D. kaltblutt stallion stationed at the Warendorf National Stud (Landgestuet Warendorf) . I used pencil (2B & 6B) for the entire drawing. The shadow on the left leg is "glazed" over with l...

The week has ended quite ok despite a terrible start. Finished my first study of Gladiator. I fell in love with Gladiator the moment I set eyes on him.   He is a giant of a stallion with charisma and a heart to match.  Three words to describe him: big, bold and incredibly beautiful. "Goodwill and Harmony" is the title I opted for (after much debating). Why? On the day of the shoot, there was a real sense of serenity, trust and confidence. This guy is big: I mean gigantically big but showed only calmness and kindness. I am soooo happy to have a few more references I can use to show the world a great equine specimen. Any hoo that's all for now, new exhibition to get ready for. Cheers for now.