Black on Grey on White

Success. Months of pain have been dealt with! All the demons faced heads on, pencils in hand. Scribbling through physical pain, soothing the emotional turmoil, relayering confidence. A new drawing: Long Rein, the result. Inspiration and a new gritty feeling, the outcome. Will be interesting to see if 2017 will see another new drawing. Watch this space: pencils are sharpened. Long Rein pencil on paper 2017 Sheona Hamilton-Grant all rights reserved.

It was time to reassess just what (art-wise) I could achieve in one-ish sitting. Seriously, each non commissioned drawing takes me between 80-120 hours (maybe more). Translated: weeks of work. The one question that I have not wanted  been to scared to answer  face but wich I have been asking for a while now, has been tackled and ... answered. Am I able to produce a wee bit quality in one day? Can I "perform" without all the time and detail and work and rework and endless thought? Can I get to the important nitty gritty and feel pleased with the result? Can I quieten the nagging "you -can-you-only-draw-slowly-and un-sponteneously" voice? Yes, yes, yes and YES! Here's the proof: Snaffles. Upping the anti (no comfort zone for me!), I used new paper (Fabriano), a new medium (Nitram Charcoal) and a new time frame (one day i.e: 6 hours drawing time). Drank two coffees, pumped up the volume and got cracking... Super chuffed with the result! Snaffles ...

One thing I knew: it had to be big, bold and dramatic. The concept and image had been floating banging around in my mind for a couple of years (constantly drawing even without pencils in hand!) Daring to crop harshly and spend the better part of a month scribbling a high risk composition was, until a few months ago, way too far out of my comfort zone. With age and maturity there seems to be serious rebirth in my "go get ya!" streak. It's rubbed off on my scribble friends and three weeks ago we got to work. The result: "Focus", an image full of power, beauty & silky smooth equine brilliance. Hope you all like it too ;) "Focus" pencil on paper 39x50 cm Available Sheona Hamilton-Grant © all rights reserved.

This year, the focus is on daring to spice things up, dramatically. "Cornered", in my mind for over 4 years, as seen the light and I love it. My scribble friends have delivered. They have dared to push compositional boundaries, over-use negative space, confront the viewer with a new phenomenon, highlight a slice of the bigger picture. Successfully cornering reality. "Cornered" Pencil on Paper, 17x21 cm 950 Euros Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved.

Last week I was sure it had seen the last pencil stroke, this week I  stand by my initial decision and have signed my latest drawing "Weymouth". Part of the daring mistakes challenge. Looking for inspiration deep within. Thinking unconventional. Digging deep. Going in close. Staying personal. Cropping, mercilessly . Highlighting, contrasts. Drama, angst and power. Really liking the result. "Weymouth" Pencil on Paper. 17x30 cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved.

To be honest, I never realised you could drown in pencil shavings and graphite... You can. It's happening at this very moment, here in the studio . Christmas commissions have been "on the go" for the last 6 weeks (most excellent news) and Christmas is roughly another 6 weeks away (not such excellent news). Every minute now crucial to getting the next commissions finished on time. The result: days in my black and white world are madly fun: studio's buzzing, the artist scribbling, music pumping, Wilbur and Bernadette rocking, coffee brewing, cats if not playing paperweights very busy being feline. Sadly, due to the world of secrecy surrounding all the commissions coming on and off the drawing board, none can be shown. However, I do have one that I "prepared" last month. Meet Frederic T a gorgeous handsome (now retired)) German Warmblood dressage horse. Frederic is horse with oodles of talent who has given his rider and owner many a happy moment. Frederic T...

Deadline reached and my new commission is now ready to be shipped. Powered Together was commissioned by the NRW Landgestuet for their annual stallion show ( Warendorfer Hengstparade ) in September. I'm really chuffed with the way this drawing has come out. "Powered Together " Pencil on Paper. 39x30cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved 2010 Power, strength, speed, beauty, skill, trust and harmony are present in overdose. Elements that my pencils adore rendering. Meeting with my clients in a couple of days. Looking forward to hearing their thoughts. On the drawing table another beautiful stallion. Will post a few updates soon.

Another week has been and gone leaving spinning heads and square circles in its wake. Pencils were, however, exercised and good progress has been made to " Powered Together ". The mid-July deadline is definitely within reach! Here below, proof of the progress.... Powered Together: Step4 Powered Together: Step5 The dark stallion now has a rider, both horses have the correct number of limbs. A few pieces of the puzzle are however still missing. Having a ball drawing this powerful action piece. Loads of fiddly parts that are really helping keeping my mind off the tumult that our "not so long now" move is creating backstage. Thank goodness summer is in full swing and the sun on top form! Wishing you all a wonderful warm summer week-end wherever you are.

The 200 year old house in the south of Belgium is about to be replaced by a 40 year old house in the hills of the former German capital. We are moving our tri-lingual family and lazy cats to a new country, a new life. Move, as you can well imagine, is the "in" word, used in all sorts of manners, tried out with different intonations and set in just as many contexts. As a result, "in" now not only shapes our days, our actions but has also overflowed into my work. Below the third step in a very spectacular "Pas de Deux". .. Powerful poetry in motion. "Powered Together" Work in Progress step 3 Pencil on Paper Completion is scheduled for mid-july, in the heat of pre move fury, in a haze of action and a cloud of tumult .... To be continued ....

Untitled Pencil on Paper. 34x46 cm SOLD Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved Managed to finish this piece last week before the confetti and funny masks took over! Calle's portrait is now at the framers. Can't wait to see him behind glass all "poshed" up. The tails' swing and movement added the finishing touch I was looking for. The thickness of the hair pushing the movement forward towards the viewer. The size of the piece also adds to the over all feel of power. Overall a nice result which I hope will make my patron smile. p.s: please excuse the missing right boot tip...technical problems swallowed it...whole!

I've tacked him up. Both the bridles and saddle have been added (still need refining). The tail is still to be added. This is where I hope to emphasize his power and create extra movement. I like the paper, not in love with it but we are good buddies. The tooth allows for much faster results as not as many layers are needed to create darks. I'm not convinced I will achieve the detail I do with Mellotex. Only time will tell. Back up to draw a swishing tail!

Here is Calle frozen in time. The reference was taken last summer during his daily work out. For this portrait I am using a Strathmore Bristol smooth and a lot of 6B pencil. I don't have a lot of experience with this paper. It is much toothier than I am used to. So far so good.... let's hope we continue working in harmony;)

Calle is now finished and the portrait approved by his owner.(Yippee!) So, he's off to the framers before making his end journey to Germany . As with all 2xbridled head portraits, I get my "knickers in a twist" when it comes to all the cheek pieces, throat lashes and nose band. After a while though, managed to straightened out knickers and crossed eyes, followed the lines of logic and completed the bridle. Interestingly enough most of the drawing was done using a 2B (layered). A few parts were done on the nose using an F. Here you can see the blank space waiting for some attention. The head piece and the nose band are rendered. Really left the bridle to the bitter end! Calle Pencil on Paper. 23x27 cm. Sheona Hamilton-Grant. 2009 All rights reserved. Another week-end is just round the corner. Once again loads of quality familly time on the agenda here. Wishing you the very same wherever you are. Cheerio

09-09-09 Visually pleasing. A post today is a must even if it means not posting the finished portrait. Here it is nearing completion. Bridle still to do and all sorts of fun fiddly bits Will tackle all that tomorrow. Off to mow the lawn while the girls play and the sun lasts!

Calle is taking shape. He now has a more defined expression, a fluffy mane and a silky nose. The tricky bridle work is being left to the bitter end... Drawing leather is still not #1 on my drawing list despite tackling the bull by the horns a few years ago and producing a drawing I was quite chuffed with. (Some of you may be familiar with "Leather" .) Any road this is slightly off subject. Below a few more steps in Calle's progress. The steps are pretty straight forward. All completed with a 2B. The darks were drawn with a 6B and established earlier on . Pressure put on the strokes and the number of layers used are the key elements to getting the soft yet detailed end result Step3: detail added to neck and mane. Blaze taking shape. Step4: forelock started as well as more detail around left eye and on the end of the nose . Step 5: work done on nose and lower part of the neck. White space left for the double bridle . The way the pencils are flowing: smoothly and precisely. ...

School's back, dust's off the drawing board, pencils are sharpened and work has begun. Here are the first steps in my new equine portrait. This chap is a lovely dressage gelding. I met him this summer in Germany where he posed very nicely for a few reference pics. He his known affectionately as "Calle" . The usual gear has been pulled out. Hahnemuehle Nostalgie Paper, love the off-white colour and not-so-toothy surface. Works well for portraits. Derwent 6B and I filled my mechanical clutch pencil with koh-i-noor 2B (never tried them and they seem to be good.) Below, steps one and two, here I have established the eye and expression with the 2B as well as establishing the darks with the Derwent 6B. Tomorrow will yield (I have no doubt) further progress. Today's was good, the new found "freedom" and extra hours worked wonders on getting this portrait off to a good start.

OK so I ended last week on a fun note....visions of my work in a Museum. Middle of the week, and I can't even seem to get them correctly printed. OK, I tell a lie the three Zig Zag escapades: "Ciao" , "Footloose" and "Fancy Free" they are printed, protectively packaged and ready for export. They are looking GOOD and officially for sale. Popular demand has meant "Head to Toe" should also be available as a (perfect, available in 2 different sizes, printed on acid free top quality paper, signed by the artist with accompanying COA) print। To this effect, I have run back and forward to the printers 6 times, sent endless pdf files and made a number of very polite phone calls, only to come to the sad conclusion that some people just don't have an inkling of finesse। "Head to Toe" will be printed when and only when it is a 100% perfect. Why I changed printers I hear you ask? No idea. I'm slightly mad. I will eat a bit of humble...

Have you ever felt that you are just not sure which way to turn and what to think?   Well this was the basic state of affairs for me last week.   I had no clue how to deal with everything (professionally and privately) being chucked at me that I just ended picking up a pencil and going for it!   "Response" is the result of my mayonnaise of feelings...it took ages to draw.   I took 2 days to getsome sort of a good flow going but then as the week went on and my gritty determination got stronger, it all fell into place. I like the result.   I like the symbolism: it's not all dark and just like life you can respond and swich away most of the rubbish you get delt! Pencils need sharpening, thanks for popping by...

Finished another piece, this time for myself (yep!) An entry for the next EAG online show. It was a trip down memory lane. Thank you for this show. Thank you for making me go down this lane. It was the closure I needed.. Together Alone is the latest portrait of my greatest muse: Rembrandt Borbet. Remmi and I became friends back in 1993 when I went to work for top German dressage rider Nicole Uphoff. The choice of a muse for this show was hard. When one spends a lifetime with horses they all become very special. However, there seemed to be no doubt that Remmi would be the star once again. He was the muse for my first commission as well as the start of my career. I have drawn no other horse as often and with as much feeling as I have drawn Rembrandt. Now for a little background info: who was Rembrandt Borbet? To cut a long story short, he was one of the most successful dressage horses of all time. Under the saddle of his owner/rider Nicole Uphoff , their performances were legendary: win...