Bonnie and Bess: Work in Progress #1 (Painting)

This is one of the things I am working on at the moment.

Here are work in progress photographs of a commissioned painting of Bonnie and Bess, the client’s two cats.

Outline sketched.

Lines painted in. Bonnie’s whiskers and eyebrows (top) will be white eventually.

Looking a bit brown with the first couple of background layers.  The early stages are typically not very pretty!

More brown on the background. This will get softer later, be a more grey brown and look a lot better!

Acrylic on box canvas 20cm x 20cm.

Affinity Puffins (Painting)

Throughout August and September I’ve been working on this – the Affinity Puffins.

A pair of puffins painted as a wedding present for friends. Puffins mate for life.

Each deep box canvas is 20cm square and in acrylics.

Here are the work in progress pictures showing how the puffins took shape.

So Slow Sloth (Norris) – Finished Painting

It was slow going (perhaps appropriately!) but the sloth painting is finished and ready to go to his new home.

So Slow Sloth (Norris) – acrylic on box canvas 40cm x 40cm.

A commissioned painting for @theaardvark

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See a slideshow showing the stages of this painting from beginning to finished piece.

Slow Creatures on the Move

My last two paintings, both featuring slow coach creatures, are on the move!

This weekend I’m delivering the tortoise painting “Tortie” to his new home.  It’s lovely to be able to hand over a painting personally.  It’s a little nerve wracking as Tortie was a commission based on the client’s real life tortoise and although he’s seen the photographs it’s always going to look a little different in real life.  Hopefully he will be pleased!

So Tortie is all packaged up ready for the journey.  We have an opportunity to be in the area for a social function so all in all it should be a good weekend.

In other news the sloth painting is (*whisper*) finished. 

The painting part is all done.  However, there’s another 4 or 5 sessions to complete the varnishing part, which is not very exciting but crucial. 

At the moment, due the nature of the materials, some of it looks gloss and some matt, so it’s tricky to photograph in a way that does it justice.  As soon as the finish is more even and I can set up my gear I’ll take photos to share with you.

However, here’s a sneaky peek prior to the big reveal …

Sloth – Work in Progress #9 (Painting)

The sloth is getting very close to being finished.

Here’s what it was like last time I blogged it:

So more lines painted in:

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Then some more lines painted in and the eye area painted out. Made a bit of a cock up with the lines in that area and wasn’t totally happy with the placement of the yes either so will redo so I’m happy with it:

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I think it’s just the eyes (with a small correction on the lines there) and the mouth and then it *should* be ready to sign. But these small details are so critical to the character they can take a bit of work to get them just right.

So pleased I managed to do a couple of short sessions this week and it’s only Tuesday!

Sloth – Work in Progress #8 (Painting)

Work in progress on new commission of sloth.

Last time:

A little more done on the lines being painted back in and you can see it a little clearer as there’s less glare than the last photo:

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Acrylic on 40cm square box canvas.

Not far too go but progress in these final stages has been slow. I am at one with the sloth it seems!

Sloth – Work in Progress #7 (Painting)

Work in progress.

Last time:

More (subtle) tweaks on the face and now he has some eyes. Started on a few of the lines too after applying an isolation coat over the canvas (which gives a bit glare on the picture).

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New commissioned painting of sloth.

40cm square box canvas.

My cat Flyman was on hand to assist if required.  Wedged between me, with canvas on a board on my lap, and my paint/brushes/pallette resting on my latop. 

Later I moved the laptop and the board with the pallette, rags and so on was at sofa cushion level. He enjoyed the extra space by dipping his ears dangerously into the pallette and stretching his way into paint covered paper towels. But he did look cute while he did it.

Sloth – Work in Progress #6 (Painting)

Work in progress on the sloth, my latest painting, a commission for @theaardvark

Here’s how it looked last time:

It gets a bit scary here with the face but I needed to change the tones.  So his eyes and mouth are gone – for now.

A final subtle layer on the background making it a little more magenta (doesn’t show too well on the photos) and I’ve worked on the branch he hangs from.

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40cm square box canvas.

Sloth – Work in Progress #5 (Painting)

 Work in progress on the sloth painting (a commission for @theaardvark)

Acrylic on box canvas 40cm square.

So here’s how it looked last time:

More work done on the face:

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Second layer on the background – a glaze of purple bringing in a more blue tone than the first layer which was magenta:

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A third layer with the purple glaze this time toned down a little:

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Unusually a fourth background layer – a slightly more magenta purple toned down again and with a light dry brush application:

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Thinking the background may need to go more magenta to balance better.  But will sleep on it and look at it fresh the next session.  Not quite sure how that’s going to work out but it needs to be right.

Sloth – Work in Progress #4 (Painting)

Here’s where the sloth was last time:

Now there’s more work on the body and fur adding a bit of light and shade. Also little bit done on the areas surrounding the eyes but not sure yet – think that may need a bit more work yet.

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Work in progress on new commissioned painting of sloth for @theaadvark

40cm square box canvas.