https://diva9775.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/find-calm-in-the-garden-of-paradise/

Review of my dear friend Elizabeth Eluik’s new adult colouring book.

Fabulous book! The well executed and detailed drawings are a delight!! This book would be  an ideal gift for yourself or for the gardeners you know. Perfect to while away the winter evenings snug in front of a fire, when it is too cold to garden for real. Wonderful  for those gardeners who are now not as active as they once were. Its easy to lose yourself in the detail of the pages, and I liken it to taking a journey into an enchanted realm,  one where we see the details of nature which we are often too busy to see in daily life, suddenly appear in all of thier glory. There is a lushness in the drawings which makes it easy to lose yourself in, much like becoming a tiny being, having an adventure in a new land of luxurious and verdant  growth, where each new thing you encounter, is a thing of wonder and beauty. Well done Elizabeth; this new book is sure to give many hours of pleasure to a lot of people.

 

Meet the Ancestors.

This is a prototype for dressed animal portraits which I am thinking of doing a series for, entitled Meet the Ancestors (AKA rogues gallery) We have all probably at some time, wished we could live in a stately home with hundreds of years worth of worthy ancestral portraits lining the walls. This is the first proof of the first in a set of 3 or 4, using my own dogs as prototypes. This original set featuring my own dogs, will probably become a set of greeting cards or postcards at a  later date, after much refinement. However, if you are interested in having a rogues gallery of your own, featuring your beloved pets, dressed in costume which has personal meaning to you, or to the character of your pet, do please get in touch with me.

This particular painting is loosely based on a distant ancestor of mine, who was originally a navel Captain in the American revolution, but later became a privateer, ‘working’ along the Atlantic coastline of eastern USA.  My gentle lurcher has a face which is permanently guilty, and fearful looking, so I thought the two would go well together.

These little paintings take about 15 to 20 hours each to complete, and will look great as a set of 3 or 4, in ornate gilt frames. Each painting is on board, and about 5.5 x 9 inches.

Heart of the Highlands.

Acrylic paint on a wooden panel. Approx 8″ x 10″. Thirty  plus hours of work has went into this painting of a highland deer. This has a background which I have deliberately kept simple and rough, with the emphasis being kept on the many layers of paint which I used to build up his features and fur texture. This fine fellow has now went to live in Scotland, where he reigns, not over a highland glen, but over a rustic stone fireplace instead! Prices for similar work by commission by request; please email me for further information.

As seen in progression  sketch to finish.

fUN WAY TO ENJOY YOUR PETS AS ART.

 

5″ x 9″ painted onto wooden panel. Bon chance in the game of life!

Initial sketch.

Each one of these mini portraits takes me approximately 15 hours to complete. No shortcuts taken. I am a traditional artist using time honoured methods. I do not rely on gadgets and gimmicks, but produce my artwork  sorely through my eye and hand control.

Latest artwork 2016

Life has been keeping me pretty busy lately, but I have taken time to do some art!

1) First image is of a 3-D painting using textural elements on a foil background. Painting is done in acrylics. 20″ x 32″ hardboard panel.

2)I have also been working on a sculpture. The second image here is a Bas Relief clay sculpture. It will be set onto a background board and will have a sculptural texture painted background.

3) A quick pencil sketch of Robbie, a beautiful Tri-Colour Rough Collie.

4) Acrylic painting of a dog taking shelter on a rainy day. This is a bit of whimsy for myself. I have long wanted to do a late victorian style rainy day painting, just for fun. This is 18″ x 22″ on a hardboard panel. Not yet finished.

Gallery of artwork to date.

Close up detail of Art Nouevoue style painting

Peacock quick sketch A4 size on watercolour paper

work in progress ( unfinished) acrylic. 20 x 24 inches

Hamish completed.

Jack, A5 on canvas paper

Skye, A4 size on canvas paper.

mixed media poster

gorgeous puppies

sketching

sketching

sketching

sketching

sketching

Willow

Folly and Fable

Murray

Lily

Bonza

shoes – pen and ink

Collie

GSD

Harry Potter

Borzoi

Pop art Dobie

Tenzi and Tumba

Jack Russel

Please Sir, may we have more?

Miss Seinna

Entwined greyhpounds

Am I bothered?

GSD

Halloween ghost story

Cat

Proud Mum.

Lurcher- Amber

Tuska

Highland cow

Me and Blackjack- the kiss.

Scruffy boy.

Bess

Skye

Re-mixed Ram painting.

Here’s a painting I did a while back, but I wasn’t fully happy with it so have went back and reworked it somewhat now. It’s heavy body acrylics, used undiluted straight from the tube. Painted onto a hardboard panel and it is approximately 18″ x 24″ as I recall.

Blue parrots. Quick study.

This is a quick sketch which I did as a challenge. It is A5 size on canvas paper. I used acrylic paints and a fine liner pen. The pen was used both as a pen and also as a wash.

Work in progress.

This is something I have been working on over the last few weeks. It is heavy body acrylics on hardboard panel 24″ x 38″ I still need to do the detail on heads and need to do some correction on the undercarriage chest area.

Hare and horse sculpture.

These have finally been finished. Done in China clay. They are the first I have done in 20 years. Not bad for a first effort after all of that time. Just itching now to do some more- I’ve plenty of ideas, just need some time and space as I want to go large (or larger at least)