There are some older farm houses in Devon and Cornwall that are faced with slate, usually only the top half, the bottom is cob. There is one such farm not far from here which I have been eager to draw since we moved here, two years ago.
These strange times have delayed the receipt of Christmas and birthday commissions, so while I am waiting to reveal those here is the farm house.
I can’t reveal the Christmas commissions till after the big day, but I can show you a special birthday card.
This is for Eddie who is Millwall’s biggest fan, and pretty darned good at the game himself. His mum sent a picture of his favourite boots, for me to put on his birthday card, which he got last week.
So here we have a pair of Copa Mundial boots, which I am pleased to say I didn’t have to pay for. Have you seen the price of these? And now he takes an adult size to make it worse. Anyway, play up Millwall! Happy birthday Eddie.
Have you got any special requests? Christmas cards next!
The Little Owl is, unsurprisingly, the smallest owl resident in the UK.
This painting is from a photo taken at the Woodland Owls flying display at the Hawk Conservancy Trust, Andover, England.
Is Owl your totem animal?
The painting is acrylic on box canvas 18″x14″.
It is available, so contact me for more details .
Little owl was introduced to Britain in the late 1800s. It feeds on insects, earthworms, and small vertebrates. It nests in cavities and can be seen perched on posts and tree during the day. It hunts mainly at dawn and dusk.
A group of crows is a murder, so with just one it must be ‘attempted murder’ I suppose.
This canvas was started a long time ago – I didn’t know what was going on it except that background had to be textured. Then it sat and rested for a while.
Later I was driven to put a variegated sky type colour scheme, with a contrasting flash. Then it sat and rested for a while.
I had been watching and reading about crows, and having seen some wonderful photographs of crows in flight, I decided that would be the subject. So here it is, sort of a slow motion flash of inspiration.
Could it be your totem animal?
DM or email for details.
Ok, it’s a miniature. Another cottage inspired by the driftwood models created by Collette Stacey of Cosy Cottage Designs. (Instagram @cosy_cottage_designs).
This one is a little different as the occupier has raised beds for vegetables and flowers. There is an old shed in the garden, too. Let’s hope they get the washing in before it rains!
Check out Collette’s Instagram page to see what she is doing. Then come back here and tell me what you think.
… the grass is riz,
I wonder where the birdies is?
These are the opening lines to the anonymous nonesense poem I put on the back of ‘Spring Time’.
The artwork is in response to a challenge, and swap, organised on Facebook. The idea being to spread some happiness in these uncertain times. The only criterion was ‘something nice before Easter’. And this was my offering, now safely in the hands of my swap partner.
It was painted in Decoart Americana acrylic paints on Daler art board, the detail outlining is done with Edding 1880 Drawliner pens in various sizes.
If you would like a pattern pack, let me know.
I hope you like it and that it has brought a little brightness in to your life.
Sometime ago I drew ‘The Old Cottage’ at Burnards House, in Devon. One of the techniques I’ve wanted to experiment with is adding colour. I’ve tried before and not been pleased with the result.
This time I used Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolours in tubes. The ink has dried completely (well I drew it over two months ago!) and is Daler Rowney FW Acrylic, Black 028.
So what do you think? Colour, or no colour?
I’m not sure which I prefer. I enjoy the drawing and the detail. May be each picture will tell me what is best for them.
Well, it rhymes, doesn’t it? And, yes, I’m nearly a fortnight late, but this was my offering for this year’s Halloween – Little Shop of Horrors.
I used my Shop stamp from my most recent set, (available from Chocolate Baroque) and added stamps that were laying around the house.
Colour is Koh-i-Nor watercolours. I thought the shop windows were an ideal place to ‘spooky’ things up a bit, so upstairs we have ghost, bat, and spider, while downstairs ‘Audrey II’ is trying to get her human blood ration from Seymour, the shop owner!
I hope at least some of you remember the 1986 film!
Out of the comfort zone. Sometimes you have to try something a little different. Many of those I follow on Instagram are tattooists, or design tattoos, or like dark, gothic stuff – which often involves skulls. So, I thought I’d have a go, just for fun.
This skull is pretty unexciting, a bit anatomical really – but as a first attempt I was pleased with the result.
This fella is all stippling, dots, or pointillism – depending on how you like to describe the process. I used a Derwent Graphik art pen, 0.1 point on 100gsm copy paper.
Looking at his teeth, it could almost be a self-portrait! What do you think?
We don’t have any pets. Don’t want one really. We’ve got our son, he keeps us amused. We do get visits from Casper, the cat next door. He’s a ginger tom, and must be the friendliest cat around, but unfortunately his owners aren’t so keen now they have a new dog. So, when he’s in need of a little love and attention he comes to us. Aaah!
I’ve never drawn an animal portrait before so I thought I’d make use of him while he was sleeping in the studio …
