American Miniature Horse photos

Here are a few (just as a taster, more to come) of the youngster I saw today. He's only about 6 months old and had a great run and play around the field. His name is George. :D

Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen drawing in progress

And here is today's efforts on the GBGV. I am now feeling like I am getting somewhere! The owners rang me last night and all they could say was wow (and that was without her being anywhere near finished!). This is the first commission I have done showing the work in progress on the internet. I did do a drawing earlier in the year during its different stages but it was an exhibition piece and not a commission. There is still a bit more of her neck to do and I might just do a bit of her back but will see what the owners would like on that score... back or no back!!!

I took a couple of hours off this afternoon to go and see a friend who has American Miniature Horses and I got some fantastic shots of the youngster once he had been turned out in the field. I will try to post some of the photos later or tomorrow! The little guy had what I call a little "fairy" type head, so dishy and cute...... adorable!

Hackney Pony and trap

Just a quick blog this morning, will blog the latest on the GBGV later on. Here is the photo that I said I would post of the beautiful little hackney pony - what a step it has on it.... absolutelly amazing!

Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen drawing in progress

Back to her again today. She just has sooo much hair ... hope to get this one finished in the next few days if nothing goes too wrong! I will feel happier once the other ear is complete, she looks a little unbalanced at the moment with just one ear!

The naughty ones!

Right, haven't got much done with regard to the drawing today, hope to get onto it tonight but won't be able to photograph it later. Didn't get back to it last night either. So instead, today I am posting some photos of "naughty" horses and ponies! My apologies if anyone recognises themselves in this little naughty gallery but I think they are hilarious! I hasten to add that none of the riders fell off to my knowledge! Enjoy.

Top one: at Newmarket.

2nd and 3rd: warm up ring for dressage!

4th: Portugal lunging nicely!

5th: Not doing quite what we are supposed to be doing (I will post a lovely one of this pony another day just to prove it can be very well behaved!)

6th: Getting impatient tied to the lorry!

Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen drawing in progress day 4

Right, a bit further now and it's getting easier to recognise her for who she is! I think that once here ears are done, she will look much more like the breed she is meant to look like! After all, it's the ears that one thinks of with any sort of basset in my opinion. :D

Pencil drawing kit.

Right, this is the kit I use for pencil drawings. I have deliberatelly not re sized the photo down so you can see clearly what I use.

Daler Rowney Heavyweight cartridge paper.

Derwent Graphic pencils: 2B, 5B, 9B and an F (but can't find that at the moment!).

Metal sharpener.

Blue tack (next to sharpener)

Cotton wool (all mucky next to pencils) and last but not least,

Pencil extenders to extend the use of the pencil right down to the last centimetre! (shown holding the 5 B pencil in the middle.)

Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen drawing in progress day 3

Ok, here she is again, I loved doing the tongue! Often people want the drawings done with mouths shut but I think she really suits having her tongue showing! More tomorrow. Thanks by the way to all those people who are following my blog, it's nice to know that people are interested in my work. Do become a follower (button on right hand side of blog) if you keep coming back regularly!

Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen drawing in progress day 2

Here is the progress today on the GBGV. It is starting to take a bit of shape now and will look better once the mouth and some of the ears are done! You can just see the photo of her, and you can see just how long those lovely ears are! She's a beauty with all that hair. :D Been to meet up with a pal on the motorway tonight so Mr Moss was happy to share the boot of the car with Gerty again (They rather love each other so are more than happy to spend time together).

Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen drawing in progress

Spoke to the owners of this lovely Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen today and they are happy for me to blog the progress on her with the drawing. I will say that whilst I always work from top left to bottom right, I often go over bits and change bits that I have done earlier. So, there may be bits that might not work on each day's progress and often with only a part of an animal to look at, it looks incorrect. The work on this photograph has been done over 2 days (yesterday a bit and most of today so far, other than a little nap in the afternoon!). This is a lovely oldish girl who was just so friendly (I am really lucky as most of the animals I meet are nice people!). Below is a little bit about the breed (stolen from Wikipedia). I haven't drawn one before but am enjoying the challenge of the hair so far! :D

The Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen is a long-backed, short legged hunting breed of dog of the hound type, originating in the Vendée region of France. They are still used today to hunt boar, deer, and to track rabbit and hare, but are more commonly kept as a domestic pet.

They are pack dogs, so owners should either spend a lot of time with them or get a second dog or cat. They have a happy and confident personality, which can sometimes manifest itself as disobedience, but they are great companions.

Commissioned Pony.

So here is the pony that I have been working on... I don't normally put commissions up until the owner has ok'd it but I know she doesn't have the internet or use it so I think I am safe to put it here! This stallion was one of the kindest stallions I have ever met, a real darling in every sense of the word. Grand Bassett Griffon Vandeen started today... will ask the owners if I can post it in progress for you all to see.

A fishy page!!!

Whilst I was going through my Sevilla 2007 photos I found these - I had forgotten that I had taken them to be honest. I just love the way that the Spanish take such pride in setting up their market stalls. It must have taken ages to set some of them up .... you wouldn't want anyone to buy any as it would ruin the display!!! I would be picking them out one by one to not ruin it. They set up their fruit, veg and meat in the same sort of ways too, I just love it.

The commission of the pony is coming along well today, it's the first time I have been back to the drawing board since I finished the 100 days project. Spent too much money on books and paintings so HAVE to get these commissions done to pay for it all!!!!

Sevilla..again!

Well I have got myself organised for myself and my friend to go to Sevilla next month again! Back out for the biggest PRE horse show in Europe (maybe even the world - I don't know!) It's big and it's great! Can't wait, hope to get some really good reference stuff even though we are only going for a couple of days. :D Had a really rubbish camera last time but got a good'n this time round. Need something that takes good pictures indoors and this time I am set for it! Here are 2 photos that I took in 2007 when I went to SICAB last..

Missed a day on the blog!

Well I didn't get home in time to blog yesterday. During the morning I was out at work and in the afternoon after a hospital appointment I drove down to Devon to see the Sally Mitchell Fine Arts travelling exhibition. It was really good and I have to say I succumbed to a little picture as I couldn't resist it! Had a great evening with some great people even though it was very late when I got back home. Today has been a really maddening day so far.... wanted a lie in but things kept waking me up which made me get out of bed the wrong side! Searched half the morning for my car keys only to find they were in the pocket of the trousers I am wearing and searched for my diary the other half of the morning only to find it in a coat pocket..... what a waste of a day so far!! Looking forward to having all the rubbish cleared up in the house so that I can get on with these commissions I have... :)

Another one commissioned today.

Well the line up of commissions is growing virtually as we speak! Another one for a labrador today, a siamese cat yesterday and the ones that I have had in the pipeline from during the 100 days blog! Been out doing boring cleaning today but came home and had to get labels printed out for the SEA Newmarket exhibition. I have chosen 6 from my 100 pictures to go up for that exhibition. It was really weird actually having about 20 drawings to choose from and not have to be doing the last drawing the day before hand in and making up titles for the entry form!! What a luxury!. Here's a photo of Moss cuddling/killing his snowy in his new bed (naughty spoiled little dog!) Note the wild look in his eyes!!

Day 101 - Sophie!

Title: Sophie the cocker spaniel.
Price: Not for sale.
Medium: Pencil
Size:

Ok, so I know I said it was finishing yesterday on the 100^th day BUT… I did this little spaniel for the lady who owns the framers as a gift for letting me be there for Somerset Art Weeks and I gave it to her today. It was originally going to be a part of the blog so I thought I would add it as the one extra! I really am not continuing with the 100 days, just thought that 101 would be fun!!
For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.

To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page.

All over!

I packed up most of the stuff from Somerset Art Weeks tonight and felt a little sad that it is over even though I am worn out. I loved being over at Dorseframe, the people who own it are so lovely and I really enjoyed their company through the fortnight. The good thing is that I keep going back for all my framing and mounting so won't be losing touch with them and they have also kept all of the framed pencil drawings for viewing and to fill their wall space for a while. It's great as I have no wall space left in my house and it saves me looking for a home for it all! Bad thing though, I fell off a chair whilst dismantling the exhibition and I think I sprained or strained my ankle and it feels a bit hot at the moment! Sure it will be fine by tomorrow though. Now it's into the commissions but I will try to continue blogging every day be it just a quick hello, or photos or something else I have done.

Day 100 - The end of the day(s)

Title: The end of the day(s).
Price: £100.00 SOLD (includes postage within UK, for other destinations please contact me)
Medium: Pencil
Size: 12cm x 18.5cm

It’s the end of the day for these hounds after a day’s hunting and it’s the end of the 100 days challenge! I started this drawing on Tuesday as I knew it was going to take longer than 1 day to do and I actually managed to finish it yesterday. While I was only three quarters of the way through the drawing a lady came in and liked it so much (even unfinished) that she has already bought it which means that I can’t offer it for sale here on the blog! Delighted to have sold it before it was even finished!

So here I am at the end of the 100 pictures in 100 days for £100 or less project. I have had days when I have really enjoyed it, days I wished that I had never started it and it has absolutelly worn me out! I mangaged to not miss a day but one of the hardest challenges was to get the internet each day to be able to blog it and it became an obsession to get it on the internet before midnight each day! Some days were cut a bit fine time wise and others I blogged early in the day for example when I had travelling to do. I intend to still try to blog every day but I won’t be continuing at the moment with a picture a day as I have several commissions to work on now. The 100 days has taught me to be disciplined, to plan ahead, to think about different subject matters, some days drawings were used as a trial for larger drawings later on (some of the blog pictures will definatelly be made much larger for exhibition pieces and some I decided just won’t work as large drawings). I’ve learnt not to give up on the computer when it wasn’t working properly – I have had to make it work each day and I hate playing with computers! I hope you have enjoyed following my journey and that you will continue to watch my blog to see what I am up to! Thanks to everyone who watched, commented and supported me here on the blog and also on Facebook.
For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.

To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page.

Day 99 - Semental de Yeguada Cartuja

Title: Semental de Yeguada Cartuja.
Price: £70.00 (includes postage within UK, for other destinations please contact me)
Medium: Pencil
Size: Approx. 11cm x 7cm (forgot to bring the sizes home with me tonight so guessing an approx size for tonight just to get it blogged!)

I had to do another Spanish horse for my blog in the closing days of the project and I had to keep it small to enable me to get on with the day 10 picture. After finishing today’s I continued to draw Day 100 when a lady came in and saw the picture (only three quarters finished) and decided that she wanted to buy it – which means that Day 100 will be going up on the blog as already sold!

For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.

To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page.

Day 98 - Patterdale meets Border.

Title: Patterdale meets Border.
Price: £75.00 (includes postage within UK, for other destinations please contact me)
Medium: Pencil
Size: 13.5cm x 10.5cm (approx)

Realised there are no terriers (at least I don't think there are! ) on the blog and being such a popular type of dog I thought I would do a double whammy today with a Patterdale and a Border Terrier meeting up. Both breeds are so full of character it’s almost bursting out of their ears and I know these two personally and they are lovely little dogs. / Realizado no hay terriers (al menos yo no creo que los hay!) en el blog y ser un tipo popular de perro pensé que iba a hacer un doble golpe hoy con una Patterdale y una reunión Border Terrier arriba. Ambas razas son tan lleno de carácter, es casi de ruptura de sus oídos y sé que estos dos personalmente y que son encantadores perritos.

For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.
To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page.

Day 97 - Donkey Foal

Title: Donkey Foal.
Price: £65.00 (includes postage within UK, for other destinations please contact me)
Medium: Pencil
Size: 10.5cm x 10.5cm (approx)

Decided to stick to a small one today to enable me to start on the Day 100 drawing which will be slightly larger than most of the pencil drawings on the 100 day blog. I figured this was such a sweet little new donkey that he would lovely in the last few and I do have a soft spot for donkey foals.

For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.
To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page.

Day 96 - Flight of the Geese.

Title: Flight of the Geese.
Price: £95.00 (includes postage within UK, for other destinations please contact me)
Medium: Pencil
Size: 26.5cm x 17cm

SOLD

I thought about calling this picture “The magnificent seven” but changed my mind! These were actually unwelcome guests at a friends smallholding… lots of them too! They make nice shapes and have good tonal values for pencil drawing though! Sold 2 more of the blog pictures today, Days 76 and Day 91. Also selling lots of cards.. only 4 days to go!

For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.

To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page.

Day 95 - The Welcoming Committee.

Title: The Welcoming Committee.
Price: £75.00 (includes postage within UK, for other destinations please contact me)
Medium: Pencil
Size: 12cm x 10cm
SOLD
These are a couple of “sprocker” spaniels who live together at Dorseframe framers where I am holding my Somerset Art Weeks. Charlie is on the left and Molly is on the right and Molly will cuddle up to people all day long if given the chance. She’s spent the week flirting with Mr Moss … even bringing him toys!
For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.

To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page

Day 94 - Labrador

Title: Labrador.
Price: £70.00 (includes postage within UK, for other destinations please contact me)
Medium: Oil on board
Size: 13.5cm x 10cm

SOLD

This has been done as a request for someone to have their dog on the blog. A lovely Labrador dog (sadly passed away now and much missed by the owner). I am delaying putting a buy it now button on it until the owner has seen it as I would like her to have first refusal. Update ... no buy it now button as it has been sold to the owner. :D
For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.

To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page

Day 93 - Last of the evening sun.

Title: Last of the evening sun.
Price: £95.00 (includes postage within UK, for other destinations please contact me)
Medium: Oil on board
Size: 25cm x 20cm

I started this stag a while ago but I wasn’t happy with the colour of the sky I had done, first I made it too light, then much too dark so waited until it had dried out completely and made it this colour which I am now happy with. I wanted this to be a really striking picture with the orange colours in the stag and the grasses. I also wanted to keep it relativelly simple which I think I have achieved. Probably going to be mostly pencil drawings up to the end of the 100 days now as it’s easier whilst manning the exhibition to do pencils rather than oils. I finished this one this morning before I opened – I got up extra early to get it sorted out before opening time!

For terms and conditions of 100 days purchases - please see link at top left of page.

To read about the 100 days blog, please see link at top of page.