Hawkmoth Project Completed.

 As I said in my last post, I was going to start on a project depicting Hawkmoths, and it is now complete. It was a decent sized piece of wood I worked on so I painted the moths a fair size.

 First up was the Convolvulus Hawkmoth, a very large moth that I only saw for the first time this year.

 Next up were two Hawkmoths but of the same species, the Elephant Hawkmoth.

 It was then onto a Poplar Hawkmoth.

 Followed by a Privet Hawkmoth.

 Just 2 more to go, Lime Hawkmoth up next and I love these cammo coloured moths.

 And last of all the Pine Hawkmoth.

 And here is the finished piece, really enjoyed painting these moths, before completing the Pine Hawkmoth I moved onto a commission painting of a Sussex Spaniel, once that was prepped and started I switched back to the Pine Hawkmoth. Sussex Spaniel is coming along well, check out my Instagram account to see the progress : Hairyartist67

Fur & Feathers

Wryneck

 Here is the finished Wryneck piece that I mentioned I was going to do in the last post, really intricate feather patterning on these birds but such a lovely bird. My latest finished drawing/painting of "Ella" the German Shepherd, I used mixed media on this piece, but mostly coloured pencil. A large wooden artwork is presently being prepped for the next piece, this one will comprise 6 different Hawkmoth species.

Ella

Taken Over By the Wood

 All of the recent work has been completed on some lovely pieces of wood. I have kept the subjects varied but centred around being popular birds/animals. The Privet Hawkmoth (above) was hot on the heels of the other moth paintings which really went down well and sold.

I used a similar shaped piece of wood as I did for the Bittern, to complete the Great Spotted Woodpecker (below), I used the knot on the wood as part of the image and placed the woodpecker as it were clinging to it and then a slight shading underneath to give it a 3D sort of effect.

 I used a "cheese cut" piece of sycamore, sanded very smoothly by wife Sarah ( Sarah prep's all the wood I use). The paint seemed to soak in quite a lot in some areas, but each piece of wood is different to work with, but the Grizzly came out really well and fitted perfectly to the shape of the wood. 

 I had had this idea for a owl to be peering around a tree, using the bark on the wood to imitate a real tree, the eyes were tricky but I think they represent the big glossy eyes of a Tawny Owl.

Moving back to animals I got to paint 2 separate Red Squirrels, and once again using the knots of the wood as perches for the squirrels.

 It was straight back to birds and next a Green Woodpecker as an addition to the other woodpecker already done, it was at first awkward trying to get the correct tone of greens for this woodpecker as they are such a lovely colour, but I believe I got a realistic shade for the bird, and the shadowing on this one seemed to really make it stand out.

And my final piece completed has been our very own little girl Elka the French Bulldog. Really chuffed with how she turned out but now it means I have to paint one of our other French Bulldog, Tucker using a similar looking piece of wood. I am loving painting different stuff on these pieces of wood, it's different and each piece has a unique grain and pattern which only gets better when the painting is finished with a varnish. 

New subjects are being sorted as of writing, including hopefully Wryneck (as part of the woodpecker group) Tucker (obviously) Grey Partridge and more Hawkmoths.

The "Hairy One" has been busy!!

 Swallows

Following on from the other wooden art pieces for Cley Spy, the work just rolled from one piece to another!

I completed 3 birds and then dived into painting moths, this was a change of subject and really enjoyable, the first one of a Lime Hawkmoth was duly snapped up by Tim at Cley Spy.

 Long-tailed tits

 Lime Hawkmoth

After the Lime Hawkmoth I next completed ones of a Elephant Hawkmoth, Privet Hawkmoth (which I have forgot to photograph!! bugger!!) a Grey Dagger and Burnished Brass. With so many lovely species, and stacks of photographs also, I think the moths will definitely be getting worked on a lot.

  Elephant Hawkmoth

 Grey Dagger

 Burnished Brass

My wife Sarah, has a craft fair coming up in Mundesley and so I then moved onto some smaller wooden art for her to show. She already has the Oystercatcher and Common Gull along with the Puffin, so I decided to add a Barn Owl, Sanderling and Hare. 

Barn Owl

 Sanderling

 Hare

And finally my most favourite piece yet, one of a Bittern. I had some beautiful wood that was still edged with its bark and knot hole in the middle, I placed the Bittern stretching its neck alongside the knot and curved the bill over the hole, the patterning and colours all seemed to work together, I can't wait to start on the next cut of wood.

 Bittern

Bittern

"Skye, fur, wings and Wood" New additions.

I completed a few pieces on the go recently, the first is a portrait of "Skye" and Welsh Blue Collie, and at the same time I had started a Red Deer stag commission piece which is coming along slowly as I fit it in with other jobs etc.

 "Skye"

Red Deer

House Sparrow

Sarah and I have been busy completing some more of the wooden bird art too, after showing our previous pieces (Common Gull, Puffin, Oystercatcher) to Tim at Cley Spy he commissioned us to make a selection for use in the hide at the shop in Glandford. House Sparrow, Goldfinch and Blue Tit was the set and hopefully some more to be made, with the hope of starting some moth ones too.

 Goldfinch

 Goldfinch

 Blue Tit

Blue Tit

A busy month brings in some new artwork.

 It's been a busy month since my last post. I have been finishing work for the Holt Gallery and then completing work with my wife Sarah for her craft fair which was last weekend.

After the Wolf eyes I moved onto these 3 pieces below, the Tiger, Cheetah and Leopard.  Smaller than the usual size work I do, I wanted to focus on just the intent stare of the animals.

I have started on a couple of new pieces of art, one is a commission of a Welsh Blue Collie and the other is a Red Deer stag, these were put on hold for a while whilst Sarah and I made some wood wall art for her craft fair she just had in our new village hall in Trimingham. This was something totally different but great fun doing, Sarah would prep all the wood then it was over to me to do the painting. The first was a Common Gull followed by Blue Tits and a Puffin and finally a Kingfisher, we were both really pleased how they came out and have been well received by everyone, some new pieces will be winging their way to the Cley Spy store for display which is great. 

The array of different subjects on the wood is exciting too, can't wait to try some them, pics to follow as soon as completed, and if your'e interested in purchasing any then just drop us a email.  

"Black Blue & Grey"

 Time has just flown by recently since I last uploaded some work, I have been starting a new piece as soon as one is finished!

Here are 3 of my recent pieces of artwork, The Raven was a pencil and acrylic composition which highlighted the sheen on the bird, I didn't want to portray the whole of the image only main areas, concentrating on the glossy eye and that huge menacing bill.

 The Kingfisher was a commissioned piece for CleySpy in Glandford. After a few failed attempts at different artwork I settled for the Kingfisher on the post and was a lot more happier when that was completed. It was well received when I showed it to good friend and owner of CleySpy Tim, Suzanne and Andrew too.

The last bit of artwork here is the Grey Wolf, this is a smaller size piece, just under a greeting card size really, which focuses on the eyes of the animal, this is one of a few paintings/drawings that I am doing at the moment, and as of writing, only yesterday I completed the second one of a Tigers eyes. This will be photographed and added on my next update when there should be a third finished also.

Spaniard in Norfolk alongside the Birds.

 "Spanish Podenco"

It's been a few weeks since posting up my last lot of artwork, but most days I have been busy in the studio completing new work in time for the art exhibition in the new Trimingham Village Hall. This handsome Spanish Podenco posed for some photos during the Gimingham Dog Show last year, and I have been waiting to paint it since then, and I am very pleased of the outcome.

 "Kingfisher"

Next up was a Kingfisher, I used a photograph I had taken quite a few years previous, wanting to keep it as simple as possible to let the bird "pop" out I used a spray gun to give a lightly blurred backdrop of green.  

 "Robins"

Keeping with the bird theme I moved onto pebble painting. I completed the above two with the left design being chosen by Val from Leicester, she wanted two of the same and so I finished the other as close as I could to the first, I actually ended up adding a whole lot more work to the first pebble so as to keep it similar. 

 "Twins"

And here are the finished pair. I switched over to the wood burning kit to do some key-fobs and also a large piece of writing with paw prints on, these were for the wife Sarah, quickly getting stuff finished in time for the next yard sale.

 "Barn Owl at Cley"

My last piece I have just completed depicts a Barn Owl at Cley, as the light fades silhouetting the Cley Windmill and distant flock of geese. Now I shall be prepping some new work, probably using a few different mediums and probably including more birds, dogs and animals with the hope of maybe a moth or two!