A new Burning Desire!

With no commission work and no pressure to get stuff done due to the lock down I decided now was a good time to start on a new journey with Pyrography. I had a few nice pieces of wood already prepped for painting on so I used these. First up would be a couple of Hawkmoths together.

 Lime Hawkmoth & Eyed Hawkmoth

This was something very different to get into but I really enjoyed working with burning the designs onto the wood..this was going to be the start of a new journey.

Hardly leaving time to take a breath as it were, I prepped and got going on the next piece, a Barn Owl.

 I was probably using all the wrong tips and burning in the incorrect way but it was a learning curve with shadow shading and detailing and tones but great fun, it took a lot more concentration to get things right, it wasn't like a drawing where I could erase a mistake!!

 The colour of the burning just added to the work as it matched the tones of a real Barn Owl. Really enjoyable and I already knew I had a lovely piece of Cherry wood measuring around 2ft, a jump up from my first 2 pieces but I was hooked....and my next subject was a Red Deer stag. Stay tuned to see how that went of if you want to follow my progress then follow me on Instagram as " hairyartist67 "

Busy Busy through Lockdown.

It's been a long and weird time through this national threat but with the restrictions came more time to plant my butt' in the studio and get stuff done. With the hope that in the not too distant future things will return to normal, the Norfolk Open Studio's obviously got cancelled but hopefully it will be able to run later in the year, so this was a good time to get some new work completed. First up was a commission piece of 'Sam' the border collie, a coloured pencil and gouache media art. 

 I then wanted to push myself into a couple of pieces, slightly bigger than the norm and more of a challenge, mixed media again with coloured pencil and gouache.

I couldn't resist another Gorilla.

 The finished piece, I was now more into my groove ( if I have a layoff for too long it becomes more difficult to get back into a smooth flow with drawing and painting..weird but like your're back tracking and learning again??) So I moved straight onto a subject I have been meaning to try for a while now, a Peregrine Falcon.

 I got stuck in with the beak and once completed I was a lot happier to move onto the rest of the bird. 

 Happy with the finished piece, such a majestic bird and at the time the local birds were again nesting on Cromer church so I was able to watch them from the garden passing along the coast on occasions. 

 A bit behind the times but nonetheless I wanted to draw/paint a Koala. 

 There was so much hair detail to complete it seemed to take ages, after a couple of hours work I wondered if I had actually progressed at all !!!!

I got there in the end.

Bringing You Up To Date with Art 4 Sale.

These pieces of wood were bought from my local sawmill, such beautiful grains and patterning. The first piece I have completed is of a group of Long Tailed Tits, I loved the idea of using the knotted hole through the centre as a perch for the birds to be on. One of the other pieces will probably have a study of moths painted on, maybe the Hawkmoths I think!

 Turnstones at Titchwell, a common wader but one that is striking in summer plumage, the mixed  tones of brown, black and white really stand out.

 Sadly a bird you don't always see a lot, I have been fortunate to of seen a number and photograph them before moving to Norfolk.

 I love the colour and tones of the Brambling, as with the Tree Sparrow and Turnstones I kept the background subdued so as not to detract from the subject.

 Me posing with the Brambling and Tree Sparrow paintings to show the size.

 Gouache painting of a flock of Avocets, I also painted a similar group of Avocet but with just a monochrome look by only painting the black parts, regardless of no other detailing it is instantly recognisable as these iconic birds. 

This commission piece was of a much loved pet that sadly passed, it was a pleasure to paint Harry and one that had been kept quiet until christmas.

Where did those 4 months go!!

Four months passed and I cant believe how quick the year has gone, better late than never in posting some images of the work I've been doing, alongside birding, mothing, photography, stuff and more stuff!!! So that's why I have been disorganised.

This was a compilation of Clearwing Moths for a birthday commission.

 Barn Owl on Yew, these small pieces of Yew really do come up nice when sanded, such a lovely grain and nice to work on.

 Kingfisher and Barn Owl

 Pepper the Pug had been a private commission that had to be kept under wraps until owner Pete came to collect, this was a retro looking piece but great fun doing and I was so pleased how it came out, look at those eyes!

 Rob purchased this Stoat, many thanks sir.

I so like the patterning on the Bitterns, and with their elongated necks they fit perfect on quirky shaped pieces of wood.

 This was a special request from Pete (Pepper's owner) Great White Shark, some nervous times doing this, totally out of my comfort zone, but it came out good in the end.

 A pet commission piece, the scarf made it really pop when finished.

 A couple of pieces for Sarah to show at a craft fair she attended.

 This brings me more up to date and something of a different project, I do a fair share of dog portraits but these were down sized to roughly greeting card dimensions so that I can display them in a rotating card display stand.