They are all pets that I was lucky enough to photograph today:)
Darth Maul and Padme are both Merino Suffolk cross sheep, Bambi is a four day old orphaned Fallow Deer Fawn and Lucy is a gorgeous dog! I can’t decide which one to paint first so keep an eye out for the artwork to follow!
Here are some of my favourite photos from the shoot:
Michelle
The combination of soft pastels and velour paper is quickly becoming my preferred medium and support for animal artwork, and I thought it would be good to provide some information about pastels as a Fine Art medium.
Pastels are pure finely ground pigments that are rolled or shaped into sticks using a soft binder to hold the particles together. The pigments used to create pastel sticks are the same pigments used to create all coloured art mediums including oil and acrylic paints. Pastels as a Fine Art medium have been used for hundreds of years by many of the Masters, including Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Whistler, Cassatt and Matisse among many others.
Although some people refer to them as ‘chalk’ pastels, this really is a misnomer as pastels are not anything like the chalk sticks you will find in a classroom - nor do they only come in soft light ‘pastel’ colours, they do in fact come in many vibrant colours
According to Answers “pigment applied with pastel does not change in colour value, the final effect can be seen immediately. Pastel remains on the surface of the paper and thus can be easily obliterated unless protected by glass or a fixative spray of glue size or gum solution. When pastel is applied in short strokes or linearly, it is usually classed as drawing; when it is rubbed, smeared, and blended to achieve painterly effects, it is often regarded as a painting medium.”
There are several types of pastels available to artists as defined by Answers:
Soft pastels — This is the most widely used form of pastel. The sticks have a higher portion of pigment and less binder, resulting in brighter colors.
Hard pastels — These have a higher portion of binder and less pigment, producing a sharp drawing material that is useful for fine details. These can be used with other pastels for drawing outlines and adding accents.
Pastel pencils — These are pencils with a pastel lead. They are useful for adding fine details.
Oil Pastels - These have a soft, buttery consistency and intense colors. They are slightly more difficult to blend than soft pastels, but do not require a fixative.
Water-soluble pastels — These are similar to soft pastels, but contain a water-soluble component, such as glycol. This allows the colors to be thinned out using a water wash.
Personally I work mostly with soft pastels, with a few hard pastels and pencils for final line work, as the softness is very suitable for creating believeable, almost touchable animal fur.
Finally, pastel artwork (with the exception of art that is mostly line work) is generally referred to as paintings rather than drawings, and due to the delicate nature of pastel paintings, it is very important that they are cared for properly and framed in the correct manner, with an acid free mat and behind glass so that they can be enjoyed for many years to come.
Hahnemuhle Pastel Paper is produced in Germany using inert synthetic fibres on an acid free backing sheet. This beautiful paper actually feels like velour fabric, and because of the nap (long fibres) it holds most pastels very well. Of the soft pastels that I use, I choose the harder ones (if that makes sense) as some of the more softer brands are more delicate when used on velour paper. This velour paper comes in a range of colours that are all lightfast (so they are resistant to fading) and they all have acid free backing which prevents yellowing over time.
So there you have it, pastels and velour paper, my new favourite medium and support for animal artwork!
Apart from some minor adjustments that I might add in the next day or so, this is the (almost) completed portrait of our Chinese Shar-Pei, Tia.
Achieving depth and dimension with her black coat and all those wrinkles was a great challenge, but I thoroughly enjoyed working on this and I am really pleased with the resulting portrait, although I might need to get a better photograph in better light!
“Tia”
Pastels on Velour Art Paper
10″ x 14″
Tia - Shar Pei Pet Portrait in Pastels
2006
This is the reference photo I used for Tia’s portrait – as you can probably see I took this photo with the flash on (something that is not usually recommended), just to make sure that I could see all the curves and contours of her wrinkly face! Most of the photos I have of her are either very black, or if she is in full sunlight, her eyes will be closed, so using the flash was the best way to get a nice detailed photo, then it was simply a matter of making her fur darker than it appeared in the photo to make it look like my dog rather than the washed out/faded reference photo.
This Shar-Pei art pet portrait features on dog breed merchandise such as stationery, prints, greeting cards, tote bags and more.
Shar-Pei Breed Info: Shar-Pei’s are an ancient dog breed, and are still fairly rare, although thanks to tv commercials such as the toilet roll ad with the wrinkly puppy, “Rolly” they are becoming more popular.
The breed is best known for its wrinkled apprearance which is caused by the excess skin they have. generally puppies and young dogs appear to have more wrinkles as older dogs grow into their skin a little bit. (This is actually a good thing, as Shar-Pei’s do suffer from skin conditions do to the wrinkles and rough fur irritating the skin.)
The name “Shar-Pei” literally means “sand-skin”, or loosely translated to “sand-paper-like coat” which refers to the unique characteristics of the Shar-Pei coat – its roughness and its shortness. The Shar-Pei also has another distinctive characteristic that is shared with only one other breed, the Chow Chow (also a Chinese breed) – both breeds have a blue-black tongue!
Of course I am biased, but Shar-Pei’s are an incredible breed – totally devoted to their families, highly intelligent and excellent watch/guard dogs!
More information on the Shar-Pei breed can be found at http://www.sharpei.com.au/
Cheers
Michelle
I am thoroughly enjoying working with this velour paper with my pastels and I am really pleased with how this portrait of Marcus, a Long Haired Dachshund has turned out. I can see that my pastels and this velour support and quickly going to become my favourite medium for working in.
I couldn’t help myself, after finishing this one I have finally started a portrait of my own dog Tia, she is a black Shar-Pei and it is proving to be a very interesting challenge creating black wrinkles that look realistic! I will add a blog entry with her portrait when it is finished.
Where has this year gone? I can’t believe that it is nearly Christmas already and I am definitely not going to look at the last date that I updated this blog, so instead I will just share my latest piece, a pure pastel pet portrait painting on velour paper of a gorgeous Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
This is the first time that I have used the German made Hahnemuhle velour pastel paper and I will definitely be using it again, it creates an incredible softness to the artwork that is particularly suited to animal portraiture.
This Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pet portrait features on dog breed merchandise such as stationery, prints, greeting cards, tote bags and more.
Michelle
