Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

Kookaburra Australian Bird painting by Michelle Wrighton

Greeting cards, laminated, matted, canvas and framed prints of “Kookaburra” can be purchased from my Redbubble shop:

I’m glad to report that the new carpet has been laid and our house is slowly returning to normal – I today I can finally step back inside my studio!

After painting for the last few pieces, I wanted to get my hand back into drawing mode so I started this Rhodesian Ridgeback as a quick experiment see how graphite works on drafting film.  Drafting film is my favourite support for colour pencil work, but I have never tried it for graphite until now (very few artists use it, although I have found one artist who has been using it as a support for thirty odd years).

Photographing it proved very difficult, but I have finally managed to get a semi-reasonable digital image of this one by scanning it, it is still a work in progress, so not yet completed. Film is a really nice surface to work on, and it is more like painting in graphite and charcoal than drawing that is both good and bad, good because it allows very soft transitions of tone, bad because it is easy to lift off and smudge.

I normally only use charcoal for getting my darkest darks in my graphite work, but I found myself leaning more and more towards the charcoal with this one, and whats more, really enjoying ‘painting’ with it using a variety of tools such as chamois, tissue, cotton buds (q-tips), a watercolour brush and a make-up sponge.

Probably the best thing about drafting film though, is the ability to put a different colour paper behind the drawing.  I used a cream parchment paper, and although it dosn’t show properly in the scan (think marbled/mottled cream rather than solid), the effect it gives in real life is really interesting, and something I am looking forward to experimenting a bit more with.

The reference photo was one of my own, and the drawing is approximately A4 in size and when it is finished I will probably offer prints of it at RedBubble.

The first image shows the drawing with the cream backing:

The second image shows the drawing with a white background:

I’d love to know your opinion on my experiment, and if you use drafting film for graphite and charcoal work, or would like a charcoal pet portrait of your own Rhodesian Ridgeback, I’d love to chat;)

This pet portrait is an acrylic painting of Moe, a gorgeous little pug that seems to be saying “Go ahead, Make my Day”, or maybe just “This IS my happy face!” Gotta love those pups with squished wrinkly faces!

8″x10″ gallery wrapped canvas

"This *IS* my Happy Face"

cards and prints featuring this artwork can be purchased at

Pug Breed Profile

Pug dog were originally developed in China over a thousand years ago. When they were taken to Europe by the Dutch East India Company, they became a favorite breed of royalty and the aristocracy.

Pugs are a small Toy breed, with an ideal weight range of 6.3-8.1kg (14-18lbs). They have square compact bodies, wrinkled skin and tightly curled tails.

Pugs are intelligent dogs that are even tempered with a happy and lively disposition that makes them very suitable as family pets. They have short smooth coats, but are heavy shedders for their size, so regular brushing is required, as well as cleaning of the wrinkles in their face to prevent infections developing.

Pugs are an indoor breed. They are relatively inactive indoors which makes them suitable for apartment living, as long as they receive regular exercise to avoid becoming overweight. They are quite playful, however due to their short noses, Pugs can have difficulties breathing so strenuous exercise, especially in hot weather, should be avoided. They can also be prone to skin and eye problems.

If a Pug sounds like the breed for you and your family, please contact a reputable breeder in your area, or better still, a Pug Rescue group such as the following:

Pug Rescue Victoria

Pug Rescue Inc

Pug Rescue Sydney

Perth Pug Rescue

Pug Rescue.com United States

Pug Welfare-Rescue United Kingdom

Two new dog breed portraits have now been added to the Dogs gallery, a Shiba Inu and another Shar-Pei (I just can’t resist wrinkles!). Both of these are color pencil/acrylic on drafting film.

Suki - Shiba Inu Pet Portrait

Aspen - Shar-Pei Painting

Buy Art prints and cards featuring this artwork from

I cannot believe how quickly 2007 is flying by! I have quite a few blog entries sitting in my ‘draft’ folder waiting to be finished off so that I can upload them, but life just seems to keep getting in the way! Hopefully by the end of August things will have settled down a little bit around here! Of course, when I finally get to upload them they are going to be out of order, so I might have to rationalize and give some of them a miss!

Meanwhile, to add to my wildlife art portfolio, this is the second piece in the ‘We Three Kings’ series, a square format triptych of three of the big cats, the first was the Tiger, this work in progress is of the second in the series, the lion. I am still undecided on the third one because I would like to do a snow leopard, a cheetah and a jaguar but I can’t decide which one to do first!

After trying drafting film as a support for my colour pencil work, I think I have found the perfect combination of medium and support to suit my style and technique. It is rather tricky to work with initially (definitely different to any other support I have tried) but I am particularly pleased with the vibrancy and luminosity that colour pencils have on the drafting film.

These photos were taken on my easel to avoid camera flash so they are at a bit of an angle.

8″x8″ with a variety of artist quality colour pencils.

Prints and gift items with this image will be available from my RedBubble Gallery and my Cafe Press Gift Shop when the painting is completed.

Michelle

To purchase a variety of wall art, greeting cards and t-shirts featuring my art and photography, Please visit my RedBubble Gallery. Purchases can be made in different currencies (USD, Euro, GBP, AUD) and shipped worldwide.

A variety of wall art, gift ware and apparel featuring my artwork is available in my
GiftShop at CafePress.

Hi and welcome to my new art blog! My name is Michelle, I am a Western Australian artist who specialises in Pet Portraiture and Small Format Art in a variety of mediums, including graphite (black and white), Artists colour pencils, ink, acrylic and pastels.

Small Format Art (SFA) is defined as any type of artwork that has a maximum size of 14 inches (35.5cm) in any one direction. SFA is collectible, affordable artwork that make wonderful unique displays in homes and offices to suit your own personal decor or personality. SFA can be collected by artist, theme, style, color or an eclectic mix to create an eye catching display to suit your own individual taste. They are especially suited for small display areas such as hallways, mantlepieces and desk tops where larger art work would be unsuitable or simply wouldn’t fit.

As an artist with three small chilren, I love Small Format Art because the smaller size allows me to be creative and productive within the limited time that I have available. Although SFA’s can take 50-60 hours or more to complete over many days or even weeks, it is also very rewarding to be able to complete a finished painting in a looser more artistic style in just a day or two!

I love animals and the majority of the artwork I create is animal portraits. As a professional Pet Portrait Artist, my pet portraits are highly detailed and very realistic – if you would like to see examples, they can be viewed on my website http://www.pencilportraits.com.au.

However, with the SFA I create, I find myself drawn more towards less realistic styles that really express my creativity – I really don’t like labels and would prefer at this point in time not to be limited to creating art within the confines of only one artistic ‘style’. Many different art movements inspire me and as a result, the SFA that I create is an eclectic mix of styles that might normally be labelled as abstract expressionism, minimalism, surrealism or modern/contemporary with some representational pieces thrown in for good measure! That is my idea ofArtistic Freedom:)

I’ve decided to create this blog as a separate entity to my original blog http://www.petportraitartist.blogspot.com/ for several reasons – firstly, for myself I like the idea of maintaining a visual diary of my work and at the same time being able to record some of my thoughts and emotions surrounding each piece, and secondly the majority of Small Format Art that I create will be available for sale in different venues such as Ebay, Art Wanted, Art Cards Wanted and Art By Us and by listing each artwork here in one place, it will be easier for me to keep track of everything, plus I would imagine it will be a bit easier for those who like to collect my artwork:) If you would like to join me on this journey of dscovery, please add this blog to your RSS feed to recieve notification when new art work is added (simply click on the second orange button on the right that says ‘Feed’ – or if you use atom click the first button that says ‘Site Feed’).

Cheers

Michelle

‘Tall Poppies’ 4″x4″ art squared, acrylic on canvas, 2006

‘Solitaire’ 4″x4″ art squared, acrylic on canvas, 2006.

‘Ginger Kitty’ 4″x4″ art squared, Prismacolor pencils on blue suedeboard, 2006

Michelle

Yay for me, I’ve finally joined the rest of the world and started my own blog. LOL, I really have NO idea what I am doing, but I guess I’ll learn as I go along, right? I’m not sure that I can manage to update daily (probably don’t have that much of interest happening in my life on a daily basis), but I think I can manage acouple of entries a week:)

Actually, one of the reasons that I have finally created a blog is to keep a bit of a diary on my artwork, not so much the pet portrait commissions that I do, but on my personal choice artwork. Not only a visual diary, but also as a bit of a record of the thoughts and emotions that go into creating an artwork. I know that many artists who work by commission end up loosing their enjoyment of their art because it becomes a job just like any other, so I am setting myself a personal challenge to produce at least two pieces just for me every month. I’d love to be able to do more, but my style is highly detailed, realistic and very time consuming, so two pieces is a realistic goal at least for the rest of this year.

On the other hand, I’m determined to teach myself how to paint with acrylics and pastels, both of which should be much quicker than my main mediums, graphite and colour pencils (no, not the kind you had in primary school!). So when the kids go back to school in February and I have a little bit more time, I’m might just up the challenge to one piece per week. LOL – I don’t think I will ever be one of these artists who can create a painting in a couple of hours, unless of course I start going abstract!

But for now, I guess I should have a bit of a wander around and work out how to set this whole blog thing up so it looks halfway decent!

Cheers

Michelle
http://www.pencilportraits.com.au