Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

I was a very good little blogger and had this post of a black and tan Saluki Dog that I drew in graphite all ready to post a day or so after my lamb drawing.  However, life was turned upside down when my little girl was involved in a serious horse riding accident.  She was rushed by air to Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth by the Royal Fying Doctor Service and underwent emergency surgery in the middle of the night.  It will take time, but she was extremely lucky and should make a full recovery (LOL and now that she is starting to feel better she is quite happy to have an extra few weeks off school;).

My intention over the past few weeks with getting my new studio sorted out was to start promoting my commission work and start taking pet portrait commissions again.  However the timing of this accident has giving me time to think about both the past and the future.  I have realized that there have been so many similar situations over the years that has made working to deadlines for commissions very stressful and at time simply beyond reasonable possibility.  This has caused additional stress  that my family and I really don’t need while dealing with long term serious health issues that on many occasions over the last seven years have been life threatening.

I have looked back at the last few years and have reassessed my future plans for my art.  I realize that the last 12 months of painting digitally and my recent graphite drawings that I have created for myself from whatever has inspired me has been wonderfully enjoyable stress-free therapy.  Given my personal circumstances, the happiness and ‘time out’  that my artwork brings me is something that I desperately need to retain for my own sanity and health.  So by posting this, I am publicly giving myself permission to just enjoy my art, to experiment and create whatever inspires me in which ever medium I feel like using, without the need to be concerned that the end result will meet anyone elses expectations.  For a commissions artist, that thought is quite a liberating one!

Saluki Dog graphite drawing by Michelle Wrighton ©2010

Another graphite sketch, this is Lucky Baa, our first Dorper lamb.  Baa was also the first ‘pet’ lamb that we have had to bring inside and bottle feed for the first few days as the poor little tyke broke his right front leg.  Apparently its not uncommon for the mother to step on the lamb and break its leg, which is what we suspect happened with Baa.  We made up an assortment of leg splints from carpet and pvc piping cut in half  and wrapped the leg with vet wrap and kept changing the splint as he grew.  Having a splinted leg certainly dosn’t stop him from doing anything the other lambs are doing!

Dorper Lamb graphite drawing

Thanks for visiting my blog  and sharing my art and photography with your family and friends!

x Michelle

Michelle Wrighton: Animal, Wildlife & Landscape Fine Art & Photography

FACEBOOK: Michelle Wrighton Artist

TWITTER: artistMichelleW

BUY CUSTOMIZED ART POSTERS, ART PRINTS, T-SHIRTS & GIFTS: Zazzle

BUY CARDS, PHOTO PRINTS, CANVAS ART AND FRAMED ART PRINTS: Redbubble

Well I tried very hard to get into my studio to start a painting, but with school holidays, kids, horses, sheep dogs and an assortment of others things (including my little studio laptop that I use to display reference photos dying unexpectedly) I haven’t made it into the studio to actually paint.  The website re-design is also taking up some time, but once that is ready my website will revert back to being a full ‘static’ website with this blog part of the website.

In between everything else, I have managed a couple of graphite sketches to help me get back into the swing of things. I was a bit rusty at first as I haven’t done any graphite work for a couple of years, but these sketches have reminded me why I love graphite so much.  I have deliberately created these as sketches rather than detailed photorealistic drawings and have found that not focusing on achieving strict photorealism has made the process so much more enjoyable and I can definitely see myself doing a lot more work that while still realistic is looser and more expressive that the traditional work I have created in the past.   LOL I am sure that being able to start and finish a drawing within five hours instead of slaving over it for 50 hours is partly why I enjoyed it more!

Border Collie puppy graphite drawing on A4 drafting film by Michelle Wrighton

If you would like to commission a pencil portrait graphite sketch in this style of your own Border Collie, dog, cat, horse or other pet please contact me to discuss your requirements.

Thanks for visiting my blog  and sharing my art and photography with your family and friends!

x Michelle

Michelle Wrighton: Animal, Wildlife & Landscape Fine Art & Photography

FACEBOOK: Michelle Wrighton Artist

TWITTER: artistMichelleW

BUY CUSTOMIZED ART POSTERS, ART PRINTS, T-SHIRTS & GIFTS: Zazzle

BUY CARDS, PHOTO PRINTS, CANVAS ART AND FRAMED ART PRINTS: Redbubble

I have a number of pieces on the go at the moments, this pet portrait of a beautiful German Shepherd dog isn’t finished yet, but I thought I would share the progress photos to give an idea of how this portrait has developed so far. I am working to avoid just duplicating the photograph, I do want the piece to retain a definite hand drawing look, and I am experimenting a bit with ‘painting’ the charcoal rather than drawing as such.

Charcoal on drafting film approx 9″x12″ image size.

Let me know what you think so far!

I am looking for more German Shepherd models for my “Best of Breed Series”, so if you are owned by one or more of these beautiful creatures, there is some additional information   here.