Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

I finally have had time to post an update of Tara’s pet portrait painting.

The first two photos are close-up views of the eyes and fur base colours.

Left eye:

Right eye: This shot also shows some of the brown tones that have been used in the base of the tabby fur.

In this next photo I have added the cream markings on her mouth and I am beginning to model the shape of her face under the white fur. Although grey colours are often used to depict white fur, using other shadow colours of the right value such as pinks, violet and lilac can add depth into the white fur without making it look dirty (which is easy to do on drafting film).

I think I forgot to mention this previously, but I intensified the strength of the whiskers in white pencil earlier on to avoid loosing them in the fur. At the end I will go back and redefine them and put shadows in where needed.

The next update will include the final version of Tara’s Pet Portrait.

This is the first pet portrait I have done of a Weimaraner. I am creating this one with a slightly looser, more “painterly” style rather than my normal “include every hair” level of detail.

This is on drafting film (I doubt that I will ever go back to any other support! using colour pencils, mostly Derwents, Prismacolors and the odd FC Polychromos.

As usual, I sketch in the basic landmarks, work the eyes to about 90-95% completion (if I don’t get them right, the rest of the portrait will not come together) and the establish the highlights.

In the next photo, I have started to work in the shadow areas on the chest and body using a French Grey (sorry I can’t remember the % of FG, I tend to work intuitively with the colours, and rarely keep a track of the colours I am using).

I prefer to have a full range of values in my artwork, this can sometimes be a challenge with images like this one where there is fairly strong backlighting. We’ll see if I can pull it off;)

In the next image I have added some indigo to deepen the shadow areas.

Now I have started working in the midtones on the chest and body, working on the shapes for the different values rather than focusing on individual hairs.

I have continued building the chest and body with a variety of pinks, mauves, purples and french greys. The lips have been done with browns, pinks, light purple and black grape for the shadow area. I’ve also started the background using a variety of soft subtle greens. While a stronger background would definitely make the dog ‘pop’, I really want to portray the soft, loving side of the Weimaraner, so I have deliberately chosen more subtle colours.

A few more layers have been added to the background and I have started the first layers on the face and nose, which is looking a little wonky in this image, probably because I took the photo at an angle to avoid reflection of the drafting film.

Thats the last update I have at the moment for this pet portrait. I’m having fun experimenting with a slightly different style, and would love to know what you think, so please leave a comment!

Until I return with another update, here is some information on the Weimaraner breed, just in case your interested!

Weimaraner Breed Profile

Country of Origin: Germany

Colour: Silver-grey

Coat type: There are two coat types, the Short haired which is smooth and sleek and the long haired variety which have a soft medium length top coat, with long feathering on the ears, tail and breeching and moderate feathering on the legs, belly and chest.

Temperament: Alert, affectionate, willing, obedient (when trained) dedicated and devoted to their family, love being the centre of attention.

Group: Gun Dog

Size: Dogs 59-70 cm and bitches 57-65 cm.

Weight: dogs – 30 to 40 kg, bitches – 25 to 35 kg

Original Purpose: Originally bred as a versatile hunting dog, and they are still used for this purpose today.

The Weimaraner is good natured and totally devoted to his owners, although they can be aloof with strangers. Affectionately known as the ‘grey ghost’, the Weimaraner is one of the worlds most versatile hunting dog that is able to point, retrieve, track and hold at bay. They are highly intelligent and excel in Obedience and Agility trials, and make wonderful companions if they are allowed to be a part of the family and are given an outlet for their intelligence.

Weimaraners need contact and companionship with their owners and are an energetic breed that needs lots of physical and mental stimulation to avoid boredome problems developing. The coat requires minimal regular grooming to remove dead hair (more frequent during coat changes) as well as regular ear cleaning, nail clipping and dental care.

Weimaraners are beautiful dogs – but that dosn’t make them suitable for everyone, so if you are considering adding one of these gorgeous dogs to your family, make sure you thoroughly research the breed and spend time getting to know them to make sure they are the right breed for you and your lifestyle.

This is a small acrylic painting I am working on of Gilley, a rescue Greyhound from the UK. Greyhounds have the most beautiful, liquid, expressive eyes that are an absolute joy to paint. As a breed, Greyhounds have such a regal bearing that the deep purple background seemed appropriate for Gilley’s Pet Portrait.

With these smaller paintings, I am really trying to loosen up and capture the essence of the animal without being totally pre-occupied with capturing every last detail like I normally do in my pencil portraits.

I usually do my initial sketch on paper then transfer it to the canvas, but I thought I would just sketch straight onto the canvas this time.

But graphite on canvas dosn’t erase very well, so next time I will transfer my sketch the usual way.

Gilley’s face still need some more work and I need to finish painting the sides of the canvas as I have the painting continueing around the edges.

(8″x10″, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas)

Michelle

I’ve managed to grab a few hours here and there to get some more work done on Poppy.

Basically just adding more thin layers and creating depth in the fur using paynes grey, ultramarine, burnt umber and some reddish brown mixes.

Also adding more thin glazes to the grass to blend the background, adding individual blades of grass and flowers stalks and a few flower buds using different greens mixed with some of the darker paint used in the dogs fur.

I’ve also started to add to the flowers to create the shadows and highlights that will give them form.  The flowers are proving to be the biggest challenge, partly because I am working from several different reference photos because I don’t know what poppies look like in detail and because none of the photos have the flowers as I want them, I am basically making it up as I go:)

In the image above, I’ve started to add the darkest paint to turn Poppy into a black dog.  The trick here is to avoid making her look like a big black blob!  The highlights in her eyes really make her come alive on the canvas.

In this last photo, Poppy is finally looking like a Black Labrador, even though she still needs a fair bit more work.  And I think she needs some liposuction on those lips, so I will have to post another update, and hopefully the final image, when she has had that necessary face lift, and had her whiskers added!

Michelle

I have done a bit more modelling of Poppy’s face and have started on her eyes. It takes many thin glazes (layers) of paint of various shades of browns and golds to achieve the luminous liquid look of animal eyes, but having made a start on her eyes, Poppy is starting to come to life.

In this next progress shot, I have done a bit more work on the field and have started to add in the red poppy flowers. I’ve also continued with the modelling of her face and started the basic underpainting on her body. Obviously the underpainting is just blocking in shapes (shadows and lights) to create the form of her body before the detail starts to go on in the top layers. I’ve also added some purple to the paynes grey to tie the background in with the dog’s fur, to give depth to the darkest shadows and to start creating some of the red highlights that are apparent in the reference photo of the black labrador retriever that I am using. Thats a handy co-incidence that will work well to tie in the colours in the dog with the background:)

This painting is in a very, very ugly stage that seems to be lasting forever. As much as it looks like it now, this will not be an abstract painting of a dog when it is finished. LOL – at least I hope not!

I am working this painting in the same way that many oil painters use – multiple thin glazes of colour, so it is pretty time consuming. This has taken about 16 hours so far and I would say has at least that many more to go.

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

I’ve just found out about Squidoo, and have officially become a “Squidoo lensmaster”. LOL while that sounds really technical (or maybe just plain bizarre), it really is a very simple way of sharing your recommended links on a particular topic in a portal and possibly earning a few $ through the Squidoo system (you get paid based on Google Adwords, Amazon, cafe press etc).

I strongly believe in coincidences and as I have just recently begun a personal quest researching art history, famous artists, art movements and styles (all the things you propably would learn in art school), I thought it would be a good idea to put all the great information that I find together in a new lens All About Art for my own reference and maybe it will also help out other people who are interested in the same subject. I’ve also added a section for art lessons and demonstrations because, as a self-taught artist, I firmly believe it is possible for anyone with the determination and persistance to develop their artistic talent which we all have if we nurture it!

If you would like to join squidoo and set up your own lens, please consider using this link as your referral and when you earn your first $15, we’ll both get $5 free!

Refferal Link

I finally finished the commemorative portrait of Cleo the Bull Terrier cross that I mentioned in a previous post. I am really pleased with the way it turned out – especially as it was the first time I had attempted to draw a white dog in graphite. It was for a 60th birthday present and Cleo’s owner loved it thank goodness!

Unfortunately I did not have time to scan it and the digi photos I took really didn’t turn out very well, so much of the detail and fine shading was lost. This is the best photo of the lot however the shadows on the original are no where near as dark as they appear in this photo, and there is a lot more detail on her brown ear that is obscured by glare in the photo. Oh, the joys of photographing graphite artwork!

“Cleo”

Bull Terrier Cross

Graphite, 11″ x 14″, 2006

I posted a couple of cat ACEO’s (original Art Cards) on Ebay yesterday. I decided to try the Aussie ebay site for a change, I usually list ACEO’s on the US ebay site as ACEO’s are much more well known there (A search on Ebay.com.au for the term ACEO reveals all of 92 items today compared to several thousand on the US site). ACEO’s are not very well known over here in Australia though, so it is a bit of a gamble at best. More and more Aussie artists are now creating them though, so hopefully they will become well collected in the future.

I have also removed my Ebay Art Store as it is not proving to be worth the cost or effort, largely due to all the messing around Ebay has been doing recently. I might consider re-opening it in the future, but until I can have a really good number of items in the store it seems pointless to keep paying Ebay for low views!

Marmelade and White Kitten
Click to view on Ebay

Marmelade and White Kitten

White Persian ACEO

White Persian (Closeup view)

This is probably my favorite piece that I did in 2005. The look in this dog’s eyes just says it all, he is laying there patiently waiting for his owner to come back.

“Waiting” Coloured Pencil, 11″ x 14″, 2005

This piece was completed purely in colour pencils on cream Stonehenge paper and took well over 55 hours of work to complete. It was worth it though, because it was awarded First Place in the Painting & Drawings: Animals class at the Art Show I entered – pretty amazing seeing as colour pencil is such a new Fine Art medium and because the other entries included oils, acrylics and pastels!

This Bullmastiff pet portrait features on dog breed merchandise such as stationery, prints, greeting cards, tote bags and more.