Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

Finally here is the last of the graphite pencil drawings I did before my daughters accident, its taken a while to post it I know, but better late than never;)

This image is a photograph of the drawing, I had quite a bit of trouble getting a suitable image of this one, my scanner made it look very scratching and textured and even the photograph (although better than the scan) looks to have more texture than the original drawing which actually has smooth blended pencil strokes and much smoother tonal transitions.

Cricket - Thoroughbred Horse Pet Portrait sketch © 2010 Michelle Wrighton

I have some new graphite horse drawings (Clydesdales in harness) and a freisian cow that I hope to start on next week – or at least as soon as I finish a couple of digital portraits that I am still working on that are just not coming together the way I want them too.

I’ve also started to throw some paint on canvas in order to learn some new painting techniques – I’ve lost enthusiasm for painting in thin glazes (layers) and taking weeks on end to finish a painting so I plan to develop my skills painting alla prima/wet in wet and also plein air landscapes.  Suffice it to say that at the moment I think it was easier to paint photo-realistically (you just paint what you see)  than it is to paint more…painterly with less detail and more textured brushstrokes while still creating an end result that looks like what its meant to look like (as opposed to looking like an abstract pile of mud!) I would love to follow in the footsteps of the Daily Painters and create a small painting every day as that is the best way to develop new skills and techniques, as well as see tangible development over time.  I know that I can’t commit to a daily painting, but I do have a goal in mind of 100 small paintings in this new, less detailed , more painterly ‘loose’ style – not sure how long it will take to complete, but as they say its the journey thats important not the destination, so as long as I enjoy the process and learn something along the way then its time well spent.

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

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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