I have always loved Highland Cattle and finally have had a chance to paint one. This was the first painting that I completed in Corel Painter using my wacom graphics tablet and digital pen. I am amazed at how similar to real painting it is in regards to how the paintbrushes lay down and blend the paint!
Highland Cattle - Farm Animal Art Portrait
The highlight of last week for me was a wonderful session that I had on Saturday with Mitchell and Kaden, two gorgeous little boys who were loads of fun and had me cracking up all over the place with their antics!
I know their lovely mum is anxious to see their sneak peak, so here it is – thanks so much Jackie for letting me photograph your beautiful boys, I hope they had as much fun as I did:)
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
Perth Childrens Portrait Photography
This is the first artwork that I have ever wanted to do more than once – the first one that I did was back in 2006 and it was a tiny ACEO (2.5″ x3.5″ Art Card). At the time I did think that a larger painting would be worth pursuing, as the reference material (courtesy of Toni-Marie Hudson) is fantastic, and one that a number of artists have attempted in a variety of different mediums. I did use two slightly different reference photos though, as I thought the slightly different angle of the face would be better for the larger format painting.
I created the ACEO in colour pencils, and this new larger portrait has been done in traditional oils on prepared mdf, to the size of 9″x12″. The painting is finished, but I won’t be adding it to the FIne Art Gallery until I have varnished it which will get rid of the gloss shine from the dried liquin that you can see in the left corner around my signature.
ACEO Gibbon 2.5"x3.5"
Gibbon in Oils 9"x12"
GIBBON INFORMATION
There are fifteen living species of Gibbon – I believe this one is a White-Handed or Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar) and as there are many colour variants in the species their subspecies identification is often unreliable unless the provenience of the animal is known.
GIbbons are small tree-dwelling primates whose original natural habitat is the tropical and subtropical rainforests of South, Southeast and East Asia. Gibbons are yet another endangered animal – some of the 15 species of Gibbon are at the brink of extinction, and are currently only found in small populations in Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Bandladesh, NE India and Myanmar.
The primary reason for the endangered status of GIbbons is the loss of their forest habitat which is being destroyed at the horrific rate of 32 acres per minute. Unfortuantely, factors such as illegal wildlife trade, poaching and the use of their body parts in the manufacture of traditional medicine have also contributed to the demise of these beautiful creatures.
Gibbons are incredible acrobats and can swing up to 50 ft between trees at speeds up to 35mph, as well as having the dexterity to walk upright on the ground! They are one of the few monogamous primates, living in nuclear families consisting of the mated pair and their dependent offspring living in a family territory that they defend by vigorous vocal and visual displays. Gibbons are often referred to as the ’songbirds’ of the primate family and they can project their voices up to 2 miles through the rainforest canopy. The vocal displays of these musical land mammals usually consist of a duet between the mated pair, sometimes with accompaniement from their offspring.
If you would like to help with the plight of the critically endangered Silvery Gibbon, please visit The Silvery Gibbon Project to donate, purchase merchandise or become a member of this conservation organization which is a registered environmental organisation based in Perth, Western Australia.
Welcome to my new site, please bear with us while my web developer (hubby) gets things organized:)
If you have stumbled across my website during this transition stage, the Art and Photography Galleries will be online in the next few days. In the meantime, some of my older artwork can be viewed at my old website http://pencilportraits.com.au and over the next few days I hope to finish of and post the old posts that I have sitting in my draft folder!
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.com United States
Pug Welfare-Rescue United Kingdom
This is another quick experiment on drafting film, in this one I have pushed the drafting film to the limit to see how much pigment it will hold and I have also experimented with a more painterly approach and burnished the whole lot thoroughly!
Its not quite the result I was aiming for (it needs more layers but there is no more tooth left in the film), but at least my eight year old horse mad daughter loves it:)
I actually completed this one before starting the Weimaraner pet portrait, so I hope I learned enough from doing this one to get the result I am aiming for with the Weim. I did enjoy doing this one and the journey is sometimes more important than the destination, so it was worth it.
I keep getting asked asked to do more horse art, so keep an eye out for them in the future!
Cheers
Michelle
Yes, I know this post is out of order:) better late than never, right?
This is the first in my big cat triptych, “We Three Kings”, and my first experiment with using colour pencils on drafting film. I started with a much more detailed sketch than I normally do because I my focus was on learning how to use this support (it handles very differently to any other support that I have tried).
I did find that not all drafting films are created equal:( Although the type I used for this tiger was excellent for the pigment saturation and luminosity it allowed, unlike other types of drafting film, although it erased easily, I could not get much pigment back into the erased areas….making erasing mistakes impossible!
Considering this was an experiment, I am very pleased with how he turned out. Oh and if you are wondering about the title – I didn’t actually start out planning to do a Big Cat triptych, but the night I finished this one I was laying in bed when the title popped into my head (actually, titles for my artwork rarely pop gently into my head, they usually hit me like a sledgehammer;). I knew instantly that the next one in the series would be the lion, but I am still not sure who will be the third king cat. Watch this space to find out!
Work In Progress shot 1:
Work In Progress shot 2:
Work In Progress shot 3:
Final: “We Three Kings part I: Tiger”
I’d love to know what you think of him!
Cards and prints featuring this artwork can be purchased at
This is probably my favourite piece that I have done this year. The look in this dog’s eyes just says it all, he is laying there patiently waiting for his owner to come back.
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 second Art Show I entered last month – pretty amazing seeing as colour pencil is such a new Fine Art medium, and because the other entries included oils, acrylics and pastels!
Cheers
Michelle
pencilportraits.com.au
