Why did the turkeys cross the road?

Because that's where the chickens are hanging out. Our neighbours have turkeys, and every year there are more of them. The baby turkeys are seriously the cutest things I've ever seen. Unlike baby chickens, they are sturdy little things with solid legs. They grow fast, too! From fluffy little bundles you'd love to see in an Easter basket, to funny-looking creatures that remind me of the old Marvin the Martian cartoons, and then to regal adulthood. The wild ones are the prettiest, to my mind, with their grey and black feathers tipped with iridescence. The domestics are their plain cousins, I suppose. The chicks (or is that "turks?") in this painting are now cross-bred as a result of a new tom turkey. There's some domestic in that boy's background! Yellow chicks are NOT a common sight in our neighbourhood. 

This painting is an oil on canvas, and is only in its beginning stages. Much more to do! Patience is required to work this stuff. It takes forever to dry (smells bad, too!), and since I'm using water-soluble oil paints, they move differently. I didn't buy a huge variety of colours, as I'm not sure how much work I'll be doing with this medium. It's a start, but wow... what pink legs the big girl has! I'll be toning that down somewhat with the next layer. :D

Coco the Beagle. Progress pix

My latest commission is a graphite pencil drawing of a beagle who has passed on.

He's coming along nicely, but there's still so much to do! I've gotten as high as a B pencil, but I still have to work up to at least a 4B before I'm done. And as of March 3rd, I'm still working on his body. Building the layers one pencil level at a time.

I'm not going to post this publicly until AFTER I get permission from she-who-commissioned-me. It's a birthday gift, and we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise now, would we?!

This is the original photograph...

And here's how he's coming along... 

Needing to boost the darks on the coat, bring the dog forward from the background and bring his face forward from his body. Loving it!!! 

Coco is about 98% done. I'm just going to "look" at him for a few more days, tweaking here and there.

Coco

I'm just waiting for she-who-commissioned the drawing to come over and view it. The weather hasn't been cooperative, what with the unexpected (for me) blizzard yesterday! We've got big puffy snowflakes falling today. With any luck, that's all that will fall. Keeping my fingers crossed! 

Blueberry Season (Progress to completion)

For Jenny

I started work on my friend Jenny's darling boy, Blueberry, a sweet Pit Bull who passed away earlier this month (February 14th). Blueberry was a wonderful big brother to Franklin, (the Boston Terrier), and Bessie (Boston/Shih Tzu).

He was a beautiful dove-gray colour, and the graphite pencil is a beautiful way of rendering the soft textures and colours of his coat.

Thanks, Jenny, for letting me draw him for you. I know it's a hard thing to lose a beloved pet, and reminders can be painful, but I hope this will eventually serve as a reminder of the joy he brought you.

This was the original photo, for those who are wondering about what kind of photo source is acceptable.  I also used a couple of other photos of Jenny's that she had lying around on Facebook. 

Graphite cat - same as Coloured Pencil, but b/w

I started working on Zoey in pencil, but thought I'd try my hand at Coloured Pencils again. It worked out better than I'd hoped. Now I'm going to go back to working on the Graphite version of the same cat. She's so pretty!

Still working on her. She's got a few more hours to go before I call it quits. 

Okay. I'm calling it quits. Enjoy!

Marmalade tabby - Zoey

and she's such a beauty. Thanks Kimby!

Zoey

Just for fun - Coloured Pencil on black paper

I'll get back to the graphite drawing tomorrow. :D

There... All done now! 

Bengal Cat in Graphite

Thanks, Karen, for letting me snag the picture of Lucius for my drawing practice. He's coming along beautifully and I'm looking forward to showing him off when he's done!

Getting there...

Coming along nicely, don't you think?

The Hunter


I'll have to take a picture of this tomorrow in the daylight, then I'll post it on FB and the website.

Pet Portraits

I'm still trying to figure out how to market my Pet Portrait business. Nothing much happening there lately, but since Christmas and New Year's celebrations are just over, I figure it won't be long now. Word of mouth may still be my best bet for drumming up new work. I'm going to donate some of my work to the Torbay Museum. Posting flyers and posters around St. John's is another thing on my to-do list.

My work has improved so much since I did the Three Golden Retrievers. Although I signed up for the distance education program in the London Art College, I find that the independent research into techniques and methods has been more educational than the package they sent. The interaction between students on their website is so-so, with some students posting everything they've ever done and hoping that somebody says something nice about it, and others putting up only the work they submit for evaluation to the instructor. Hard to argue about either method. It's nice to see other students' work, and I should post mine up soon.

I'm procrastinating because I haven't actually done the darned "hair" assignment. It's not one of my favourite assignments. (various types of hair portrayed in 2 media: graphite and a colour medium of your choice in 3" squares.) Instead of working on the homework, I've been doing the Quartet of Cats as a Christmas gift. Then I did the graphite drawing of Carver, which was a donated item for a Convention's silent auction in British Columbia.

Then there's the "horse" assignment. Horse?! Sure there's horses here, but I don't know if there's as much call for horse portraiture in Newfoundland as there apparently is in the UK. (horsey people?) They want the horse to be wearing a halter and bridle (halter and "bridal"... lol... with "reigns." The typos in the instructions gives me a giggle and the overwhelming urge to stick a bridal veil on the horse.)

Well, here's some photos for your enjoyment. They're on my Facebook page as well as in a website I set up. Links to those are also here. (If the Facebook one doesn't work, just go to your Facebook and search for "Charmed by Christine - Pet Portraits" ... it should come up.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Charmed-by-Christine-Pet-Portraits/169298826428624

http://charmedbychristine.webs.com/

Shauna

Quartet of Cats

Blue

Niki-Bee

Carver