A busy week!

• Sorry, I'm bulletting again, I tried to avoid it by working in Html code last time, but even THAT didn't work! Sigh, I wish I knew what was going wrong with my paragraphs!
• So, I apologise that my last blog came through as a single, jumbled paragraph, please know I did all I could to avoid that! (grumblegrumble!) So, on Sunday I held a sort of mini-Workshop at my home, for two young up-and-coming artists. We had a blast and the time flew by, BUT I can't actually share photos of what we made until I receive some copyright permissions from Breyer, soooo, that report will have to wait.
• In the mean-time I've been busying myself with quite a lot of new projects!
• Firstly, I have to show this off - it's my new camera! I was quite happy with my old camera, I discovered this week it had taken over 27000 photos for me (wowsa!) but it was still going strong... however, new technology waits for no man (or woman!) so the new camera, which is effectively an up-to-date version of the last one, has even more bells and whistles!

Next up is a work in progress, you may remember this blog, well I've been pretty slow in getting started with this one (partly due to the unplanned Workshop at the weekend, the preparation for that took me a week!). Well I finally got cracking last night and have got this far with the portrait of "Casper".

• This is only a very early photo, the intention was to get everything into the correct position and block in the colours very crudely. I used the white pastel from a new Sennelier set I got last month, and the difference between that and the hard, square pastels I like is incredible. The only way I can describe the softer pastel is "buttery"! I'm very pleased, as although I will use the harder pastels later on, geing able to get the foundation colour down in the softer pastel made for much faster, more enjoyable work.
• Poor Casper looks a bit like a Terrier at this stage, but once his nose and mouth are blocked in more he should begin to take shape.
• Casper's owner tells me she likes beach type colours, so I've chosen this Sandy colour, a pale grey and a light brown. This paper is 12"x16"

• Another little project I've been working on - this is my "secret" project, though I'm pretty awful at keeping secrets so most people who know me know what I'm up to, hehe!
• I couldn't help but post this shot, it's just rather funny!

• More little projects - this bunch of ugly looking things are all potential future models. Pickle is due for a V3 version, and for a long while I've been wanting to make her a tad bigger, to make her a perfect model for Arabian tack-makers. Sadly V1 and V2 were just a touch too small, so, armed with my magic growing resin (the green coloured stuff) I took a cast of Pickle V2 and am now watching it slowly grow.
• I also took a cast of just one side of her face (the other green blob), which I'm wondering about turning into some kind of medallion.

• The cream coloured blobs are casts made from the magic shrinking resin. I took a cast from the Pickle mold and also from the Fly Fishing mold. You can see how the two kinds of resin work when you consider that all three Pickle casts in the photo are from the same original mold! The effect will be very noticable when the two cream models are fully shrunk; then they will be a brown colour, like the Halfling Frodo was after fully shrinking which takes about 2-3 weeks, but as it's winter could be as long as a month.

More to come!

My First Artist's Retreat

Well, I didn't know I'd be doing this last week, but this Sunday, I'm holding a little Artist's Retreat! A young sculptor hobbyist contacted me last week; she is working on a SM size sculpture and wanted to know about resins, rubbers, mold-making and so on. We got chatting about the different types of materials and their characteristics and I said "wouldn't it be great to meet up and go through all these things as an experiment together"... So, this Sunday that's exactly what we're going to do! I've asked along another friend of mine so it's turning into a group event. I'm really looking forward to it now; I've ordered a good selection of materials (that I'd have ended up buying at some point anyway, so no cost implications there) to add to those I already have and given how I love to experiment, that's quite a few! I'm now doing a little research into Health and Safety, just to make sure everything is legal and safe for the girls who are visiting, as they are both 16. Just in case I've ordered some water-based non-toxic resin, so at the very least they'll be able to do a spot of casting. I hate to have to think this way, but I would hate it more if there was an accident! I shall report back after the event, and will try to remember to take lots of photos so you can see what we got up to, whatever it will be, I think it will be colourful!!

Happy 2009!!! Time to get creative!

• Hi all,
• Well, we're careering into 2009 at one heck of a rate, aren't we?! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a fun New Year! Mine was one for family and as always it was extremely manic! I think I'm about recovered from it all (now we're nearing the end of January!), so it's now time to get back to all things creative!
• Below are details on my current project; it is for a fellow member of the Model Horse community, Joan Berkwitz. Joanie is a ceramic artist who not only creates some of the most incredible glazed pieces, but also casts china models (a subject which mystifies me!). In particular, she has control over the edition of these models. More photos of this model glazed by Joanie and other artists can be found on Donna Chaney's Animal Artistry website here and here.
• I am quite an avid Animal Artistry collector, and have more recently begun to collect bone China and Earthenware pieces. This particular model has been on my grail-list, as due to the cancelled Pour-Horse run it has technically never been released! There are a number that have been sold, but those people who have them must really love them, as they very VERY rarely come up for sale!
• The reason I'm talking so much about china models and not drawings, is that Joanie has VERY kindly agreed to glaze a copy of this model for me, in exchange for a set of portraits of her three German Mittle-Spitz dogs; Casper, Bear and Yasha.
• I'm being very lucky with the portraits I've been asked to do, in that they've all been of incredibly gorgeous animals! These dogs continue that pleasant trend, so I would like to introduce you to:

Casper

Bear and Yasha

• These images show how I begin the portraits. As you can see they aren't perfect, but for the purposes I need them for, that's ok. What I've been trying to work out is the composition. I've always struggled with getting the elements in my drawings into a good composition, so taking this step saves me an awful lot of time and mistakes! So, I put the chosen photographs into a photo editing software, and then remove the background, add in a coloured background which I can easily change (these probably won't be on brown, but I usually start with this colour) and then I remove bits, add bits and generally "fiddle" with the images until I'm happy with the overall balance, and in this case, the harmony between all three images. As you can see, we've chosen three photos that can be displayed side by side, and as one dog looks slightly left, one slightly right and one mostly front-on, they should make for a nice arrangement whilst still looking balanced alone (should Joanie decide to display in separate places).
• I also get to play with the brief I was given, and with any effects or styles. If I mess up at this point it's easy to press UNDO, so now is a good time to play! The information I'm aiming to convey (in addition to as accurate a portrait as possible, and some other points) is as follows:

1. Casper is an "old-style" American Eskimo dog. He is smaller than the two younger dogs and his features are more pointed. Casper has tear-stains by his eyes, which although undesirable in the breed (they are hereditery), they are a part of him so these will remain and just be slightly reduced as this photo was taken at a time when they were quite strong.
2. Bear is the biggest dog, he is masculine and strong, but laid back. He has a more pronounced "ruff"(mane) than the other two dogs.
3. Yasha is a "new-style" Eskie, like Bear. She has more dainty features, and has very, very soft fur.
4. Casper is thirteen years old, whilst the two youngsers (brother and sister) are both about two and a half. I don't want Casper to look really old in his portrait, but he does have a glint of wisdom in his eyes that I really hope I can portray.

• I avoid making any changes to the details of the dogs; it's vitally important to make sure that I draw "Casper, Bear and Yasha", not just "three white dogs". Saying that though, at this point it is really handy to be able to remove any undesirable elements. I get terribly distracted by bits I don't want to draw and can get quite frustrated , so being able to clean up any little flecs on the picture, or unwanted tangles in the fur can really help me.
• So, this is where I'm at now. I have to admit this project has me quite worried as white fur is so very difficult to portray well. I just hope I am able to master it, or that precious little clinky horse always will remain a grail!

More on this project to come, and also more on recent sculpting endeavours including the revealing of my "secret model"!