DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year 2010

Once again it was an incredibly balmy DSWF exhibition at the Mall Galleries on Monday. I was incredibly excited, and felt honoured and chuffed to see my Amur Tiger painting hanging amongst such a wonderful collection of wildlife art. All the artists gathered at 3pm to hear the winners announced. Alas, we were told we would have to wait until 7:30pm!

The winner, Adam Binder seemed to be completely shell shocked up on the stage. It was interesting to see that a 3D work won, and he is certainly a worthy winner.
Even though I was not a prize winner, I was delighted to see a little red spot on my painting when I walked down the steps. It makes all the hard work worthwhile, and it is great to know that someone loves my work enough to invest in it. What is even more important, is that 50% of the proceeds from the sale of my painting will go towards the vital DSWF conservation projects.
The exhibition is available to view at the Mall Galleries until the 29th May, so if you haven't already I highly recommend a visit! More information can be found at: http://www.wildlifeartistoftheyear.org

Now I have to start thinking about creating a piece to enter in next year's competition, as entries are already being called for! I also aim to return to the Mall Galleries in August, and submit work to the SWLA open exhibition.

Cockney Sparrows

I have been neglecting my painting of late. Now the weather has improved I have been spending most of my time in the garden or out walking. Last weekend I went for a walk through Epping Forest. I have never been before and I was in awe of how lovely it is. It is full to the brim with ancient, gnarled trees and birdsong. I wouldn't say it is a great place for wildlife watching, as it is very busy in terms of other walkers and cyclists. I did come away with some great photographs of trees and foliage though.
This painting here was completed a few weeks ago, but I made some adjustments. House sparrows are under serious threat at the moment. Increased development in the cities is destroying the meadows where they feed on insects. The RSPB has launched a project called the 'cockney sparrows' project. They are trying to encourage people to plant insect friendly gardens etc. I have a garden full of these cockney sparrows. They love sitting in the blossoming cherry trees, which makes for a beautiful composition.

Humboldt Penguins

The bank holiday weekend has provided me with some extra painting time, which I have used to paint this pair of adorable penguins. I was able to gather some excellent reference at Marwell Zoo last year. The penguins were running around the enclosure, swimming and preening. I will be able to create several compositions using this wide variety of poses.
What I love about Penguins is that they are incredibly comical, especially the way they waddle after each other with wings outstretched. This character will form the basis of a future painting, but for this one I wanted something a little cosier; a protective male looking after his mate. Humboldt Penguins have lovely colouring. The black feathers have a red-brown sheen around the face and back, which changes to a blue sheen on the wings. I had to layer brown underneath black paint, and then drop water onto the black to allow the brown to show through on highlighted areas. This red-brown is also mirrored in their eye colour, which I made really crisp with the addition of a white highlight.
What I enjoyed the most was dropping little black spots onto their bellies! Such a cute little feature of this penguin.
What I would really like to collect is some Rockhopper Penguin reference. Rockhoppers have an amazing 'haircut' of spiky yellow feathers above their eyes. I could paint endless pictures of them! There is a resident Rockhopper at London Zoo but as the viewing platform is above the penguins, it's not a great place for photography. Best start saving for a trip to the Sub-Antarctic!