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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.orgNow 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.
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.
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!
I have not painted any fish for a while now. I went through a phase of painting Koi, which I really enjoyed doing. Koi have such lovely patterns and colours which suit my method of watercolour. In addition they are the perfect shape to arrange into beautiful and interesting compositions.Before returning to Koi, I have painted a much smaller subject; 2 fancy goldfish. These two were living in an aquarium in my parents' living room, where I was able to get a few good photographs of them swimming around. Fancy goldfish have extremely elaborate fins and tails. I actually struggled trying to get Basil's (the one on the right) correct. I'm still not sure whether I have managed to pull it off. I am however very happy with Sybil's colouring and shape. Her peppering of black, orange and blue was easy to recreate with loose watercolour. This was a quick painting to produce, only taking a couple of hours from start to finish. It just goes to show that the more you paint the more relaxed and confident you become. I also feel my observational skills are improving. I just wish I had the time and luxury to sit down and paint everyday!
To celebrate the welcome return of the warm weather, I have painted this little fuzzy garden visitor on a marigold. Insects are very different to my normal subjects, and therefore there is little room for anatomical mistakes. Bees are very intricate creatures, and while creating this piece I spent a huge amount of time getting the legs, eye and wings correct. I think I have done a pretty good job, but I am sure an entomologist could point out some corrections! What I am most pleased with is the fuzzy fur. I put down a flat wash of black or yellow, then layered splattered brown/white/blue using a paintbrush and dip pen. The flower was created by using wet on wet watercolour, and I let the red, pink and yellow mix together.
It is a sad fact that Bumblebees are becoming rarer in this country. It would be tragic to lose such an important insect, so to help them out I am planting lots of bee friendly plants this spring, including marigolds, honeysuckle, sunflowers, nasturtium and globe thistle.
Inspired by the success of my Tiger, last weekend I chose to paint a similar subject.I photographed both the Amur Tiger and this Cheetah on a visit to Marwell Zoo last year. This particular cheetah was lazing around in the sun, hence the laid back pose in this painting. Despite being a captive animal, the wild look is still evident in the eyes.
This was another quick painting to produce. I laid down a wash of yellow ochre and brown, then while the paint was still slightly wet, I blobbed on the black spots. I also splatted white, brown and black ink/watercolour on areas that needed extra texture. Between the legs, under the chin and on the ears being the main areas. Like the Tiger, I wanted the animal to fade into the paper, and not have solid, defined lines. I still need alter a few areas of the face. The pupil is not rounded enough, and I also think the edge of the nose is slightly too small. Once these changes are made it will be a complete painting that I am happy with, that I can go on to sell, possibly at the NEWA show later in the year.
As mentioned in a previous post, this year I entered the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year competition. Two pieces were submitted, my Green-wing Macaw portrait, and the Amur Tiger pictured here. Yesterday I received an email informing me that the Tiger has made it through to the exhibition and final judging on the 24th of May! I am over the moon, mainly because my work will be on show at the Mall Galleries in London, a prestigious gallery which showcases wonderful wildlife art exhibitions throughout the year. I attended the preview night last year, and the calibre of work on show was outstanding. I will no doubt be up against some very talented artists this year, so keep fingers and toes crossed for me. I will be more than happy just seeing my work on the walls....
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!
