Thursday, September 22, 2016, 22:02 | No Comments »
Recently I had the pleasure to work on three drawings of some wonderful husky dogs!
All different, I wouldn't be able to pick a favourite!
All different, I wouldn't be able to pick a favourite!
Thursday, August 18, 2016, 11:02 | No Comments »
On Tuesday 16th I had a fantastic trip up to East Yorkshire to take part in a photography/artists reference day at Atkinsons Action horses, organised by the artist/photography Janey Lazenby.
One of my favourite pics from the shoot:
So I started my trip with a 4.45am alarm call, soon out of the house by 5.30am
A chilly start, some cloud and you can only just see it -- plenty of mist on the fields!
I was fortunate to have a travelling companion (though she might argue she's more chaffeur and assistant) and we were soon speedily along our way despite the roads on our route out of Norfolk being a majority of single carriageways.
Getting along on a nice stretch of dualling:
Much further on... and that wonderful sky! I was very fortunate with the weather on what had been predicted to be a cloudy day with some sunshine!
Nearly there.. crossing over the River Ouse
In all the journey took 4hours and we had a bit of time to meet and greet the other participants before we made a start on the photography!
First up we had a display of sidesaddle riding, with our model Lucy wearing tweed.
Next up was a posed session with a medieval theme! Very fortunate to have the sunshine as it really made the costuming pop!
After all that contemplation we were treated to some fast and dramatic work in the field:
Then we had a chance to see the Sebastian, the horse under the armour!
With all the excitement of the morning session and the afternoon to go, we had a quick coffee and food pitstop. A handy break, even if I had been prepared; after years of attending long cold horse shows without facilities I have never quite got out of the habit of taking a large flask full of hot sweet coffee to events!
For the afternoon session we headed along to a nearby wood for some fantastic photography opportunities. Our models were a photogenic Spanish stallion and Lucy Atkinson, with two costumes:
Firstly a historical sidesaddle theme in the sunshine:
Then we took to the woodland -- mind your step!
The sunlight was a fantastic aid for photographs!
A quick costume change, to something a bit more ethereal for the woodland setting:
Having had plenty of opportunities to take a variety of pictures, it was time to head back..
..where we just had time to fit in a highly energetic liberty session with the feisty Ocle:
Time to head home! 4 hours of travel whizzed by despite plenty of lorries to be stuck behind once we got out of Yorkshire!
First thing on arrival home was to download my photos to the safety of the computer! I have pulled out a few examples but otherwise my pictures will remain for my inspiration and reference -- I can't wait to get started on some new work! I had a fantastic day and a great depth of gratitude is owed to all who were involved.
Atkinson Action horses
http://actionhorses.co.uk
Animal Fine Art/Janey Lazenby
http://www.animalfineart.co.uk
One of my favourite pics from the shoot:
So I started my trip with a 4.45am alarm call, soon out of the house by 5.30am
A chilly start, some cloud and you can only just see it -- plenty of mist on the fields!
I was fortunate to have a travelling companion (though she might argue she's more chaffeur and assistant) and we were soon speedily along our way despite the roads on our route out of Norfolk being a majority of single carriageways.
Getting along on a nice stretch of dualling:
Much further on... and that wonderful sky! I was very fortunate with the weather on what had been predicted to be a cloudy day with some sunshine!
Nearly there.. crossing over the River Ouse
In all the journey took 4hours and we had a bit of time to meet and greet the other participants before we made a start on the photography!
First up we had a display of sidesaddle riding, with our model Lucy wearing tweed.
Next up was a posed session with a medieval theme! Very fortunate to have the sunshine as it really made the costuming pop!
After all that contemplation we were treated to some fast and dramatic work in the field:
Then we had a chance to see the Sebastian, the horse under the armour!
With all the excitement of the morning session and the afternoon to go, we had a quick coffee and food pitstop. A handy break, even if I had been prepared; after years of attending long cold horse shows without facilities I have never quite got out of the habit of taking a large flask full of hot sweet coffee to events!
For the afternoon session we headed along to a nearby wood for some fantastic photography opportunities. Our models were a photogenic Spanish stallion and Lucy Atkinson, with two costumes:
Firstly a historical sidesaddle theme in the sunshine:
Then we took to the woodland -- mind your step!
The sunlight was a fantastic aid for photographs!
A quick costume change, to something a bit more ethereal for the woodland setting:
Having had plenty of opportunities to take a variety of pictures, it was time to head back..
..where we just had time to fit in a highly energetic liberty session with the feisty Ocle:
Time to head home! 4 hours of travel whizzed by despite plenty of lorries to be stuck behind once we got out of Yorkshire!
First thing on arrival home was to download my photos to the safety of the computer! I have pulled out a few examples but otherwise my pictures will remain for my inspiration and reference -- I can't wait to get started on some new work! I had a fantastic day and a great depth of gratitude is owed to all who were involved.
Atkinson Action horses
http://actionhorses.co.uk
Animal Fine Art/Janey Lazenby
http://www.animalfineart.co.uk
Monday, July 25, 2016, 19:48 | No Comments »
I have been busy travelling around Norfolk in search of black horses to be featured in "the beautiful book of black horses" to be published by Arion Print in 2017.
I have been sporting my "Daughters of Justice" tee...
..and been armed with one of my new notebooks!
I have been enjoying exploring areas of Norfolk I haven't visited recently, or ever at all ! There have been some lovely views as I have driven along -- I don't have pics of many as I was the driver and only took a pic when it was safe to stop my car:
It's been wonderful to meet owners and get to know some new horses and breeds. Amongst others, I have visited some Icelandic horses, Friesians and the rarer than Suffolk Punches -- Percherons.
A black Percheron stallion:
A herd of Percheron mares and foal:
I've still got more visits to make, looking forward to meeting more black beauties!
The "Beautiful book of black horses" will feature professional photography, artworks as well as stories and information about black horses! This informative and beautiful book will be published in September 2017.
I have been sporting my "Daughters of Justice" tee...
..and been armed with one of my new notebooks!
I have been enjoying exploring areas of Norfolk I haven't visited recently, or ever at all ! There have been some lovely views as I have driven along -- I don't have pics of many as I was the driver and only took a pic when it was safe to stop my car:
It's been wonderful to meet owners and get to know some new horses and breeds. Amongst others, I have visited some Icelandic horses, Friesians and the rarer than Suffolk Punches -- Percherons.
A black Percheron stallion:
A herd of Percheron mares and foal:
I've still got more visits to make, looking forward to meeting more black beauties!
The "Beautiful book of black horses" will feature professional photography, artworks as well as stories and information about black horses! This informative and beautiful book will be published in September 2017.
Monday, July 4, 2016, 10:44 | No Comments »
New card designs are now available from our store!
I am pleased to be able to offer new designs based from the following artworks:
WH Justice, Twilight
WH Justice, Sunset
Daughters of Justice
Please pop on over to my shop to take a look!
I am pleased to be able to offer new designs based from the following artworks:
WH Justice, Twilight
WH Justice, Sunset
Daughters of Justice
Please pop on over to my shop to take a look!
Sunday, May 22, 2016, 22:19 | No Comments »
I have been following the progress of an exciting British company -- Copperfox Model Horses, and when I was invited to bring some of my paintings along to the Essex tour stop I was more than happy to oblige! Here is a blog post with some of my impressions of the day!
Now, model horses have not really meant much to me beyond being a bit of ornamentation on my bookshelves and the memories of my cherished childhood Julips. I would have loved Breyer horses when I was a child/teen, but I never seemed to find them (probably for the best for my parents!). So it was something a bit different for me to attend a model horse show!
As well as bringing my paintings along, buying the odd model or two, I decided I would enter the live show for model horses. I greatly admire the skill and time people spend on model horse customisation (in all forms: painting/modelling/tack making etc) though it has not been something I have ever been involved in -- so luckily for me the show was open to all ablities. Hurrah! So up to the loft I went and found some of my old julips!
^ unfortunately this search did not yield my long lost "Arabian Champion" Julip original, which I received for "doing well" at school in 1999. I'm hoping she'll turn up one day, though I'm thinking it might take a move of house first.
However, I did find my beloved "Midnight" Julip who I had won in a contest (it was very exciting to come home from school and find a big parcel with my name on!). Unfortunately Midnight was just a bit grubby, so it was time for a bit of prep and cleaning before the show:
Time for a wash!
Ahh those suds feel good..
After a bit of TLC Midnight was ready to go. Just needed to be prepared for her fancy dress class. It was quite easy really: I still had black felt left from my teen days of making book character finger puppets, + black horse and a fondness for the writing of Tolkien/The Lord of the Rings trilogy equalled a black rider/Ringwraith. Without a Julip rider (also lost) I improvised with lots of felt and a bit of cereal box card.
Midnight, all ready and tagged for the fancy dress class:
I was up early on the day of the tour (21st May) to make the journey from Norwich to Essex. I was soon there, met by the friendly Copperfox team, and set up my table featuring my two original WH Justice paintings and some cards and goodies:
Time then to peruse the Copperfox model line up, here's just a few:
Despite my inherent everyday bad luck I couldn't resist and entered the raffle, later on I couldn't quite believe it when one of my numbers was called and I won the glossy palomino!
There were lots of classes taking place with a variety of models, of course I took a particular interest in the Arab horse themed entries!
The scene class had some great entries, not a horse but who could resist these mini Julip rabbits, cat and guinea-pig!
Of course refreshments were required and provided, what could be better than a good ole British bun!
More classes, one featuring a very tiny donkey!
Then it was time for the fancy dress class, Midnight at the ready! I soon spotted another entry with great use of felt!
Now's your moment Midnight..! I was very pleased with my 4th out of the 8 entries.. and a goody bag too!
Once classes were finished there was the opportunity to paint mini figures with acrylics. This was an enjoyable activity with all ages getting involved, and though I am well familiar with painting I am not with painting in 3d! I worked on 2 mini figures and pushed the drying limit of already quick drying acrylic for about an hour of painting. I will definitely give model painting another go with some of the figures I won with the fancy dress entry! Thinking a nice sooty grey..
Painting: at the start!
Layering up! I don't use black in my paintings, so it felt decidedly foreign to be working with black on the rearing mini-figure!
The mini-figures came home to be taken into possession of the travelling mole, Moley!
Overall I had a great day doing something different to usual, it's always nice to get out and speak to people and get my paintings seen (as is intended!). I brought home a few Copperfox models with me as I couldn't resist and will share some photos of them soon. In the meantime I'm working on some new paintings which I will be able to share in the near future!
Thank you to Becky and the team at Copperfox Model horses.
Now, model horses have not really meant much to me beyond being a bit of ornamentation on my bookshelves and the memories of my cherished childhood Julips. I would have loved Breyer horses when I was a child/teen, but I never seemed to find them (probably for the best for my parents!). So it was something a bit different for me to attend a model horse show!
As well as bringing my paintings along, buying the odd model or two, I decided I would enter the live show for model horses. I greatly admire the skill and time people spend on model horse customisation (in all forms: painting/modelling/tack making etc) though it has not been something I have ever been involved in -- so luckily for me the show was open to all ablities. Hurrah! So up to the loft I went and found some of my old julips!
^ unfortunately this search did not yield my long lost "Arabian Champion" Julip original, which I received for "doing well" at school in 1999. I'm hoping she'll turn up one day, though I'm thinking it might take a move of house first.
However, I did find my beloved "Midnight" Julip who I had won in a contest (it was very exciting to come home from school and find a big parcel with my name on!). Unfortunately Midnight was just a bit grubby, so it was time for a bit of prep and cleaning before the show:
Time for a wash!
Ahh those suds feel good..
After a bit of TLC Midnight was ready to go. Just needed to be prepared for her fancy dress class. It was quite easy really: I still had black felt left from my teen days of making book character finger puppets, + black horse and a fondness for the writing of Tolkien/The Lord of the Rings trilogy equalled a black rider/Ringwraith. Without a Julip rider (also lost) I improvised with lots of felt and a bit of cereal box card.
Midnight, all ready and tagged for the fancy dress class:
I was up early on the day of the tour (21st May) to make the journey from Norwich to Essex. I was soon there, met by the friendly Copperfox team, and set up my table featuring my two original WH Justice paintings and some cards and goodies:
Time then to peruse the Copperfox model line up, here's just a few:
Despite my inherent everyday bad luck I couldn't resist and entered the raffle, later on I couldn't quite believe it when one of my numbers was called and I won the glossy palomino!
There were lots of classes taking place with a variety of models, of course I took a particular interest in the Arab horse themed entries!
The scene class had some great entries, not a horse but who could resist these mini Julip rabbits, cat and guinea-pig!
Of course refreshments were required and provided, what could be better than a good ole British bun!
More classes, one featuring a very tiny donkey!
Then it was time for the fancy dress class, Midnight at the ready! I soon spotted another entry with great use of felt!
Now's your moment Midnight..! I was very pleased with my 4th out of the 8 entries.. and a goody bag too!
Once classes were finished there was the opportunity to paint mini figures with acrylics. This was an enjoyable activity with all ages getting involved, and though I am well familiar with painting I am not with painting in 3d! I worked on 2 mini figures and pushed the drying limit of already quick drying acrylic for about an hour of painting. I will definitely give model painting another go with some of the figures I won with the fancy dress entry! Thinking a nice sooty grey..
Painting: at the start!
Layering up! I don't use black in my paintings, so it felt decidedly foreign to be working with black on the rearing mini-figure!
The mini-figures came home to be taken into possession of the travelling mole, Moley!
Overall I had a great day doing something different to usual, it's always nice to get out and speak to people and get my paintings seen (as is intended!). I brought home a few Copperfox models with me as I couldn't resist and will share some photos of them soon. In the meantime I'm working on some new paintings which I will be able to share in the near future!
Thank you to Becky and the team at Copperfox Model horses.
