This is a sketch for a new painting of an Indian black leopard looking up at a white peacock. I wanted to paint this pose, with the leopard looking up and thought a peacock would make a good contrast to the leopard. They both come from India so they should work well in the same painting. Now I need to create a background for them.

Another black swan painting. This one is acrylic on paper, about 14×10 inches. I just love these beautiful birds, they are so elegant and surprisingly full of colour, even though they are black.

This was a commission to paint Naomi, a black swan and her court of ducks on their home pond.

It’s a large painting, a 24×16 oil painting on stretched canvas.

In the background the household cats sit in the sun and watch the birds swim by.

I have A new print, Bengal Kitten. This is available in the Bengal Gallery of The Painted Cat web site.

A new Christmas card this year is ‘Waiting For Santa’. Harry is sitting on the snowy rooftops of London watching for Santa to bring him what he wants for Christmas.

I wonder what he’ll wish for this year. Last year he was living rough, an abandoned cat trying to survive in the snow. He  wished for a warm home and people to love him. Well, he got his wish, we rescued him. This year, when he sits in the snow and looks up at the stars, he knows he can come in whenever he wants too and curl up by the fire.

Three beautiful French Bulldog puppies curled up asleep. OK, I know they’re too cute for words but I couldn’t resist them. And it was interesting to play with colour in this painting.

a close up…

I have adjusted the format of The Look Out, making it longer and making Shelby a bit smaller in the painting. I’ve done a fair bit of work on her coat and expression and experimented with the addition of a pair of eagles flying through the pass.

This is the finished painting. I’ve adjusted the mountains behind Shelby into a more pleasing shape and added some autumn trees in the pass.

Here’s a close up detail…

I love this animation and I know how he feels! This has happened to me on more than one occasion. In fact recently I had been doing some pen and watercolour sketch ideas for a commission. I’d been working on them for several days when I got up one morning to find a snow storm had hit the living room. All the sketches had been shredded during the night! The moral of the story is never leave paper or cardboard temptation for Bengals!