The Animal Art Blog

Toffee and Thistle

Den — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:08:56 +0000

This is one of my favourite paintings. I just love these two Bengals. They are so gorgeous and the position they’re curled up really makes me smile. It was such a joy to paint! I just wish I could have kept it.

Toffee and Thistle
14×11 acrylic on board
SOLD

This is a 14×11 inch acrylic painting on board. The background is made up of several layers of paint, the base colour was a warm pink with cooler lilacs over the top. As a result the background changes colour as the lighting changes, going from warm pinks to cool lilacs. Looks amazing but is very hard to photograph!

Here are a couple of close ups of the painting.

Save the Tiger

Den — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:14:33 +0000

TigerTime – Save the Tiger

The Premier of China, Wen Jiabao has publicly stated that he is committed to saving the wild tiger. However, his government is allowing trade in tiger skins from tiger farms and skins taken before poaching was outlawed. This trade is acting as a smokescreen for skins taken by killing wild tigers. If China does not stop this trade, the wild tiger is doomed.

We are getting ever closer to 40,000 signatures for PLEASE sign the petition.

Spring Cleaning

Den — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:32:26 +0000

This is one of my favourite paintings! This lovely lad is Mirsku and as you can see, he’s quite a character. Very lively, full of fun and a great looking cat too. He lives in Finland with The King of Finland and his other feline subjects.

Spring Cleaning
10×8 inch acrylic on board
SOLD

I had lots of photos to choose from when I came to paint Mirsku but this pose, with him laying upside down casually washing a paw with his legs akimbo, really made me laugh. So I just couldn’t resist it. I wanted to capture that fun loving personality.

I used a board coated in Liquitex ceramic stucco to give it a rougher texture. You can see the texture in the detail photo above. He’s a grey and white cat but his fur is so full of colour, lilacs and blues with warm patches of naples yellow. A joy to paint!

Murray and Floss

Den — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:39:21 +0000

Murray and Floss in the garden. Two good looking dogs, a Sheltie and a little Japanese Spitz. Floss was quite a challenge to paint being all white.

Murray had lots of colour in his coat.

Coming Home Through The Snow

Den — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:41:22 +0000

Walking home in the snow can be a wonderful thing. The world is quiet, blanketed in the crisp, fresh snow. The flakes fall softly all around you, everything is shrouded in grey but the lights ahead glow with the warmth and comfort of home.

Coming Home Through The Snow
10×8 inch acrylic on board
£150

This winter scene is in St George’s Gardens in Central London.

This is a 10×8 inch oil painting on board.

A Weimaraner Christmas Card

Den — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:04:17 +0000

A new card. This gorgeous Weimaraner dog brings his significant owner a Christmas gift. I wonder if it’s bones? Or maybe a rubber ball?

Get them here…

Stag In The Glen

Den — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:12:41 +0000

I have a new limited edition print available from the painting Stag In The Glen. Find it in the animals gallery.

Abstract fun with interesting surfaces

Den — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:15:29 +0000

I’ve been experimenting with some unusual surfaces. This is something pretty different for me as normally I like a very specific fine grained canvas for my animal portraits. But this year I’ve been taking the time to trying out some different techniques and this is one of them. A small 5×7 inch abstract on board coated with Liquitex ceramic stucco.

Ceramic stucco is an acrylic texture paste from Liquitex . It’s a fine-textured thick paste that dries a bit like Italian fresco. It makes an interesting surface, a stucco like finish that’s almost sugary in feel and fairly absorbent. Acrylic washes soak into the texture and are just delicious! Thicker paint can be used over the top too, so you have the best of both worlds. I love the feel of it and the way it reacts to the paint. I think this would be wonderful with pastels too.

Here’s a close up. hopefully you can see the surface in this one.

I think I’ll be using this again, I had so much fun with it.