Pet Portraits - Stue the Silver Tabby

Good Morning everyone!

I hope today finds you all happy and healthy!? 

The weather this week is certainly helping!

I got a bike for Christmas and having been furloughed I hadn't the opportunity to benefit from the shorter commute to and from work till now! This lovely sunshine, with still a little crispness to the air, is making that commute really enjoyable! As I said in my last post, I've found returning to work a bit of a shock to the system, but starting the morning with a lovely cycle ride is helping maintain a positive attitude.

Anyway, let me introduce the subject of today's pet portrait;
This stunning Silver Tabby is Stue! I don't get asked to draw many cats, so this was a welcome change of pace from all the dog portraits I've been producing lately. 

We gotta show our feline friends some love too!

Stue's Full Body type portrait is A4 in size and coloured in a traditional style using pencil colour.
If you would love to see your beloved pet immortalised in their very own portrait like Stue's then please get in touch!


WAIT! There's more!!
I went and did another Time Lapse recording! 
Once more this is the colouring process for Stue's portrait, from start to finish. The original length of time spent colouring here is about 2 hours!
Enjoy!!

Pet Portraits - Sabre the Rescue Headshot

 Hey Everyone!

Have the shops been busy where you are?

I've now had two shifts back in work and after yo-yoing in and out of furlough for the better part of a year, I expect I won't be the only one feeling strong social fatigue by the end of this week...
Don't get me wrong, it's been lovely to reconnect and catch up with my work colleagues and to feel some sense of normality and routine once more! But after 4 months with mostly just my partner and my dog to talk to, I feel like I've become a little more introverted. And now to go back to spending 8 hour days interacting with the general public in a retail environment... it's going to take some getting used to!

So if you are planning on squeezing in a bit of retail therapy, now that more businesses have re-opened, in this last week of the Easter Holidays, then I hope you do so safely and sensibly. And please be kind to us socially awkward retail workers, who've been talking to no-one but our pets for the last 4 months!

Anyway, from talking to our pets to a pet who looks like he's great at listening!
You might recognise the subject of today's post as the lovely Pointer-mix rescue dog, Sabre!
This portrait is the 4th and final in a series of Full Body type portraits and Headshot type portraits depicting Sabre and his American Bulldog sister, Winnie.
If you missed all the previous portraits you can view them in detail here:
Winnie Full Body
Sabre Full body
Winnie Headshot

This Headshot is the twin to Winnie's casual pic, so without further ado here is Sabre! Ready to listen to all your troubles!

The entire series of pet portraits featuring these two, have all been A4 in size and coloured traditionally using pencil colours.
A huge thank you to Rachel and Julia for commissioning this amazing little series, I have really enjoyed drawing these two beauties! And to Charlotte, Winnie and Sabre's hooman mum, who was gifted these portraits for her birthday. I have had so much fun getting to know these two pooches, thank you for sharing all the photos!

I'm gonna sign off now by sharing with your some photos I took of this series of portraits before they got sent off to their forever home!

Pet Portraits - Ollie the Lurcher

 Morning you lot!

I hope you all had lovely weekends?
I managed to get down to see my family for an outdoor meet up and dog walk on Saturday! It's the first time that I've been able to see my parents and sister since September last year! It was really nice to be able to finally catch up with them on my last available weekend before I return to work.

That's right, non-essential retail and other businesses are able to re-open their doors to customers as of today, meaning this week I will be back in work for the first time since January!
I admit I'm a little nervous, when we re-opened after the first lockdown last year it was very difficult for the first month or so while customers, and staff alike, had to get used to the new regulations and measures for social distancing. I hope that this time round we'll know what to expect and show a little more kindness and patience towards one another...
Returning to work also means my availability for commissions will be affected slightly. It's going to be almost impossible to predict how busy the shop will be, so I'm allowing at least a 2-3 week turn around on portraits etc till things settle down. So if you're thinking of getting in touch for a commission as a birthday or anniversary gift to someone, then please please get your request in nice and early to ensure I'll be able to complete it in time!

I'd also like to just say another huge thank you to everyone who has commissioned me over the last 4 months, and throughout every period of lockdown we've had since this thing started! I genuinely really appreciate every single one of you for supporting me and my work through these difficult times. I certainly would not have been able to keep my head above water, mentally or financially, without all of your wonderful portrait requests.
So once again, thank you everyone!


Now, let me introduce you to the subject of today's post.
This lovely wire-haired boy is Ollie! He's officially a Merle Lurcher, however I'm told he's got a mix of Collie, Bedlington Terrier and Greyhound in him, which makes for quite the character!
Ollie loves nothing better than to explore the countryside with his human Heather, which I'm sure you can tell from his portrait!

Ollie's Full Body type portrait is A4 landscape, and done traditionally using pencil colour.

Would you like a portrait of your furry companion like Ollie's here? If so then just drop me an email or message. Though, please remember to get your requests in early for any specific occasions!

Pet Portraits - Winnie the American Bully headshot

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope today finds you all safe and well!?
We had some freaky weather here lately; bright sunshine, random snow, chill winds.. pretty much all four seasons in the last few days! Thankfully though things are looking like they're brightening up again, maybe I won't need as many layers when meeting friends and family outside for socially distanced catch ups after all!

If things are still grey where you are though, don't worry! The portrait I'm sharing today will be sure to brighten your day!

Some of you might recognise this lovely lady from a previous blog post; it's Winnie the American Bulldog making another glamourous appearance! This time showing us her casual side.

This Headshot type portrait is A4 Landscape, coloured traditionally using pencil colours, and is part of a series of portraits featuring Winnie and her Rescue brother Sabre!
If you missed it here are links the the previous posts:

Winnie - Full Body Portrait
Sabre - Full Body Portrait

Do you have a pair of perfect pooches that you'd like to immortalise in their very own portraits like Winnie and Sabre's matching series here? If so, please get in touch!

Hang on, that's not all I've got for you today... I've been at that Time Lapse filming lark again! 
I went and filmed the colouring process for Winnie's portrait! The original length of time spent colouring here is about 3 hours.
Enjoy!

Pet Portraits - Jess the Chocolate Lab

 Hey Everyone,

How are we all doing? 
Did you all have a good Easter Holiday!? 

Apologies for not posting for a little while, despite living that lockdown hermit lifestyle I managed to pick up a rotten lurgy! Nothing serious, just your average garden variety seasonal cold! Since I'd been furloughed most of last year and wearing masks when around others, this was actually the first time I've been ill at all since October 2019! But as a result it really knocked me for six and I had to take a week to recover. I'm pretty much at 100% now though and looking forward to being able to see friends and family for socially distanced outdoor gatherings!
I've seen plenty of people enjoying picnics in the park with their loved ones now that outdoor gatherings are allowed, it was glorious weather for it too! Typical now I'm over this cold the weather has turned again!

Anyway, back to today's post!
I'm sharing a commemorative portrait which was commissioned as a Mother's Day gift for Julia by her daughter. Jess the Chocolate Lab, a gorgeous old gal and beloved friend, is sadly no longer with us however she will forever be remembered in this portrait.

Jess's portrait is A4 in size and coloured in a traditional style using coloured pencils.

Thank you so much Julia for getting in touch to share your sentiments when you received this Mother's Day gift, it's so lovely to directly hear from people who are gifted these commissions! And thank you Rachel for commissioning me, you know I have a soft spot for Labradors! I apologise it's taken a while to get her posted up!

If you or a loved one have a beloved pet they'd like to see commemorated in a portrait such as this, then please get in touch!

Pet Portraits - Sabre the Rescue

 Hey Everyone!
How are we all doing?

Do you remember in a previous post I hinted that the portrait of Winnie the American Bulldog was going to be part of a series?
Well today I'm going to share with you the second portrait in this series, and introduce you to Winnie's brother from another mother. 

It's Sabre the Rescue Pointer-mix!

Saber and Winnie's portraits have now arrived safely after their long journey to the US of A, however this is not the end! There are still more to come from this little series featuring these two beauties!

For now though here's a little snapshot of these matching portraits together before they left for their forever home!

Both of these portraits are A4 in size and coloured traditionally using pencils.

If you have a pair of pets that you'd like immortalised in their own portraits like this, then please get in touch!

Pet Portraits - Bramble the Border Terrier

 Hey Everyone!

I hope you're all still safe, well and finding things to maintain your sanity!?! Does anyone else feel like they're living Groundhog Day though? I've got at least three more weeks of furlough before non-essential retail is due to re-open, and I'm really struggling to distinguish one day from the next!

Thank god for these portraits and the wonderful pups that're featured in them! They're the only way I gauge the passing of time now! Last week was Bulldogs, this week is Border Terriers!

Let me introduce you to the beautiful Bramble! 
Bramble's portrait was commissioned as a birthday gift, now that date has passed I reveal her without spoiling the surprise!

I had a lot of fun with Bramble's portrait! Her coarse hair texture presented an interesting challenge! Her portrait is A4 in size and coloured traditionally using pencil colour.

If you know someone who would love a portrait of their furry friend as a gift, then please get in touch!