Lou Lou - First Race

This is a commissioned portrait of a horse called Lou Lou who raced for the first time at the Abu Dhabi racecourse in December 2010. By all accounts it didn't go that well, but she still came in fifth and earned her owner a small sum. This is just by way of a souvenir of that first race! Pastel on Canson paper 20 x 24 inches

Ruby - latest commission

This little cutie comes with a sad story that has a happy ending. Her owner passed away so she was all alone. My client heard about this and brought her to live with her grandmother, who has also recently suffered the loss of her husband. Now Ruby and my client's grandmother give each other company and solace and lots of love.

another dog in the desert - but not a desert dog!

Desert Dogs

This is a painting that I started a while back. It is of my two dogs, that here in Abu dhabi are commonly refered to as Desert Dogs. Desert Dogs are usually a mix of the traditional Saluki with some other breed. There are a wide variety of Desert dogs, some look more like the Saluki and others less so. The are all very keen sight hounds and run really fast! This painting was inspired by early morning walks with my dogs, and I have tried to capture the light and the feeling of these early morning walks - a moment of quiet and contemplation before the next outburst of energy. My dogs are called Girlie and Purdy - Purdy being the white one. Both are rescued dogs Girlie as abandoned as a 5 month old pup in the city of Abu Dhabi, and Purdy was found half-starved in the desert with a bit of rope around her slender neck. I have had them now for over two years and they have helped me greatly adjusting to life here.

Commission No 4

Meet Tia! This is the fourth of four commissions I have done for the same lady. I hope she will be happy with this one. The markings were particularly challenging, but I didn the best I could. Next commission is a family portrait - people not horses - it will make a change for me. It is a long time since I have done people but I used to prefer doing people to anything else. Have to see if the old skills are still there - lol.

Commission 2 - A dog not a horse!

Meet Otto! This was number 2 commission for the lady with the three horses - 2 of which are now done. Starting work on the final horse tomorrow - a bit of a challenge as it is an appaloosa pony, so getting the markings right won't be easy!

commission 3

Meet Kizzy, this is the second of three horses I am doing for a lady who is offering the paintings to her mother as a gift.

New commission

This is Bridget. She is the horse of a lady I work with in the Strays of Abu Dhabi. She commissioned this portrait of Bridget for her mother who is currently looking after Bridget. The portrait is pastel on canson approx 10 x 12 inches which is a bit smaller than I ususually work, so have focussed on the head. I am not quite finished, but am pleased with the progress! :)

Daisy

Daisy is just about done now. Am relatively happy with how she turned out. I find these light dogs quite difficult to do as the chages in tone are very subtle, and it is easy to go to little and then it looks flat, but then it is easy to go too far. I have to say that usually my paintings look better from a distance, but in this case, I think this one is better closer up.

Puppy Eyes - Done

I am calling this one done. The last little bit got very frustrating, and I started losing the flow. It is best to quit while you are ahead I think, so will put it down to experience, and not get quite so confident so early - pride comes before a fall as they say.... ;-)

Worked a bit more on thsi today. I tried to just cover the canvas and made a start on the eye. Most of the pieces are in place now and tomorrow I can start work on the more detailed stuff. This is quite small, so for me the details are quite fiddly and it takes me longer than when I work on bigger things. I am enjoying working with the oils again, and am beginning to feel like I know what I am doing with them.

Puppy eyes

Only started this today. I am playing with my oil paints and was drawn to this little guy because of his cute watery puppy eyes - of which he only has one at the moment. Was constricted by time, but hopefully should get this done tomorrow. Am working with a limited palette as usual, but am being a bit more bold with my colours, and hopefully it should give something a wee bit more dramatic. We shall see..... ;-)

Lulu portrait finished - just about!

Something new for me. I put together some of the progress photos of the painting I did of Lulu, and made a mini film so you can see the process. Enjoy!

Lulu Portrait

This is Lulu - the painting is only in the early stages at the moment. I have been working on getting the basic shapes in place. Now I am more or less happy with the positioning, I will start work on the more detailed aspects. This is not an easy horse to paint as she is strawberry roan in colour and there are flecks of white in the reds, and reds in the white, so it will be quite challenging to render her accurately. I was hoping to have had her finished last weekend, but ended up being too busy - I am hoping this week will be less hectic.

Charlie

Meet Charlie! This is my latest commission - a present for the owners by their family. It is acyrilic on canvas 14" x 16" or thereabouts. Not quite finished, but should be done by the weekend.

Sortudo

This is Sortudo - the horse of my friend Marta. It was her birthday recently, and this is what she wanted as her present. Happy birthday Marta!

Newky finished

Well I think Newky is finished now. It is always a challenge to do a black animal, especially when there isn't much light reflected in the coat. The whiskers were a big challenge for me, but I am quite happy with the end result.

Newky

Finally got the ref photo from the owners of Newky. Have made a start, but there is still a way to go with this until it is finished. This is acrylic on cavas board. Very difficult as it is a black cat and there wasn't a lot of definition in the photo.

2nd of 4

This is the second commission, I have now only 2 more left to go - a cat and a dog. The dog will probably get done over the summer break, but I have to chase up the owners of the cat to give me a reference photo or let me take one for myself. Given that they have already paid for the painting, it is funny that I have to be chasing them up. You would think they would be hassling me!

Mare and foal done

Think this is just about finished now, maybe some tidying up to do but not much else.