Friesian mare finished!

I've been working hard since my last post so I have finished the collage of the Friesian filly. Here's another WIP (work in progress) first though that I scanned yesterday.

The reference photos were not very good (especially the action shot was very small) but I managed. So here's the finished charcoal portrait:

You can check out the reference photos by clicking here.
Right, off to the shops now (even artists and their families need to eat) and then I am going to work on two budgie portraits. More later!

A New Year - A New Blog!

Well, I suppose this is one of my new year resolutions. I certainly neglected my blog in 2007 and have thus decided to start afresh. It is my intention to keep it up-to-date so hopefully there'll actually be someone out there who'd like to read it! :o)
January is usually a quiet time for many artists (and possibly a welcome chance to recover from the stress that Christmas commissions might have caused). However, I have had several clients on my waiting list since October/November and have been busy. Some of my latest portraits can be seen here http://www.finepetportraits.co.uk/NewPortraits.html. I have also got several projects lined up in case I do get some 'me'-time. Juliane Meyer, a German animal photographer has kindly allowed me to use her photos as reference pictures and I have already used a couple to experiment with charcoal - a medium I like very much indeed.
Currently I am working on a collage - a portrait of a young Friesian mare called Tasana, also in charcoal. This is how far I've got:

There'll be another small drawing of her trotting below her head (hence 'collage'). I am thorougly enjoying drawing this beautiful young horse. There are also several budgies waiting to be drawn but I'll tell you more about that in my next post. Talk again soon! :o)