Cat pastel pet portrait finished

The pastel painting of Bonnie the cat is now finished. Considering that I had to transplant this pretty cat's head onto another cat's body and then edit it, using the photos of Bonnie that were available, I am very pleased with the result. I hope her owners will be too! :o)

New cat pastel paining

After a lovely birthday weekend which included a trip to London to see the musical 'Billy Elliot' and other great surprises (thank you hunny!), I am back at my desk working on a new cat pastel painting. The cat is 'Bonnie', a much loved family member who lived with her owners for almost two decades. The reference photos are not ideal so I have basically edited the pix and come up with the following pose:

I am just in the process of adding the first layer of pastels to the outline of Bonnie's head and working on her eyes. I will soon be concentrating on the fine detail before moving on to Bonnie's body. I shall post another scan soon!

I am also still working on the Corvette plus I have two horse commissions coming up. Busy time! If you are thinking about commissioning a pet portrait for Christmas, make sure you tell me asap!

Sleepy cat portrait WIP

Made some progress on the cat pastel portrait....the reference photo is a bit small so it is hard to see all the detail. Anyhow, getting there I think...

The other pastel portrait I'm working on - the grey mare - should be finished by tomorrow. Keeping busy! ;o)

Help Betsy Campaign - portrait finished

I've been working really hard so Betsy's portrait is now finished. I'll be posting it to 'Kitten to Cat' soon and it will be used as part of their 'Help Betsy Campaign'. :o) All the best to you, Betsy!

Progress on cat portrait

Here's a quick scan of my latest cat commission...

New cat pastel started

After spending most of the day sorting out website problems, I have finally managed to take a photo of the latest cat commission's pencil outline. It is a rather unusual pose and I'm looking forward to working on this one. 'Huepo', a German cat that ran away from home a few years ago and has not been seen since, will be drawn in pastels.

Siamese cat pastel portrait

I am still working on the black cat but have also spent some time on the full body pastel of a Siamese cat called 'Ming'. Unfortunately the reference photo does not show as much detail as I would like plus the cat is actually being held so two human hands cover a lot of the body. So this is a tricky one...

New Forest trip and cat pastel portrait

My latest commission is of a black cat - I got some work done today and am very pleased with the portrait so far.
Yesterday, however I didn't draw at all - we went to the New Forest to see the ponies! I had been before and just love watching them in their natural habitat. I even got to stroke a few nosey mares and foals that came up to me to say hello! I took tons of photos that I might use as reference photos in the future. Loved the foals in particular...this little fella was fast asleep and not at all phased by me and my camera! Maybe I'll do a watercolour of him...isn't he just SO cute? :o)

Young woman and her horse

I've been working hard on my latest commissions, the poodle and an A3 sized pastel portrait of a young woman and her Oldenburg mare. I like this composition very much...it shows love and trust between the horse and her owner. I don't usually draw humans in pastels (most clients prefer charcoal or graphite) so I am happy with how it looks so far.

If I work hard enough on my commissions today I might allow myself to start another watercolour painting tonight.... ;o) Can't wait!

Update on horse and cat portraits

Here's another update on my two latest commissions. First there's the pastel of Welsh Cob 'Geoffrey':

I've also started another cat portrait. This is young 'Carlos':