Fresh Snow

Finally, we have snow. At the moment, there is just enough to dust the ground, like the snowfall we had last week, but this time, we are told that it will stay. This week is supposed to bring a proper drop, so it will really look like Christmas.
This is a little watercolour sketch I did called FRESH SNOW. I really like it so it may end up as a full size painting one of these days. I wanted to get the idea down before it drifted out of my mind. Can't you just imagine the cold, crisp air, and a glorious Friesian thundering across a snowy field, sending the Cardinals, (or Red Birds, as I like to call them) flying out of the bushes? This is a Winter scene I could look at all year long.

PROCESS 3 - Mediums - Watercolour

My very favourite art medium is Watercolour. I love the flow, the brightness of the colours, and the challenge. Watercolour has a way of doing what it wants, just at the wrong moment, and part of the challenge with this exciting, exacting medium is knowing how to coax it back to doing what you had intended. Sometimes, you have to insist, and sometimes, you just start over. Watercolour can be etherial, moody, or bold, and I have chosen an older painting of mine to show that a rich depth of colour can be achieved.
With this medium, perhaps more than any other, the quality of your tools is of paramount importance. For the best results, you must use the best. That best will differ, depending on what you want to achieve. For example, for loose watercolours, a Cold Press (textured) or a Rough paper is often found to give the best results, and for detailed work, although a Cold Press will work, Hot Press (very smooth) is what I like best. The paper (heavy enough to be called a board) comes in several weights or thicknesses, and that can affect the outcome of your painting too. Paper or Board is actually a misnomer, as the best "papers" are made of 100% acid-free cotton or linen rag . Various companies produce papers that have slightly different textures and behave in different ways, and it is up to the artist to discover what works best for them. My favourite is Arches 140 or 300 pound Hot Press, but I usually have some Lanaquarelle and some Fabriano Artistico (both Hot Press) on hand too.
My brushes of choice range from the king of brushes, the Winsor & Newton Series 7 Number 7 kolinsky sable brush, to some 000 fine point acrylic brushes for the smallest details. If I could only have one brush, it would be the Series 7 Number 7, it is so versatile and reliable. I've had mine for 30 years and it is still great.
The paints I use are mostly Winsor & Newton Artist's professional quality tube paints, because they are of the very best quality, with a wide range of reliable, brilliant colours. I also use some Daniel Smith and some Holbien, all top quality and reliable.
I start a watercolour painting the same way I begin any other painting - with a pencil drawing that has been thoroughly worked out on newsprint before my pencil touches the watercolour board. The image is intially hand drawn, then transferred to the board using a very light touch, as the pencil lines should not show through the finished painting. Once the graphite gets wet, it is on the paper forever, so it is important that the drawing be barely visible at the time I start to paint. Then I lay in washes, wait for them to dry, and lay in more. With watercolour, I have to work from light to dark, because many of the colours are translucent. The details come last. A watercolour takes a long time to acomplish - there really are no shortcuts, and while it is forgiving of mistakes, they had better be small ones.
I hope this little series on my Process has given you a glimpse of how I do my paintings. If anyone has any questions, please email me and I will try to answer them for you.
anderson.animalart@sympatico.ca

DOG PARADE WEDNESDAY- BORDER COLLIE

We live in an area where there are some sheep farms as well as cattle farms, and we often see Border Collies. There are also some in the village who work at being pet for a living, and they are always a treat to see trotting past the Sheltie Hollow window.
These beautiful dogs are super intelligent, intense, focused, and need a job, even if that job does not involve sheep. They come in two coat types - short haired with some feathering on the legs, or medium long and often wavy. Although usually black and white, there are a variety of possible colours as well as some solid coloured dogs. Border Collies are high energy dogs, as in HIGH ENEREGY, and need safe exercise as well as either a job or a canine activity such as Agility, Flyball, etc. to focus on.
This coloured pencil drawing is available as a 5 x 7 matted print for $25. shipping included. You can reach me at: anderson.animalart@sympatico.ca

DOG PARADE WEDNESDAY - the GOLDEN RETRIEVER

There are several beautiful Golden Retrievers who walk past Sheltie Hollow. How could you not love this dog? His blond good looks are matched by a golden personality. He is gentle, reliable, friendly, intelligent, and obedient. It must be remembered though, that he is a powerful dog who still has a retrieving instinct, and while he needs lots of exercise, he needs to be in a fenced area for his own protection.

This little coloured pencil drawing is available as a 5 x 7 matted print for $25. shipping included.

You can reach me at anderson.animalart@sympatico.ca

PROCESS 2 - Medium -Coloured Pencil & Graphite

Today I want to tell you about some of the Mediums I use. When I do Portraits, I start with a watercolour wash on either Stonehenge paper or Arches hot press 140 lb. paper and then work over it in Coloured Pencil. The paper is top quality and acid free, and I love the smooth, but not plate finish of both papers because I am a detail person.
I start with the initial drawing on newsprint, (not traced or projected), transfer it to my good paper, and then do a very light watercolour wash to establish the colour pattern and to lay a bit of a grip on the paper. You can see in this image of a commission I did last year where the watercolour is, and that over it, I have started layering the Coloured Pencil. This is a long process, and there is no hurrying it. I was far from finished any part of the portrait when I took this photo. The green you see is the low tack masking tape I use to mask off my painting area because I have a personal preference for a neat, clean, white border around my paintings, even though it will be covered by a mat. Naturally, it comes off as soon as the outline area of the piece is done.
For the most part, I use Prismcolor Pencils because of their quality, availability, and colour range. Added to them, are selected colours from Derwent and Faber Castell. All these brands are professional quality. Coloured pencil is a relatively new Fine Art medium, so there are still things we need to learn about some of the colours, but by using the best quality and the most lightfast colours, I have confidence that these portraits will long outlive the people who commissioned them.
I enjoy using Graphite too, and I have always used Faber Castell Graphite pencils in a range from 8B (very soft and dark) to 5H (very hard and light). It is of paramount importance to use graphite pencils from the same brand because each brand uses a different scale to measure light through dark. When using Graphite, I use Stonehenge paper, as already mentioned, an acid free paper which means it will stand the test of time.
Next time, I will talk about watercolours.

PROCESS - Drawing

I've been following a very interesting discussion about how artist's produce their art, and I thought I would like to tell you something about my process. Because I am an Animal Artist and a Realist - although not a Photo Realist, and because I don't want a plethora of strange dogs, cats, and horses (even if there was room!) in my studio, I work from photographs. I'm a slow painter, and I like the solitude and peace of my studio, so that is another factor in why I choose to work from photo references. Most of the photos I use are taken by myself, but some are generously given to me by a friend or they are provided by a portrait client.
When I am doing a portrait, I need to get the most accurate image possible. However, I don't trace or project, even with a portrait. I learned how to draw at Art School (I chose Fine Art rather than Graphic Art), where we would have been tossed out of class if we had tried to trace or project. If anyone had suggested painting over a photo, I think our Drawing, Life Drawing, and Painting teachers would have fainted. We were there to learn the traditional ways of drawing and painting and I am proud to be using those methods of observation, sketching, measuring, and grid. These things are hard to use - photos lie, (distortion) and measuring or grid can so easily get out of control. The width of a pencil lead can make a difference! And you have to know when to ignore the measurements because your experienced eye is telling you that something is wrong. The best tool an Animal Artist can have is an excellent understanding of their subject - anatomy, hair coat, and expression - that and good observation skills, as well as an undertanding of proportion and perspective. After 20 plus years, I am still working on improving these things.
The photo above is of my acrylic painting "Something In The Air" along with the reference photos I used. As you can see, I don't adhere slavishly to the photo. Even with a portrait, I usually use a combination of several photos. The clipped English Setter photo was sent to me by a friend (her photo, her dog) and another friend sent me a photo (hers) of geese in flight. The landscape was taken by me. This was not a portrait, so I changed things to fit my vision for the scene I wanted to paint - changing the season and adding a full hair coat to the dog. I did some thumbnail sketches for placement, then did a detailed drawing on newsprint, where most of my agonizing over the drawing takes place. When I finally got what I wanted, I transfered my own drawing to my panel using tracing paper and then I was ready to paint.
This time consuming, intensive, nervewracking method obviously isn't for everyone, but it is the only way I want to work.

DOG PARADE WEDNESDAY the RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK

Today's dog is a Rhodesian Ridgeback. This strong, courageous, big dog was once used to protect the families and stock of Colonial African farmers from lion attacks. They still have courage and a deep sense of loyalty, which makes them both good guards dogs and gentle family dogs. The Ridgebacks are beautiful dogs, with their wheaten through red colouring and the tapering ridge of stiff hair that grows in the opposite direction along their shoulders and back.
I wanted this simple, watercolour sketch to reflect the spacious glow of the African plains (as I've seen it portrayed in films), and I think I've accomplished this with the red-gold dog and trees, the golden grasses, and the apricot sky. A 5 x 7 inch matted print can be yours for $25. including shipping by contacting me at anderson.animalart@sympatico.ca