New Beginnings

Today is the first day of Spring, and this year seems very special. For one thing, it's a gorgeous day, and there was a once in 19 or 20 year special full moon last night. It was so big and bright, we did an audible "Wow!" when we stepped outside to see it shining through the trees. It feels as though something nice is beginning. It's something in the air, and a sense that my painting has moved up another level and I can't wait to get to my art table in the mornings. With so many things in my head that I need to paint, I will have to paint steadily for many years to just keep up with them :-0
Today is also our 30th anniversary in a very happy marriage. And for the icing on the happy cake, we had good news about a much loved dog this week. I need to celebrate, and so I'm committing to posting on this blog about simple, happy things as well as my art, as close to every day as possible, for one year.
To begin, I have a photo from a Flower Show we go to every March. It is held at Algonquin College in Ottawa, where I went to art school. Granted, this is a new campus and there is no longer a Fine Art Department there, but I still love going back. We have actually attended Mini-Vet courses at this new campus, so it really feels like home.
This flower show comes at a time when the snow is usually still hanging on, and walking into the Show Greenhouse is like walking into faeryland. The perfum hits you as soon as you walk through the door, and then the color washes over you. There is a sense of peace that envelopes you, and you automatically take a deep breath, slow down, and just be. We count this "moment out of time" as the first joy of Spring. (And it's always great to see the resident Greenhouse Cat).

AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD

The Australian Shepherd is a beautiful, energetic dog who excelles at Agility. I think they are wonderful, but then, I have a soft spot for most of the Herding dogs. I love that they are usually "free thinkers" as I call it . The Herding dogs have to be intelligent enough to be able to think for themselves once in a while.
I'm starting to rebuild my collection of note cards; retiring my old black and whites and replacing them with colored images. Eventually, I will probably put them into a little book about dogs, something I've always wanted to do. This image will part of that collection.
AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD is a 9 x 11 watercolor on Arches 140 smooth, and is available as note cards, and the matted original is also available.

Heather Anderson - Sheltie Hollow
http://www.heatheranderson-animalsinart.com/

SMOOTH COLLIE - Keeping an Eye

I've been wanting to paint a Smooth Collie for some time now, and this was finally the moment. The Smooth has all the wonderful traits of the Rough Collie, just without the massive, glorious coat. But the simpler, cleaner line of the Smooth Coat is lovely in it's own way. In this painting, I tried to echo that cleaner look by keeping the background simple and bright. I wanted a feeling of space and freshnness.
The Smooth was used more as a Drover than a Herder, and like the Rough Collie, this guy is ready to take charge of any situation his family might be in. (I love the Herding Dogs - I think of them as "Free-thinkers").
Keeping an Eye is an 11 by 14 watercolor, and was done on Arches 140lb, Hot Press paper. It will make a great Smooth Collie print, and lovely cards, and the original is available.

Heather Anderson Sheltie Hollow www.heather-anderson-animals-in-art.com

PATCHES OF SPRING

* Note. This is part 3 of a set, so you may want to scroll down 3 posts and work you way back up.

PATCHES OF SPRING Watercolor on Arches Hot Press 16 x 20

Here we are, done. Well, almost. I am pleased with the painting, I like the way the horses' patches echo the snow patches and flow together. I like the fairly low key colors, the sense of ease in the horses, and I like the composition, so I removed the masking tape that I put around the image area (sorry, forgot to tell you that, didn't I!) I like a clean border, so now I always use low tack tape to keep it that way.
Now is the time to set the painting up where I can see it during the evening and look for any areas that I want to fiddle with. Does something need highlighting, does something need knocking back, has anything got lost?
Once I am sure I am satisfied, I will take the painting out and photograph it in natural light and it will go on my website. Then I will catalogue it by noting the date, title and medium on the bottom of the border and put that information, along with a photo and notes about the painting in a book I keep for that purpose. Now the the painting is ready to go out in the world and hopefully find an appreciative home.

Patches of Spring - the process - 2

Here we are with the sky done. I like to put clouds in most paintings to give a sense of movement and interest. I also blocked in the forest in the background, leaving the trees along the ridge. In the hilly ridge, I tried to echo some of the shapes of the horses' backs and necks to keep the design strong and to keep the eye moving through the whole painting.
I decided to start with the buckskins for no other reason than that I wanted to. Here, they are about 90 % done, and I've moved on to block in the other horses and some of the grassy patches so the legs don't get lost. To this point, I'd spent 5 days drawing and 2 days painting. This image,by the way, is 16 x 20.
During the next week, I worked on each horse, went back to polish the buckskins, and finally worked on the background. Sometimes I block in all the grass and trees before I do the main subject, but in this case, I felt all those legs needed to be done before I started laying in much background colour.
For me, doing a painting is about going back, and back, and back until I feel satisfied with my work.

Patches of Spring - the process - 1

I've just finished my most ambitious painting so far, and I thought that, for those of you who may be interested in how I put a painting together, this would be a good one to use so I can share my process with you.
Sometimes my paintings are IMAGE driven, and by that I mean that I take a photo that I JUST HAVE to paint. That's when I noodle around, looking for ideas in which to set this image, or ways in which I can change and enrich the photo so the finished painting is an original, not just a copy of the photo.
Sometimes, as in this case, the painting is IDEA driven. I love those first days of spring when the snow is melting back and the earth and grass is just starting to peer though. I remember the horses loved it too. Forget their breakfast of hay, they wanted those first blades of grass! I've always thought that horses seem so content in their environment - they have a sense of harmony about them, and a number of years ago, I did a painting called "HARMONY" that depicted Paint horses against a background of patchy snow and hillside. Last year at this time, I had planned to do a second one on this theme, but life got in the way. It seemed appropriate to do it now, a year later when things are almost calm and peaceful again,
My first step is to gather my photos, and that means looking through my albums to find what is going to work with my idea. There were 3 photos of horses invovled in this painting, and each one was a different size. I had to resize them so they would be in proportion to each other.
I'd like to say here that it is point of honour with me that I never trace or project. I do use a grid, and that takes skill, knowledge of the subject, and a good ability to draw. There are no lines there to follow, I am the one who has to decide exactly where the lines are going to go within the little boxes. Mistakes are easy to make.
I decide how large I want the finished painting to be, then see how many squares each horse is in the photo, and how big each square will have to be so I can size up and draw the image in the desired space . In this painting, the buckskins, the black, and the chestnut paints each required their own hand drawn grid, and each one had to fit with the next one. The black paint was not co-operating, so I ended up doing him by hand, without the grid.
Once the horses (or other subject) are in place, I put in the background, and in this sort of painting, it is almost as important as the main subject. I do my positioning sketches and the initial drawing on large sheets of newsprint, and when the drawing is the way I want it, I trace it onto tracing paper, rub the back of it with graphite, and then transfer my drawing to the watercolor paper. (Note please, I am only tracing my own original drawing here!)
The paper I most like to use for watercolor work is Arches Hot Press. The 140 lb is very smooth and lovely to work on. The 300 lb is lovely too, but a little rougher and you have to insist a bit more with it, but I am enjoying using it again for these larger paintings.
I usually use a masking fluid to outline some areas so I can put on a free-flowing wash of sky, as you see in the photo above. When the sky is done, I remove the mask and get on with the painting.

Stepping Lightly

I've started the new year in a slightly new way. My usual comfort zone with a painting is on the smaller side. That said, I have done a couple of 3 x 4 foot wall murals (acrylic) in a local school and had fun with them. So to make a break with the past few years of mostly little paintings, the first one of the new year is bigger. This is a 14 x 18 inch watercolor on Arches Hot Press 300lb paper (or 'board', as I think of it), and I've called it STEPPING LIGHTLY.

This painting came out of something I saw one lovely spring morning a couple of years ago. I was watching this mare and her new foal, and snapping photos, when the foal lay down, sprawled all around his Mum's hind hooves. I was sure she was going to step on the little guy - how could she help it? But with enormous care, she picked her way out of the tangle without brushing a hair of the little fellow's body. I knew then, that sooner or later, I would have to paint this scene.

I'm really pleased with the way it has turned out. I feel that I captured that fresh, spring morning in the sweep of the clouds and with the clear, bright meadow. I also like the contrast I achieved between the power of the mare and delicacy of her movement, and I think I showed the utter trust her baby has in her.

STEPPING LIGHTLY will soon be on my website, and it is available for purchase.

New Year, New Ideas

Here we are, staring the New Year in the face, and I'm wondering if it will be a good year. I'm hoping so, because I have to say that 2010 was very difficult, both personally and professionally. On the personal front, I'm proud to say that the challenges were met, and I am grateful that myself, my husband, and our darling dogs and cat are well, comfortable, and happy.
I've seen some people whom I thought of as friends, make it known through deed and word, that they were not. So I am leaving those people and the situations surrounding them, in the past where they belong. (No fireworks involved - courtesy reigns in any future contacts.) On the other hand, I am savouring a couple of new friendships that have blossomed over the past year, and of course, I treasure my dear friends of long standing who have been with me through good times and bad. Love ya . . . always will!
On the art front, I am about to implement some changes that I've felt were needed throughout most of last year. The trouble was, I wasn't sure what those changes needed to be. The year was a strange one, with some wonderful and unexpected opportunities turning to Chimeras, and very ordinary little things becoming something very wonderful. There were also moments of total hilarity, and they all helped point out the new directions for me. I need to paint what I NEED to paint, and not worry about who will find the painting appealing, and not concern myself with the pursuit of commissions. 2011 is my year to follow my dreams. I will be concentrating on watercolors again because I love them above any other medium, but there will be some Colored Pencil work and Graphite as well My subject matter will remain what is in my heart - dogs, cats, horses, and Fantasy, with one or two surprises thrown in. I am beginning my second series in watercolor, titled ME AND MY DOG. I'm not sure yet how far that will go, but it will be fun to find out. I plan that some of this year's work will be larger than usual for me, and some will be smaller too. And sometimes, I will just "follow the music and see where it leads me".
So like the little Shelties in the painting, I'm peering at 2011 and wondering what it will bring, and am hoping that it will be a very good year. Let the Year unfold!

SHELTIE WINTER

I'm way behind in posting to my blog. Things have been busy here at Sheltie Hollow. Commissions, painting my own visions, family responsibilities, Christmas preparations, and life in general have filled the days and evenings until I find that yet another day has gone past without doing a blog entry. I managed to fit in number 3 of my SHELTIE SEASONS series, and if you want to see SHELTIE AUTUMN, please go to my website's Sheltie Watercolor page. Or follow my art page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Anderson-Animals-in-Art/178460752664?ref=nf

This painting I've posted today is one of my favorites. SHELTIE WINTER is an 11 x 14 watercolor, and even though I was working with a Bi-Blue Sheltie against a partially white background, I chose to accept the challenge of doing the entire paiting in watercolor as usual rather than using some gouache or acrylic. For areas where I needed white on a dark color, I used Titanium White right out of the tube. For the rest, I relied on a careful balance of shading.

I really enjoyed this series, and all 4 paintings will soonbe available as prints through Zazzle.

. . .. And I will try to keep my blog posting going strong in the new year!

Ginger

Meet Ginger. She is a thoroughly delightlful Pomeranian who is the subject of a recent commission. This 8 x 10 portrait was done in Colored Pencil on Arches 140 Hot Press paper. I loved the challenge of all that fluffy, golden fur, and of course, her darling little smile. That took a while, as I don't trace or project, but it is such a great feeling to get it right. It's great to please my client, and wonderful to be happy myself with what I have accomplished.

Painting dogs and cats is such a joy in my heart.

Mini Monday - Bedroom Door

Although I worked on the livingroom ceiling this weekend, I don't have a photo yet, so I thought I'd show you the bedroom door. This is another door that did not come with the kit, so I built it from a piece of basswood. I decorated it with narrow moulding, a panel of "wall paper", and a scroll that I made out of clay. Then I painted the door white and added the merest brush of gold on the edgings. The doorknob is a crystal one that I bought.
I looked at various wallpapers for the bedroom walls, but in the end, I painted the lower half of the walls in a soft ivory and made my own hand drawn wall paper and border. It took a fair bit of concentration to keep the pattern even in image, color, and scale, but that was half the fun!

RESPECT

This little Sheltie pup is about to learn a short, sharp lesson in respect for the cat, taught By the cat! (No animal was injured during this incident . . .one indignant look and a short hiss did the trick.)
I'm sometimes astonished by the lack of respect we artists get from the public. I was contacted out of the blue, by an organization in a bid to get me to donate to an "important fundraiser". It was something I might have considered, but the person asking, did not use my name in the request, (I was just a generic artist) and they did not know what kind of art I create. The real kicker was that the "important Fundraiser", with all the promised promotion attached, was less than TWO WEEKS AWAY! When I replied that it was too short notice, I was repeatedly asked if I would send something for the other "important fundraisers" that the organization was putting on at a rate of about one a month. Well, no, I don't think so. I'm not sending something to an event that is a glorified Grab Table! I saw this episode as an example of the lack of respect some people have for artists.
How do we overcome this attitude? Maybe just by being professional in all our dealings, and making sure that we treat everyone, including ourselves, with politeness and the golden rule. And among ourselves, let's rememer to be kind to each other - basic support, good manners, and knowing when to bite our tongue. Life's short, let's make it pleasant.
The painting I've used to illustrate this post, is called Temptation" and it is an 8 x 10 Colored Pencil painting.

Mini Monday plus a day - Guest Room

I've missed the last 2 Monday's . . . life gets like that sometimes. Today I'll catch up by showing you both sides of the Guest Room. I wanted it to be a peaceful, soft green, but I found out early on that paint does not go on the walls well, even after a base coat of gesso. So now I always line the walls with watercolour paper before I paint. I wanted one wall to be wallpaper, and I decided it would be fun to make my own. I did a background acryilc wash in a warm cream, and then did the stripes and floral columns in shades of greens with colored pencil. I made the door and trim and painted them (and all other trim in the room) a pale almond to keep the room soft and restful. The door knob is a craft pearl painted gold, and the hinges are tiny brass ones that nearly made me crazy trying to put them on. The floor is done with narrow craft sticks, painted in acrylic washes to look like pine, and then glazed several times. Everything is a 1/12 scale of course.

While I was doing the leading on the window glass in this room (a diamond grid printed on clear acetate and then gone over with a fine tipped marker), I made a smudge. No problem, I'll just sponge it off, I thought. But the acetate started to melt just slightly, making the smudge even worse. The heavy acetate with the light one on top was already in the window frame, so I had a problem on my hands. To solve it, I got out my acrylic paint and painted a "stained glass" wisteria over the smudged area and took it beyond so it would look as if I had meant to do it in the first place. Of course I did!

Halloween's coming . . . SHELTIE VAMPIRE

Our boy Bram loves his costumes. This year, he is going to be a Vampire, with sparking "fangs" and an elegant cape. Just look at that face - he's having a marvelous time. This is the little guy who also loves his ghost costume. One of the many wonderful things about Shelties is their sense of fun. SHELTIE VAMPIRE is a 5 x 7 watercolour and would make a wonderful birthday card for someone who has a birthday in late October.

Mini Monday Kitchen 1

This will be a quick post today because it is a holiday Monday. This is one wall of the kitchen, another very necessary room, and the first one that I put a lot of work into. I already had my indoor plumbing, but it sat in an unfinished room for quite a while as I worked on the kitchen. What's life without a good cup of tea and maybe some tea biscuits?
This room is a wing that needs to be added to the main house, but that will be one of the last things I do. I wanted a sunny yellow kitchen, as I like my kitchens to be cheerful. The floor tile was made from peel and stick tiles from the DYI store, and I hand-painted a section of duck stencilling for around the top of the walls and printed it out as many times as needed. The stencilling around the door (that I made without any pattern, same as the other doors in the house) was painted directly onto the wall. The wainscotting was a mistake, as now the sink and counter won't fit snugly against the wall. May have to do something about that! But not today.

Ripples

In this watercolour from some years ago, the Lab is enjoying the ripples of water as they gently wash against him. Life can be a little like that too, I think.
I recently had the opportunity to do something thoughtful for someone who had been very much the opposite to me in the past. When the request came, my first inclination was to brush it off . . ."Not in this lifetime, Cookie!" But then I began to think about it. Was I going to withhold the little thing that was being asked of me because I really didn't want to do it, or was I saying no out of revenge? It bothered me that I was heading into revenge territory, so much so, that I did as I was asked. I didn't expect anything in return, and there was nothing I wanted. I just didn't want to do something (or not do it) out of vengeance. My spirits lifted immediately.
And the person wanting the little favour . . .did they respond by doing something nice for me in return? Not on your Nellie! :-0. BUT .... since then, one by one, good things have been rippling into my life. Good friends reaffirming friendship, new friends entering my life, spontaneous good times, little kindnesses dropping out of the blue, a pick up in business after last year's tough economy, better health, and moments of quiet peace. When you take the high road, the universe rewards.
Now if something like this comes up again, I can say no, knowing I'm saying it for the right reasons.

Mini Monday - back stairs and floors

Just a little slice of an image today, but it was a lot of work. I wanted to have a washing machine/dryer in my little house, but it was a problem where to put it. There really wasn't room in the bathroom, but if I use a European all in one machine, it will fit in one corner of the studio. The problem was that the residents of my little house would have to cart laundry downstairs and through the whole house to get it there. So I came up with the idea of a back stairway built into the imagined thick walls of the "old" house. I painted two images of stairs, one going down and one going up, glued them onto the walls one above the other, then made simple doors that you can barely see because they are both open in the photo. So there will be a laundry hamper in the bathroom with the machine downstairs.

This whole arrangement has changed a bit since this photo was taken, as I literally painted myself into a problem and I had to take these pieces off and move them over a bit. But it is still essentially the same.

This past week, I took some time to restain the bathroom floor a darker colour, as the room was going to be too blah with the white tile, white tub, sink, etc, and the pale floor. The floor fits in the pink area in the photo. I also did the main upper floor for the bedroom, hall, and library in wide planks (craft sticks) and the same dark stain. Actually, I use acrylic paint, as the smell of stain is harmful to me. The paint looks good when it is put on as a translucent glaze and then given a coat of shiny acrylic medium.

The next thing I will do is the ceiling on the livingroom and dining room (the underside of the newly completed floor of course). Once that section is installed, I will move on to the roof. This is getting exciting!

Mini Monday - tinkering with the Bathroom

Yesterday, I decided that the pale wood floor in the bathroom was going to be too bland against the white tile and light blue walls. When it's time to add the white tub and other fixtures, the whole room was going to be totally underwhelming. So I sanded the floor and repainted it a deeper oak colour that will add strength and drama to the room - I hope.
Today I want to show you the bathroom window as well. I apologize for the poor quality of the photo, but this seems to be as good as it gets with this one. I decided I needed a Stained Glass window in the bathroom, so started looking around for a fantasy image I liked. I found it on a needlepoint vest that I own, so I laid it flat, photographed it from above, judicously cropped the photo, and printed it on window cling acetate. Then I set it into the bathroom window and there you are. I love this image with all it's fairy tale colours and the big white horse, but I see it a bit differently than many people do. To me, it isn't the defenseless maiden being rescued by the all wise and powerful hero . . . .I see it as the lady rescuing Mr. Macho who has got himself into a pickle. Then, after finding out where he is, riding to the rescue, and talking the dragon into letting the guy go, she is exhausted, so the least he can do is drive home! But that's just my quirky mind :-0

Mini Monday - bathroom

Mini Monday is a little late today, as we had quite a flood to contend with in our real life size house after the severe rain storm we had on Saturday night, Sunday morning. We were still recovering from the clean up today.
When I go somewhere, I want to be assured that there is indoor plumbing and a decent looking bathroom. Pathetic I know, but I have very low Euww factor. Therefor, the very first thing I got going on the mini house interior was the bathroom. I love the ocean, so I decided on an ocean theme for this room. The walls are a strong blue and actually have just a hint of green(that doesn't show up in this photo) I used a craft paper for this, and the lower walls are board and batten on one side, and on the side you can't see, a white faux tile made from a strong, low gloss craft paper. I was thinking of the water with the white foam-tipped waves. I included a second door leading to a painted staircase that leads to the studio where there will be a washer/dryer combination. I've got to keep my Mini people neat and clean! I will give you a tour of those stairs and doors at a later time. Also for another time, is the painted bathroom door and the stained glass window in the room. I'm just finishing and installing the floor, done from small craft sticks and glossed to look like pale oak. I didn't want tile on the floor because I prefer the feel of wood on my bare feet. As if my foot would fit in that bathroom :-0

Poppy - Belgian Sheepdog

The Belgian Sheepdog wears several different coats, this black one being the handsome Groenendael. These intelligent, beautiful dogs served in war time as guard dogs and Red Cross dogs, and now they excel at Agility.
A black dog is a challenge to paint, and I have enjoyed the challenge of painting this fellow in watercolour. Poppy is an 8 x 10 watercolour on Arches 140 hot press watercolour paper.