I decided to do something simpler and the image of the Cala Lily had been floating around in my head for months. I only had 2 canvases this size (8" x 24") however, these two paintings are to be a set of three. They are painted in acrylic on black gesso.

Katie 3

I think this is now a finished piece of work. I shall leave it to dry - the oil paint takes ages and hopefully it will be ready to take to London at the end of March.

Katie 2.

I have changed the material at the back left of this painting. The original was bugging me!! I am still not totally happy with the right shoulder but am not sure what the problem is..!! It looks as tho' she has a dent in her right shoulder and the shadow on the right shoulder is not right.. Anyone out there who can advise me - please do.

katie 3 Work in Progress

This is the final painting for Katie and I think it is nearly finished. I refined alot of the heavy shaddows and added more detail to the hair, face, hands and feet. I shall leave it for a couple of days to dry and finish the hair and possibly try and sculpt teh arms more as I htink they look a bit "sausage-like". I can't help but re-look at my drawings/paintings and find bits that I am not happy with! Therefore I always go back to it and try and adjust the parts that niggle me. Often I look at a work and it takes me ages to suss out what is bothering me about the work..!!! I always hope I find the problem before something is framed!!

This is another work in progress of two of our cats when they were younger. It is to be a birthday present for my husband, (Jan 2010) but I got "stuck" so I have put it away. In this painting, I have used a palette knife for the background and much of the hair. However, to get more detail I started using a brush and will continue using brushes to finish the painting. Hopefully I will finish it and he will get it before his next birthday!! :-)

Katie 3 (work in progress)

My friend Doreen came round this afternoon and we painted for 2 hours. it was nice to have company and to chat whilst we worked. I tried to work on Katie (3) yesterday but I couldn't get into the painting. Plus the paint was still rather wet and it just wasn't working for me!! however, I got on well today and hope to finish this in about a week.

Mother seal and pup

This is another pen drawing I did approximately 20 years ago. It is done in pen and is done in tiny little dots to form the shapes, shading and contours of the seals. I really enjoyed doing this but it takes a long time. My apologies for the quality of the photograph.

Katie - Pencil Drawing

This is a pencil drawing I did years ago of my daughter age 3 - she is now 25..!! As you see from this drawing and the painting (mixed media) she has grown up!! Hee hee... She has a great face to paint tho'..

Katie 3 (work in progress)

Today I awoke early again and I decided to continue on this painting, before hitting the computer!! I worked on the figure for around 3 hours. It's coming together I think.. slowly but surely. I thinned out the oil paint with linseed oil (sometimes I made the paint too thin) and worked the brush strokes as though I was drawing - trying to feel the contours of the arms, legs and feet. It is time consuming but it's the only way I know how to get the depth and molding within figure painting. As I look at the picture I can see there are areas where it is too dark and areas where there is not enough light. The hands need softened as they are looking rather masculine at the moment!! So far so good...

Katie 3

This is my latest work in progress and it is the 3rd monochrome painting in oils (8" x 10") for Katie. I hope she likes them all .. watch this space..!!

Ross

For Katie 2

This is the second in a set of 3. I still think there needs more work done as it appears rather "rough" and not as smooth as I would like it to be.

For Katie

I did this oil painting as an experiment in using monochrome colours. My daughter liked it so much that she asked for it. I sent it to her and she asked for 2 more to go in her bedroom. So this is the first of 3 monochrome paintings. They are small canvases (8" x 10") and took some time waiting for the paint to dry after putting on each layer of paint to build up the colour in an attempt to get the 3D effect - particularly as the painting is small.

Chris' sister and brother-in-law

Wedding Couple (Pencil)

Commission

Detail

Nikki's Girls

I drew Nikki's daughters as a wedding present for Nikki and Barry.

Dean (Unfinished)

Sinatra

Levi (Water Colour)

Carole and Gill asked me to paint a water-colour of their beloved Levi who passed away in 2009. how could I resist..

Noah

My Great Nephew Noah from age 3 days to 18 months. (Pastel and water colour pencil)

Anneka

Anneka (Coloured pencil)

Amber Age 3

Amber (Coloured pencil)

girl

A quick pastel drawing for a friend.

Sri Lankan Boy

Sri Lankan Boy in pastel requested by a friend.

Sri Lankan girl

My friends's niece (pastel)

Baby 1

Al Thani Heir

Emir AL Thani's Heir (Pastel and coloured pencil)

Emir Al Thani - Qatar

Emir Al Thani (Qatar) (Pencil and pastel)

Chris' Pup - Framed

This was a watercolour commission for a friend who had to leave his dog behind when he went to work abroad. it portrays 3 stages in his dog's life.

Work in progress

It's Valentine's Day. I woke early this morning as I was in pain with my arthritic knee so I decided this would be a good thing (to get up early) as I could play on Face Book for a while, then go and work on this painting earlier than usual. Well things didn't quite work out that as my dear husband came home very early from work and well... that was that!! Still I have had a nice day with him and we are going out for a meal tonight. So I will start again tomorrow and let you know how things progress.

I must apologise for the quality of the photographs as they were taken with my mobile telephone. I now have batteries for my husband's proper camera - which he has showed me how to work ... so here's hoping the next photos are clearer. Catch you later ...