This is the first small painting I’ve been able to do. It’s a 5×7 inch acrylic on board. I have been trying to do some smaller works recently. It’s a good to stretch yourself now and then! Most of them are 10×8 but I thought I’d try a smaller size and see how it went. So I was amazed when this little painting turned out so well!

I even have a little frame for her.

All proceeds from the tickets for the charity private view on the 9th of March will go to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, the chosen charity for the fair in March. So come along to the Affordable Art Fair at Battersea Park in London and be the first to see some wonderful art from over 120 British and International galleries.

The painting of Lola, a 20×16 inch oil on canvas, will be on sale on the Battersea stand with 100% of the price going to Battersea Dogs Home.

And finally, I will be there on the private view evening at the Battersea stand to chat about animals and art. So please do come along and support Battersea Dogs and Cats Home at the Affordable Art Fair on March the 9th. It would be lovely to see you there.

Charity Private View
09 March 2011
5.30pm – 9.30pm
Battersea Evolution,
Battersea Park,
London SW11 4NJ
(Google map)

Book your ticket now.

This is the finished painting of Lola. She is a 20×16 inch oil on canvas. She is such a pretty dog I loved painting her and I think I want to do another painting of her soon. There is something very appealing about English Bull Terriers!

20×16 inch oil on box canvas
£640

I am donating Lola to Battersea Cats and Dogs Home to raise money for the work they do helping cats and dogs find new loving homes. So she will be for sale and 100% of the sale price will go to Battersea. A very worthy cause!

This is a close up of the canvas…

You can see many different colours are used in her eyes.

She is painted on a deep box canvas and I’ve painted the edges of the canvas so the painting can hang unframed.

Two sweet little angels, at least when they’re asleep and not getting into mischief! :-) Huggable puppy goodness!  This is another small painting, a 12×9 inch acrylic on board. This is what it looks like in a lovely white frame.

Sleeping Puppies
12×9 inches

Here’s a close up detail….

I am working on a series of small paintings and trying to do a painting a day. This is one of the first of those paintings, a boxer dog. I loved her expression, those eyes are full of mischief!

12×9 inches
acrylics on board

I look at that face and think what ever it is you’re up to I know I’m too late! She looks way too pleased with herself. :-)

This is Lola, a pretty English Bull Terrier. I asked for models recently on my facebook page and Sarah volunteered the lovely Lola. Isn’t she adorable? She was perfect for an idea I had in mind. I want to paint black and white models on a red background. So I’m going to paint Lola on a large 20×16 inch canvas with a red ground.

I also thought I’d try an take photos all the way through the process so you can see the growth of the painting.

This is the sketch on the canvas.

Here is the under painting. I’m using transparent red iron oxide for the under painting. Its a lovely rich warm colour.

more to come soon.

Meet Kimi, a pretty lurcher. In this painting I wanted to challenge myself to paint a long haired dog and to keep the painting loose and free flowing. Kimi has lots of blond hair so she is perfect for this!

I met Kimi in the summer and had taken some photos of her. Of course she’s very fast and I have plans to paint her in motion, but this time one of the close up photos caught my attention. I liked the angle of her head as she looks up and her beautiful eyes so I chose this pose for a study of her. This is a 12×10 inch acrylic painting on board.

Here is a close up…

Doesn’t she have gorgeous eyes!

Where do ideas for paintings come from? I thought I’d share how I came to paint this 10×8 painting of lurcher Dash. Ideas can come from odd places and sometimes it’s the unexpected that give you inspiration. The idea for this little painting came from a combination of things. First of all Tabitha Woods added a photo of her lurcher Dash to my facebook page because she thought Dash would make a good model.

Then the snow here in London melted and as I walked through my local park I saw an amazing tree. It still had some yellow green leaves, despite having been buried in the show. And underneath the tree was a carpet of orange autumn leaves. In the sun it was breathtaking! I loved the colour combination and when I looked again at the photo of Dash I ‘saw’ this painting in my minds eye.

So here it is, a quick study in Autumn colours staring Dash.

It’s a 10×8 inch acrylic painting. Here is a close up. I love the lilac shadows.

If you’d like to add photos to my facebook page as ideas for me to paint please do feel free. Follow this link and click the ‘like’ button to be able to post photos to the wall. You can also see the original photo of Dash on my facebook page.