NEC Birmingham

Very exciting. My painting has been packed off and on it's way to the NEC Birmingham, England.

My painting "Racing Stripes" has been chosen to be exhibited at the annual Simply the Best leisure painter magaqine exhibition. It will run from the 5th - 8th of November 2009. It runs along side the amazing Art Materials Live event show held at the NEC.

Visitors can vote for the peoples winner and shortlisted entrants will be shown in the Leisure Painter Magazine in the New Year!!!! Fingers crossed and lets hope it sells too :D

Work, work work....

Ok , back to work. Things are piling up for the christmas list and I have, in between dealing with kids, horse, dog and puppies done a commission since i last updated on here!!

This is a lovely grey arab cross called Koodoo!!
His owner has seen and approved this one ... so its on with the next.

The next one is of a collie cross , wont be able to blog the work in progress as its a present for the customers sister. I will post all the christmas portraits in the new year.

Gem's puppies!

Ahhhhhhhh.... seven little babies! :D Just realised i havnt blogged lately. puppies are a full time job. Especially when there are 7 !!

Anyway, they are all doing extremely well and all reserved! Will be going to their new homes on the the weekend of 28th /29th of Nov.

GEM

For those of you who know me on facebook or twitter Kathylewisart. You will know that we are waiting for puppies to arrive!!
We have practically got homes for all of them with a list of interested people. Its lovely when people telephone and even want to come and meet Gem. Some people want a boy, some want a girl and we still dont know how many she will even have :D
We are keeping a bitch and very much looking forward to the process of raising another puppy.
Not to mention how excited the children are!!!

People who have taken the time to come and see Gem's totally gorgeous and soppy temperament have been delighted by being able to feel puppies kicking inside that increasingly enormous stomach!!

Needless to say .. I will post photographs as soon as she has them.

She has had a significant drop in body temperature this morning so that should indicate they should be here in the next 24 hours !!!

3 horses continued

Have been very busy working on this one and also getting ready for my dog to have her pups!!

So just a short update today with some more work in progress. In these last 2 photographs, you can see I am basically getting the main colours in situ and working on the tones.
Once I am happy with this stage, I will do this for all 3 horses and then get to the final fiddly stage.

During the basic horse underpaintings, I also re worked the background. It is essential that the background is completely finished before I get to the final stages of completing the horses. If I dont do this it will be impossible to work around the fine hairs on the edges and keep the consistancy of the paint true.
Till next time !!!

continued

Carried on working on the first horse today. Got lots more shading in and beginning to sort out the lights and darks. This helps with determining what goes where as it literally puts the portrait into sections as you look at it. A bit like the method of using grids. I can now work out where to put individual details in relation to other areas of light and shadow.

Hopefully more tomorrow :D

3 show jumpers commission cont.

Ok, got on a bit with this yesterday.
Started by putting down some very watery paint to give my some ideas of lights and darks and chestnut tones.

Then had to fiddle and started putting a little more detail into the first one! Ran out of time though as had to pick up the girls from school.
More today !! back soon..

New Commission .

Ok, new commission started. So far drawn out and transfered onto canvas. Didnt plan to do anymore today but couldnt stop myself from starting a background as have a free rein on this one :D
This is the 2nd portrait I have done for this customer so they are happy for me to decide how it will look best. I love that, allows me to free up my artistic hand and play a bit. If I dont like it, I will change the background once the horses are painted in. But for now , I have this vision in my head how I want it to look so I am going with the flow. These pics show the drawing , then adding in the basics of the background.
It will need a little more blending I think? and tidying up later.
ANy way ..as always comments welcome :D

Caprice and Solo finished

Solo and Caprice, finished and approved !

Painter Magazine Article.

For the first time. I have been asked to do an article in a magazine!

It's a drawing horses article in "Painter" magazine and will be out on 10th Sept 2009 (issue no 34 ) .

It goes throught the steps of drawing horses using basic shapes. Seperate advise on drawing eyes, legs and face included. Then finally bringing you onto more detailed muscle shaping and general shading. The final image is shown with a little colour using watercolour pencil.

You can purchase copies in good newsagents or online. :)

Caprice and Solo nearly done !

Ok... back from short break. Took kids to the Isle of Wight camping for the first time. They had a fantastic time and the weather was very kind to us. Even had to get out the suntan lotion!

Just started back at work and thought I would update you on the progress as it is today. I am getting cracking on finishing Caprice and Solo and should be finished by the end of this week. I am also starting on the next one too. So will post a photo of how that one is going so far.

This is not a great photo (sorry) the light is coming in from the workshop window and shining hard on Caprice's nose. Also its putting Solo a bit in the dark. The final photo will be more even.

Anyway here is where we are at !! comments welcome :)

solo and caprice continued!!

Continued work on Solo and Caprice. Think (possibly) that Caprice may be done?.. not sure may find something to fiddle with when I look again.

Anyway, worked on more layers for Solo. Looking slightly more like him now. But a long way to go :)

As always, comments welcome. :)

Caprice and solo stage 5!

Ok, I havnt quite finished Caprice but need to leave a few bits to dry before doing the last fiddly bits!!

Have obviously started on Solo!! He is looking kinda odd at the moment LOL!! Never mind. These are the base colours I put down to give my more guidance as I build up the layers later on.

Hope fully will get some more done tomorrow and will update you if there is time :)

Caprice and solo 4th installment !

Just a short note with todays work as tired and need to get to bed for tomorrows opening of Christchurch Arts guild exhibition. (If you can make it, starts at 10:30 for 11am, Priory House, Christchurch ,Dorset.)

Today, still working on Caprice. Another layer of colour goes on and worked more on the finer detail of mane and muzzle.

Should update you beginning of next week !! Have a great weekend all!

Caprice and solo 3rd installment !

Ok, have been working on this a couple of times and thought I had better put up another installment! Still lots to do on Caprice, althought the base colours are mainly down. Lots of blending to do on the muzzle and highlights. I love doing all the little lines etc to create that soft wrinkly feel that muzzles have.

The day when I took the photos as I have said was a sunny one, so lots of lightness and shine to be worked into the main later on.

As always.... comments welcome ! Back soon ....

Caprice and Solo 2nd Work in progress

Well,, this is todays work. basically worked on the background a little more. then started to put some basic colours on Caprice.

Always looks a little odd at this stage as alot of the colours are just base colours.

Started to work on her eye too!

More Tomorrow !!

New Commission CAPRICE AND SOLO!

This is the commission I am working on now!

These two are stunning! They are Mother and son. . Caprice, obviously the mum, is gentle and sweet natured, Solo the yearling is a little more sparky! I worked along side the owners, to ensure we used the right photos to get their characters actoss.

It is sooooo important to do this. If you dont consult with the people that know the animals the best, then you are doing them a diservice. They will be the best judge on which photograph to use.!! As long as the quality is there, go with their decision every time!!

It was a beautiful day on the day we chose to do the photographs. I took loads and then emailed the results to the owners to scrutinise. I think she has made fab choices and so now I have drawn out and transfered the images on to canvas.

So far I have put very basic colours on to give the suggestion of a sunny day outside. As the painting developes, these will become more subtle and will be blended to create a background which enhances but does not dominate the finished portrait. Anyway, this is the painting so far....stay tuned to see the continued progress over the next week or so.

DECADENCE

Decadence . New Painting for sale £275.00

DECADENCE

Well, i finally got back to finishing off a painting i started in January. It was originally started as an example of the equine portraits I do at a demonstration for the Fair Oak Art Group near Southampton area.

I obviously wasnt able to finish it in the 1and ahalf hour painting slot given, and it has taken a back seat to any commissions that need to take priority!

So, anyway, here it is. I actually really like this one myself. :) I love doing the greys. Dont know why.? I have worked the acrylic paint fairly heavy to give it that rich oil painting look. Hope you agree??

Mare and Foal

For ages it seems I have been doing portraits that the customer is giving as a present, so therefore I have been unable to post any real works in progress. Well shortly that will all change. I am finishing 2 next week and then move onto one where the customer is happy to see work in progress. They received one of my gift vouchers for christmas and now the winter coats have finally said good bye, we could crack on with getting photos completed for the portrait.
Today I went out and took some great shots. Caprice and Solo. Mare and Foal. (ok yearling now really)!!
I have emailed the photos taken today to enable the customers to get a proper look at them before deciding which ones we shall use. It is essential to work with the customer when it comes to chosing the photographs to use. It is easy for me to decide which photo would be artisticly the best to use, but it is only the customer is able to say whether or not it is a really true and great representation of that specific animal.
As soon as we have decided on photos and I have finished to work at present , I will post the beginnings of what promises to be a great portrait.

If you would like to order a gift voucher for a portrait, its easy! Just contact me through my website http://www.kathylewisart.co.uk to discuss your requirements.
This is sometimes the best present as its very difficult to judge what someone may want for their portrait requirements. This way they have the gift of being involved and enjoy the excitement of watching it progress too!

On going work and exhibitions

Hi, havent blogged for a while, kids, horse etc etc taking over !! Back to business!

Ongoing with two commissions at the moment. Both are destined to be gifts for the recipeints so unfortunately cant show you the WIP until dates have passed and they would have been recieved!

Very dissapointed to hear that my entry forms didnt make it in time for entering the Mall Galleries exhibition this year for the Society of Equestrian Artists. I wont rant and rave about the british postal system as it has always served me well until this time. What can i say....nothing printable!! LOL

Never min. there will always be a next year and it means i can enter on of the paintings in a local exhibition here at home. Much less hassle!!

The next exhibition is the Priory House Exhibition in Christchurch, Dorset.
1st August - 15th August 2009

This is the annual exhibition held by the Christchurch Arts Guild where i am on the committee for my sins !

This year for the first time, as well as selling original artwork, prints and greetings cards will also be available! I have our new card stand stood behind me!!
I am also organising our first painting day out this year with the Guild. It will be at the beautiful spot in the New Forest called Puttles Bridge!

Will take some photos on the day and post them here after. Catch up with you all soon :))

TIMO Finished!

Finished portrait of Ti-mo

He is done ! I love finishing a portrait, but I am always nervous waiting for the email to see if they like it? Hooray they love it! So its now varnished and waiting for collection!

On to the next........ will keep you posted!

( I have now altered the comments option on my blog, so if anyone was having problems, they should now be rectified)!!

Ti-Mo

Ti-Mo

This is a portrait I am working on at the moment. Really thought I had put some work in progress of this one on here already!? Never mind. Will post the photos as it is at the mo and a few from the past week.

He is a lovely 3 year old black labrador. I met Ti-mo at the Strays for Greece dog show back in April (see previous blog post)

He was one of the commissions I took on from there and is coming along nicely now.

For anyone else who was there, will know, I was also working on a portrait I am doing for my husbands 40th birthday next month. It is of our dog Gem. She is a gorgeous chocolate coloured working cocker spaniel. I cant post this pic til after his birthday as he might see it!!

Any way, here are a few works in progress of Ti-mo!

MY NEW SLIDE SHOW!

Hey , I actually managed to create a slide show. The reason being to advertise by putting it on You Tube etc. Now I just have to figure out how to do that!! LOL.

Anyway here it is ...Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Saddle Up. Spinal Research National Raffle.

This year I have been approached to donate a prize for the National Raffle in add of Spinal research . Of course I said yes and raffle tickets are on sale throughout the country.

'Saddle up' (Patron - Ginny Elliot MBE) is the section of the charity organising the auction and has some great prizes. Top prizes being 1st, WOW saddle,2nd, Ariat boots, 3rd, Kathy Lewis Art portrait. 4th,Baileys feed ....etc etc loads to be won and really worth while cause backed by national and international riders alike.

SO, one of my Horse Portraits is the 3rd prize in this year's National Raffle so go buy tickets !!! :)

For more details and to purchase a raffle ticket, please go to www.spinal-research.org

Friends of the Strays of Greece Dog Show

Tomorrow is the Charity dog show in Wimborne, Dorset.

It will be well signposted .

Burts Lane

Mannington,

Nr Wimborne

BH21 7JT

Pedigree and novelty classes.

Agility

Heelwork to music and much more!!

I will have a trade stand there and you will be able to buy raffle tickets to win a commission of a portrait. I will also be working on a current commission so you see how I work and see how it progresses throughout the day. It promises to be a great day and the weather hopefully good.!! So come on down, bring dog, kids etc and support this great cause.

More details of this great charity at http://www.straysofgreece.org

BACK TO THE HOUNDS!

Thought I would have another look at the hounds and feet painting today, and ended up doing some radical changes!

Decided it was looking all too busy so got rid of the horse completely....So will have to change the name when I think of something??

I decided to concentrate on the dogs and lightened up the background a little too. Not sure how this will be finished..May need to just sort legs out and leave it? Or may leave some legs a bit abstract? I like the feel of this painting now , I may leave it in a more stylised fashion?

Not sure...will maybe change it again over the next week

Anyway here is what it looks like today! As always comments welcome! :)

FRIENDS OF THE STRAYS OF GREECE.

At the end of this month 26th April 2009. I will be attending my first dog show. I have been to numerous horse shows with my work and so it will be interesting to see if there is much of a difference. I will have my trade stand there and will be working on a commission whilst there so people can watch the progression throughout the day.

The show is in Wimborne,Dorset and you can go to their website for more details.

The are a fantastic charity who travel and rescue the strays in Greece, treat them and rehome them! Admirable work.

I will be in my brand new trade stand ( as i managed to break mine over the Easter hols)! Typical...although it was a few years old now and has travelled a bit ...quite a bit! :)

Chloe Portrait.

At last I have finished this one ( I think) Sometimes I will go back to it the next day and spot something with fresh eyes!! Or my husband will :(.

Anyway, I hope she is pleased with it. I had more trouble with the skin tones with Chloe as I felt the photo I was working from wasnt really representing her slightly milkier tones as in real life. Another great reason for meeting your subject in person other than relying on photos.

The camera doesnt lie??????? OF COURSE IT DOES.

As always comments very welcome.

Chloe Portrait.

I have had to start this second portrait of my other daughter Chloe. She has seen Nicoles and is feeling a little left out.

The first one here is the first layer of paint after drawing it all out. The portrait is the same dimension as the previous one and is painted on stretched box canvas 16" x 16"

I am hoping to hang them side by side when completed in our hall. The centre of our house, as they are of course the centre of my life.

The second picture shown here is building up layers of shading of the skin tones and a little work on the eyes. Not completely happy with the mouth yet so lots of tweeking to be done further down the line!!

As always..comments welcome.

Hounds and Feet

Its gonna have to stay at that title I think! Someone told me its unlucky to change it once you've thought of somthing?

Anyway, Last blog of the day....I have continued as before but started to add a little light in the dogs etc. Will need to sort out feet and hooves etc, Only then will I be able to redo background and a bit of negative painting.

Will hopefully have time to work on this in a few days, so will upload more pics and update you soon!

Hounds and feet cont...

I have been struggling to get back to this one, but today i have added to the shading on the horse and started putting more paint on the dogs. Still very loose and not sure how tight i will do this anyway. More tomorrow...or later today if i am good :)

Red House museum Exhibition.

Have been stewarding all day at the Red House museum today as part of my club duties!

Christchurch Arts Guild has the Red House for a whole 2 months this year so its still going and will be until May 2nd.

See http://www.christchurch-arts-guild.org/ for details.

Lots of people in and another painting sold. Hopefully some more possible members joining too. I love talking to people about their art and what they would like to do.

Our club is so good for demonstrations and inspiration and now that we offer 3 exhibitions a year as part of the club, its a great way to get your art work out there, seen and hopefully sold too!!

So today I painted something just for me. Well my daughter really. She has been wanting me to do her portrait for a while now. (you're so NOT shy when your 6 Ha Ha!!)

Anyway.. This is it. She loves it and I am pleased with it too.

As always.comments welcome.

Hounds and feet.

Hounds and Feet

For some reason the second picture didnt come up so will put it here!

Work in progress continues.

"Hounds and Feet"

Ok, been doing lots of painting today so will give you both works in progress! Havnt made up my mind how the background will work, so am playing with colours and tones at the mo after getting a few dog colours in to see what will work.

In the reference photo the dogs and horse feet are in amongst the grass. So will have to do more studys as I want a more contemporary feel to this painting and go for a smooth finish. I think ? :) ?

comments welcome!

New 10 min painting!

In the middle of producing my ongoing art of "Hounds and Feet" (still liking that title) :) Thought I would post this painting I did at a demonstration.

Its worked on bristol board for the smooth finish. Using acrylic put on with palette knife.

Its done in a fashion where you are not aloud to faff!! Colour is constrasted and detail is very loosely applied to create your shapes.

Anyway.. here it is. Not got a name yet. Will have a think. Suggestions welcome!

wip 2

Ok doesnt look much yet. Just painted in horse colour. About all i can do with kids around :) Have chosen a mid chestnutty bay colour and will add to it tomorrow.

If you put on a mid colour I find it helps my eye to add the darks and lights to get the tones correct.

Will start adding in the dogs outlines and tones tomorrow and work out if i need to leave out or alter any of the base shapes.

New Work in Progress.

No name yet so will call this hounds and feet for now...hmm kinda like that.? we'll see.

I am working on a long narrow canvas and just taking a section of a picture to create a comtemporary feel to this one.

So far I have just drawn it out and put in a background colour. Not sure if this is the final colour i will use but it helps to sort out the shapes etc. especially in the complicated areas where there are lots of dogs.

Not sure at the mo if i need to change the two dogs at the front? Not really liking that their feet are in an almost identical postition. ??

Will post tomorrow with another update!

CAFEPRESS - MY NEW SHOP!!

For those of you who are unaware, Cafepress is an internet site where you can download your art to merchandise.

I have just opened up my shop . http//www.cafepress.com/kathylewisart

Have a look! You can now buy my images on T shirts, caps, mugs,clocks cards ...etc.etc.

If any of my previous commission customers would like their portrait on merchandise, let me know via my website and i will up load the image to the shop. How fantastic to have your dog, horse pet etc on your favourite mug!!

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.

I have recently added myself to Facebook and Twitter to come into the 21st century !Ha Ha!

You can follow me on Twitter by going to http://www.twitter.com/kathylewisart.

you can find my business page on Facebook search under Kathy Lewis Art

Hope to see you there!

new for 2009!

Lots going on this year!

2 exhibitions running consecutively at the moment.

Furzey Gardens , Minstead , New Forest. England.

28th February - 27th March 2009

Red House Museum, Christchurch , Dorset.

7th March - 2 May 2009

Both are being run by the Christchurch arts Guild. For more details go to their website: http://www.christchurch-arts-guild.org/.

Will hopefully get some pictures and post them here for you to see.

The standard at the Red House is apparently extremely high this year and well worth a visit.

This is just one of my latest paintings which will be on display in the Red House for the duration. Unless it sells of course :)

Here is the finished item! The horses are all very different and the owner was delighted. As you can see, in this final painting all the finer detailling is added. Constantly checking back and forward from the different reference photographs that every fine detail of light, shadow, vein and hair is correct. Well thankfully that is another one done and I can look forward to the next.

I will be demonstrating a horse portrait and palette knife work at Fair Oak art group on 7th January . 7pm - 9pm. So come along if you can make it!


Then for January and February I have a healthy mix of dogs horses and foals to keep me busy.

All for me to say is come back soon and catch up on the progress on the easel and a Happy New Year to you all!

Here you can see the grey mare is much larger now, correct to her relation with the foal and brood mare! Thank goodness for the way I have learnt to work by only underpainting them all in first to ensure it looks right! As you can see I have along way to go on the grey , but have put more detail in with the mare and foal as I was pleased with the way they were going. All along thoughout my painting I am sending these to the owner and we are discussing things as we go along. I prefer to paint like this as it ensures the owner is happy with all the stages of the painting .

As I continued to work on the other two (foal and other mare) I began to realise that by just putting on the base colours was showing me that the scale of the grey mare was out! This entailed completely wiping her out and starting the drawing again. Basically she looked to small, looking at the mo like a pony and not a horse at all. In the next painting you will see how she is redone to a larger more acurate size!

As you can see the next stage basically comprises of getting the underpainting of the first mare on. Her chestnut colouring takes a few layers so I was keen to get that on. Also it helps to see if the background colour needs altering and the general composition begins to come to life and show up anything that needs tweeking!

Ok sorry, with sick children and christmas Ididnt get as far as blogging in December!

:(

I will however say we had a great Christmas eventually and it again seems over so quickly!

Back to work on Monday I am already planning out my next 2 months commissions list.

As promised however I will show the work in progress of one of my larger commissions for 2008.

It was received very well by the horses owners and hopefully some word of mouth recommendations will be coming of it. The best type of advertising ever I am sure you will agree.