Some of my close friends and family will be getting home-made gifts this year. This is for a good friend whose farm dog likes nothing better than to sleep in an old armchair in the corner of the lounge. Done in acrylics, the matted size is 25 x 21cm. I love the black and white coat of Border Collies; in this case I have captured it in purples, white and a little blue. I took serious liberties with the wall colour behind her, but I’m sure the owner won’t mind!
Yesterday I spent a few hours doing more than a dozen 16x10cm tests on Bockford paper using fluid acrylics, pencil, pen, oil pastels, pastels and Indian Ink. As usually happens, I started off quite tight, drawing what I could see. Then, as I got used to the image and the shapes, the works got looser. There are a couple that are heading in the direction I want – both have at least some of the hazy, layered quality I am looking for.
These were all based on just one of the photos so there are more samples to come before I get to a stage where I am heady to bring out the canvases. Not that the paintings will be based on the test runs, but these wee works will certainly inform what I do, and help get my brain and hand familiar with the subject matter.
Here’s another in the series of four which has headed off to Auckland and been hung in the Cross Cut hair salon. The salon owner was apparently delighted, as the works are a bit different to what she’s been hanging lately. Glad to have made her day…
You might remember that a few posts back I showed you the reference photo for the latest NZ Art Guild Challenge. At the time, I was sure it was the colours that would inspire me – and I was right. I tackled the subject twice today; once in acrylics and once with ink, oil pastels, soft pastels and acrylics. Neither are an accurate representation of the image and in one I have moved windows, resized some parts, generally messed with it a bit. In the second I was thinkng mainly about colour blocks, the Impressionists, ghosts (don’t ask!) and light.
For me the NZ Art Guild challenges are a great opportunity to tackle a subject, style or material/s I might not normally go for; a chance to have a creative play with no real pressure. So here are my two most recent entries:
I have to finish four works to send off to Auckland mid to late September, for a busy hairdressing salon. There have been quite a few avalanches here in new Zealand recently, sadly some of them have been fatal. This got me thinking about snow, avalanches, global warming, glaciers – fascinated, I have been doing some reading, looking at images, talking to people about snow etc. I have made a start on all four canvas at once. I want them to end up pale, with hints of mauves and blues under lots of layers of white – like shadows on snow or objects buried under fresh snowfall.
Here are the first few layers done. One of the photos has come out far too bright, and all seen to have a weird green tinge in places, but the general idea is there. More layers coming soon….
Cath Sheard Art 
