Cats & dogs! Coloured pencil

 

The full set of 14 pets

It was my pleasure to create a set of artworks of lots of the pets from my son and his girlfriend's lives, to use for table settings at their wedding.  As it was a Christmas wedding (23rd December!) I was asked to make sure every pet was wearing a Santa hat, with a bow tie and leaves underneath. 

I used coloured pencil, and worked very small - each animal was around 7cm in height. 

Coincidentally, I had more pet portrait commissions around the same time, and I thoroughly enjoyed working on so many lovely animals! 

Lulu - such a lovely little minx, who adored Minnie the dog

Daisy

Dougie - never without ball

Leroy

Bertie - so bashful

Belle - Bertie's sister

Ronnie Barker

Amber

Minnie 

Molly 

Jack

Alfie

Ruby

Pip

For workshop info, commission details etc please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Drawing larger than life - Graphite portrait study, Liam Long.

In November I visited Castle Howard with a friend, Robert. A slightly long suffering friend who has had to endure my habit of approaching strangers on more than one occassion... I spotted a long and lean and lovely young man, one of the waiters in the cafe, and immediately wanted to draw him. What to do? The only thing to do was to ask him. Me: 'er, I'm sorry Robert, but I've just noticed...'  Robert, sighing: 'AGAIN???'
So I approached the young man, asked and luckily he said... ok!

At the beginning of March, I had a week away in a little cottage with my friend Claire, for our annual arty lock-in, with no distractions and nothing to do but draw, paint, walk, knit and listen to Audible. Fantastic. So I got a good start on the tall project. I decided that as he was such a tall fellow, it would be most impactful to draw him life size. But it ended up a bit taller than that. Lets just say, the paper itself is 7.5 foot tall. Ahem. It's the largest drawing I've ever done.

The long piece of paper, which had to be rolled carefully back on itself at the bottom. 

It was a bit of a workout, firstly for my arms, with lots of stretching. 

I mapped everything out in line first, using HB graphite pencil. 

I started at the top, standing on a step, and worked downward. 

This (above)  is as far as I got during the stay in the cottage. 

Back in the studio, having transported the paper carefully rolled up in a box.

Once the face was completed, the shirt-challenge was on. All I can say is, it would have taken even longer if he'd been wearing a pattern, so I'm grateful for the white shirt!

By 23 March, this is as far as I'd got as by now I was drawing in between classes. That day, he was rolled up again and taken home, as  this was the start of lockdown. 

I worked for the next four weeks at home, doing all my classes online with accompanying demonstration videos. This meant I had little or time time to continue drawing. Then, cramped in the smaller rooms at home, I decided to move back to the studio, and Zoom, alone, from there. The space was bliss.  On a practical level, by the time I reached the top of the trousers, the top half of the paper was going to have to hang over the top of my easel, which I wasn't overly happy about. So I spread the paper out on the table, and worked like that. Side-saddle. Not comfy. 

 By the time I reached the feet, side-saddle just wasn't working for me - I couldnt get a good enough overview of what I was doing. So I propped the bottom of the sheet of paper over a table-top drawing board, and harmony was restored. 

Liam doing an impression of a fairground mirror... 

The final strokes were put on on June 4th, meaning the artwork was on the go for three months.Though I hardly got anything done on it during April and half of May. 

Pencil is incredibly difficult to photograph. The next two photos don't do the drawing any justice at all, but they give you the scale if nothing else. 

Here is the full length artwork, pinned in the only place tall enough to hang it. 

Here's me, to give you the scale. 

I intend to do a full size oil painting of Liam Long, so will move on to a colour study next... 

Classes are ongoing, with weekly classes, online distance learning classes and workshops with accompanying video demonstrations. For info on all workshops please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

July: two workshops at BARA - portrait workshop and an oils workshop
August: two week workshop with Maestro John Angel via zoom and video demonstrations. For info please simply email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Portrait commission, graphite.

'Ben', size A3, graphite. 

I have just finished this portrait commission - the first of several commissions on my list. I have a portrait workshop coming up on 22 - 26th July. Please email for info julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Portrait Drawing, graphite pencil

I have just finishsed work on the preparatory drawing for a portrait commission.

I don't always do such a finished 'rough' - it often depends who the client is, how well they know my work, and what their requirements are. I do enjoy this stage - it's a great way to get to know the pattern of the faces and sort out balance of tones etc, in order to create a good portrait (as opposed to a copy of a photograph, which is an entirely different thing altogether).

Finished rough with client-led alterations

Also, in this instance, the photographic reference was from a couple of years ago (as provided by the client) and this means the little girl's face has changed shape as she has grown. So it is necessary to use more recent photographs as further poeints of reference to ensure the portrait is a satisfactory mix of truth as it was when the photo was taken, combined with the truth of how the child is seen now. 

I like to start with the eyes, choosing one eye to be dominant over the other.

Once most of the first face was blocked in I moved to the second face. Children's faces are difficult as they are so much smoother with more subtle variations in tone across the flesh. 

At this stage, above, I showed the drawing to the client, as a sneek preview to ensure things were looking familiar to him. He was delighted and asked only that I take some of the fulness away from the jaw on the child - you will notice this if you look at the final drawing at the top of this page. I also softened the tones a lot on bothe faces and finished the background loosely. 

The size is 32cm x 35 cm. I will show you the colour version when it is done. 

Now I'm off to the post office to send the original for approval - fingers crossed! 

Next up: Two day landscape water colour workshop 

In November - Portrait Drawing workshop and Oils weekend. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

The Big Draw - 

As part of the Big Draw 2015, I am holding a Children's Drawing session at The Harland and Wolff Drawing Offices in Belfast's Titanic Quarter on Saturday 30th October. The event is free. For bookings and info  Catherine.mccooey@titanic-foundation.org or call 028 9073 0490. 

More information here

                   http://visit-belfast.com/whats-on/event/the-big-titanic-draw

Portrait, Child, Charcoal Pencil, A3

I'd not used charcoal pencils before and was asked if I'd have a try. They are more commonly used to define a chalk pastel drawing, rather than for their own merits. So I drew young Aiden, who is Mr Adorable-Delicious, obviously.

I drew larger-than-life, as the charcoal pencils are farily thick, so I'd not be able to get the detail in if I worked too small. I used Strathmore drawing paper, which has a slight tooth to it, and set to work. The first marks were rather scarey, as the charcoal goes on... black. Eek. Softly softly, and lots of rubbing with a finger.

I bought a variety of charcoal pencils but mostly used just two of them (because I didn't like the others - too scratchy). I used Derwent' Light' and Faber Castell Pitt Charcoal, medium. The Derwent gave a good, pencil-type grey and blended on the paper nicely. The others were so black that they almost scored the paper. I used Faber Castell Pitt Charcoal Soft for the pupil in the eyes - i gave a dense rich dark sitting on top of the medium. 

All in all, good to try new things. In the end, I liked the scale and the risk of dealing with blackness. 

Pencil Drawing, portrait first stage

These drawings are the first stage in a portrait commission. I don't always do a full tonal drawing but I really enjoyed spending the time on this. It took 11 hours in one sitting to do both studies.

I drew them quite freely as I wanted them to look like a drawing - the aim was to give the client an idea of scale, rather than get a strong likeness at this stage, although it does look like the boys.
Working in Black & White helps focus attention in the right place, without the distraction of colours. A portrait is about the people, not the colours.

Next up - Big drawing Workshop, Portrait Workshop, Distance Learning kick-off, Water Colour Landscapes & Skies, Oils workshop. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Presents!

I have always said that I have the best job in the world. (and only SOMETIMES have I said it through gritted teeth!) One of the surprising and delightful perks is getting paintings sent to me, from my regular weekly students, out of the blue, when they've been doing a bit of artwork at home.

Sometimes I'll get a text of a drawing or some sculpture, or an email of paintings. Always, its a joy, for knowing students are happy enough to practise what they've started in class, and feel confident enough to share it with me, is a great compliment. Thanks guys!

This week I got two water colours, pears from Thomas and a tree from Paul and last week, some face studies from Andy. A bit of practise at home goes a long way.

Upcoming courses - Big Drawing Workshop and

Portrait Drawing Workshop. 

Dappled light, Tree Number 1, Oil on Board 8in x 10in

I have a huge affinity with woods and feel comfortable and right when surrounded by trees, particularly when they are beside water. Trees are awesome and magnificent. Walking through leafy tunnels with sunlight streaming through the branches casting ever changing rays and shadows and pools of light sliding over the bark and the paths can be a moving experience. It is a feast, and one that should be indulged in daily. (There's a big hill going into my nearest wood, and sometimes I go on my bike, just for the thrill of the hill. ahem. Then have to go back later with the dog for a walk...)

So I have always known that I would have to paint trees. Here goes. Daunting when its a subject you respect so much. Here is my first attempt at portraying light in the wood. What I am interested in acheiving is not a highly finished image, so I consider this, and the next few that I try, to be Drawings. I'm working something out...

 ...I want to Explain the shapes of the trees by using the dappled light. But at the same time, I want the visual complicatedness, the confusion caused in the way the light licks over the tree, to remain. Those two aims are a contradiction - explain and confuse. As an illustrator, it is my instinct to visually unravel confusion and present an image in a clearer form.  I am trying not to do that.

I wanted to leave the foliage in the background loose. But couldn't bring myself to leave it alone, I had to keep fiddling. TSK. We'll see how I go with the next drawing...

Sometimes I stand watching the dapples move, like a private movie being screened just for me, a light performance. It's an amazing sight, sometimes it moves gently and carefully, other times quickly, like the light is liquid, running around the branches and trunk in a caress. It might last only seconds before diffusing and disappearing, so well worth stopping, or glancing up from your Teddy Bear Picnic.

Next up Portrait Drawing Workshop, Monthly Monday and weekly classes kicks off. The next Portfolio Course is at Half Term.

For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

NOTE: Please do not copy this work. (don't even assume this is the Way To Do It - this is just the way I did it, this time) There are loads of wonderful trees out there, this one is mine. Part of your creative process is... finding your own tree.

Portrait Drawing workshop, Belfast UK (also in Dublin, Ireland)

Student portrait drawings, using Compressed Charcoal. (Click on images to enlarge)

in progress... H. Johnston, student 

     Surprise surprise...! Excellent, LARGE work! (5 hours) H. Johnston, student.

Three days of hard labour, and the students had stopped begging for mercy and resigned themselves to the Graft. It probably didn't help much that I was chirping about the journey towards creative excellence being always slightly uphill, so that by the time you reach the top, you're just getting the idea that the journey goes on for...ever. How delicious..

In Progress, M. Hickie, student (including charcoal on her own forehead...)

Finished! 

These students had never done portrait drawing before. The pieces shown here were done on the third day of the course. Leading up to this, on the first two days they had done many studies of eyes, noses, lips, and all the Bits In Between. (thanks, Alexander, for being a great model) They left feeling amazed, delighted they'd worked so large (because the scale of every artwork is important) and...Exhausted. Perfect!

Next Workshops - Water Colour, Weekly Thursdays, and an extra Portfolio Course in August. Email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for full details. 

Phone - from UK 07730 560 517 from Ireland 087 1330040