I'm still here!

Where has the last year gone? So much for being 'back in the saddle again '. 2024 well and truly threw me in the dirt and galloped off.

I'm not sure I've recovered yet , I think I'm still a bit bruised and spitting out grit, but I have managed 4 drawings this year! I'm not patting myself on the back, though, firstly because I'll probably pull something, but mainly because I don't want to tempt fate.

Last year started badly with us losing Oy. That was just 2024 getting warmed up. Two uncles, my darling old horse, Gini, and then, after a long, brave battle with aggressive prostate cancer, we lost Bob. The comfort of being beside him when he died is shadowed by his massive loss. I can not express how very grateful or how much love I have for this giant, selfless man who decided to be my dad when I was 5. Thank you, Bob, for everything.

Bob doing farm jobs!

I have just finished a portrait of my boxer dog - ok, one of my boxer dogs - Henry. Henry is a 3 year old male with a double cleft lip and questionable sanity. His favourite pastimes involve barking at nothing, for hours at a time; carrying a ball around (we do not share, thank you), and sitting on our laps...all 30kg of him.

Henry , work in progress.

He is drawn on pastelmat using around 20 different pastel colours. Maybe the strangest is that his nose is black, browns, green, white, two different greys, blue, violet and a touch of pink. Normally, a dog's nose is wet and reflects a lot of the. Environment in subtle ways. I took the reference photo one a frosty, winter's day out in the field, lots of subtle reflection. Using all the colours gives depth instead of a flat blob. Well, hopefully!

All the colours used for the portrait.

Extra special for me is that the Derwent set of pencils that I have used in this portrait were a gift from Bob and Gwynnie.

Reference photo

A3 portrait in pastels of Henry