Finished Whisky

Well I've finally finished Whisky's portrait. Here is the final image, along with the rest of the set: The original lion painting that the owner wanted me to model the portraits after, Bosco and Whisky.


Lion portrait (not by me):

Bosco 2006:

Whisky 2007:

Bosco in frame beside Whisky:

Whisky's portrait finished?

Just waiting to hear back from the owner to say whether or not this is finished.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to write and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! It's been a very busy year this year and I wanted to thank everyone for their support, especially those who have commissioned me to do their pet portraits.

So to update you, I'm still working on Whisky's portrait. It's taking me a little longer than expected as it's giving me some grief. There is a reason why I have chosen to work only on velour paper from now on for my pastel drawings, and Whisky's portrait is on bristol paper. I have no doubt I'll eventually get it right, but it's just taking a bit of time to get there.

I have started the outline of Emerald's portrait, which I will post soon. Emerald is a beautiful horse from Vancouver and I'll be doing a montage, showing her as an adult and as a foal. I'm really looking forward to working on this one because it is my first horse commission. I love horses and drew them all the time growing up, so I'm excited to be doing a drawing of one for someone else.

Third in line on my list is Delfine, a long haired Daschund, which I will be doing in pencil. The owner saw me at my booth at the Pet Expo in Sept. I'm really glad that I was able to get at least one commission from that (it's looking like I might have another soon). Going to trade shows like that costs money, and I'm glad it ended up being worth my while. I had been considering not doing it again next year, but now I think I will.

So I guess that's about it for the updates for now. I will post again soon.

Merry Christmas!

Rest in Peace, Norton

This is a small tribute to Norton who was owned by my friends, Jen and Victor. Norton passed away this morning from an illness. He was deeply loved and will be deeply missed.

Seven

This is my kitten, Seven. She's about 6 months old in the photo I think. I drew her for my boyfriend's birthday back in Oct. and have only gotten around to posting it now. She was drawn in pencil on 8x10 white paper.

Whisky

Here is a pastel portrait of Whisky. I'm not sure how many hours I've put in so far, but I'm pretty sure it's a lot! I still have more work to do on the cat itself and I have to finish the background. I hope to have it finished in the next few weeks.


Whisky is done in soft pastels (Nupastels, Derwents, Yarka and General's) on approx. 9x20 brown bristol paper.





Whisky is owned by the same people who own Bosco. I did Bosco's portrait for them a couple of years ago, and Whisky's will be done in the same style.

Whisky

Well it's been a little while since I last posted, so I thought I'd better give you an update on what's happening. I have been working on Whisky's portrait for over a month now, but since it's an awkward size (9x20), it's a little difficult to fit on my scanner. I've been meaning to take a photograph of it to show you what I have done so far, but since it gets dark so early, it's hard to get a good, clear shot.

I'm definitely more than half done Whisky's portrait. I just have a bit more touching up to do, and I have to figure out how I'm going to do the background. It's been giving me a bit of grief, but I'm sure I'll get it worked out soon. I'm not big on backgrounds, so I often have to play around a bit.

Soon I will be starting Emerald's portrait, and I have a few of my own projects on the go as well. So hopefully I'll have something new to post soon.

Dancing Dog

This video is amazing!! Have a look!

Pet Expo

This past weekend I had a booth at the Pet Expo at the Frex, which was a tradeshow for everything to do with pets. I was there from Friday evening to Sunday at suppertime. It was quite a long weekend, but I had a really great time and met lots of people, dogs and cats. I sold some greeting cards and prints, and I handed out tons of business cards. I spoke with a few people who really seemed interested in having a pet portrait done, so hopefully I'll get some business from it. Here is a picture of my friend, Jen and I at my booth.

Pet Expo 2007

This weekend from Friday evening until Sunday at 5pm, I will have a booth at the Pet Expo in Fredericton. It is an SPCA fundraiser and last year it brought in 3000 people. I expect it will be quite a busy weekend for me, but I'm really looking forward to it. I've been preparing for it for a little while now, getting greeting cards and prints ready to sell, making up signs, and framing my prints for display.

I expect the expo will include anything and everything pet-related. Plus there will be an NBSPCA auction and agility trials and/or flyball if I read correctly. It should be a good time, so if you're wandering around, be sure to stop by and say hi.

Finished Jessie, Bart and Cooper

After 29 hrs of drawing I'm finally done. I had originally estimated that it would take me 30 hrs, so I guess I was pretty close. I'm really happy with how this one turned out and so is the client. It's always a relief to hear that the owner is happy and doesn't want any changes! This isn't the final scan and it's missing my signature, but it is finished. I plan on having it scanned tomorrow and then I can hand it over to the owner.

Next on my plate is a pastel portrait of a cat named Whisky. Whisky's portrait will be done in the same style as Bosco (both cats come from the same household).

After that, I finally get to do a horse portrait of a beautiful horse named Emerald. Emerald's portrait will be a 14x17 montage, meaning that there will be a large portrait of her head and neck as an adult and a smaller version of her as a baby. This will be done in coloured pencil.

I also have been approached by a photographer here in Fredericton to do a wolf drawing, potentially for a wildlife calendar, so I will be working on that soon too. I will keep you up to date on what, if anything comes of that.

25 hrs

I'm getting really close to being done this drawing. All I have left to do is a bit of shading on the ground and touch up a few things. I guess my estimate of 30 hrs was pretty close!

Article in my local paper

The Daily Gleaner, Fredericton's local newspaper, printed an article on me today. Here is the article:
http://www.pagesportraits.com/dailygleaner.html

21.75 hrs

News

Well the summer is coming to an end and although I'm sad to see the warm weather go, it will be nice to have a little more free time (that will be filled quickly I'm sure). I've got two portraits on the go right now. I plan on getting the one of the three dogs finished pretty soon, then I've got a pastel portrait to do. I will only be taking on a few more commissions for Christmas so you might want to put your order in soon. I also offer gift certificates for anyone who doesn't get their order in in time.

I have some exciting news...last week, a reporter from my local newspaper, The Daily Gleaner, contacted me and asked to do an article on me. She interviewed me last week and a photographer came to my house. The article will be in the Balance section in tomorrow's paper. I'm quite excited about this...and a little nervous. This article will be great for exposure and I'm quite flattered that she asked me to do this. The article will be a profile of me, apparently discussing different aspects of my life. I will of course be purchasing several newspapers tomorrow when the article comes out! I will also post a link to the article on my website and blog.

In other news, I will be at the Pet Expo in Fredericton on Sept. 28, 29, 30, displaying my work and advertising my business. I have a lot of preparation to do this month because I plan on selling greeting cards and prints, as well as promoting the commission side of my work. Apparently the Pet Expo brings in a large crowd (over 3000 last year), so hopefully I will get some new commissions from that. It will be a long, busy weekend, but I've got some helpers and I expect it will be an enjoyable experience.

And lastly, I've entered a couple of my drawings into an art competition at the Fredericton Exhibition being held this coming week. I've entered "Britainy and Briggs" and "Noah" . These portraits belong to friends of mine and they were kind enough to lend them to me for the competition. I should know how I do in the competition in the next few days. Fingers crossed!

Well that is it for my news for now. I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer.

18 hrs

This is 18 hrs worth of drawing on the Bernese Mountain dog and Leonbergers.

Facebook

Hey everyone, just a quick note...if you use Facebook, I invite you to join my group. It has the same title as my blog: Page's Portraits - Pet Portraits by Heather Page. Feel free to pass it along to your friends!

Oil Painting Lessons

I am quite excited to say that I'm going to be taking an oil painting class this fall. I have never used oil paints before and have limited experience with acrylics, so I am really looking forward to learning a lot. I have always wanted to try oils, but have to admit I've been a bit afraid to try on my own without proper training. I've used acrylics in high school (many years ago!) and the odd time after that, but I've never really been taught to paint properly. I've always been quite partial to pencils, but maybe if I really enjoy working with oils, I'll eventually offer it as an option for pet portraits!

Jessie, Bart and Cooper update

Here is another update from the portrait I'm currently working on.

Price Increase in September

I want to inform everyone that I will be raising my prices as of September 15, 2007. If you order a portrait before Sept. 15, you can take advantage of the current prices.

George is done

It's been a little while since I've updated and I've managed to get a bit accomplished. George's portrait is now complete.

I had originally planned on finishing the portrait of Bart, Jessie and Cooper first, but George's portrait was so much more portable and I was able to take it to work with me. Besides, pencil is much faster to draw with than coloured pencil and I estimate B,J &C's portrait to take me close to 30 hrs. Here is what I have done so far:

I plan on working hard to get this one done soon.

On another note, I will have a booth at the Obedience Field Trials tomorrow and Sunday at the Fredericton Exhibition Centre. If you live in the Fredericton area, please stop by and say hi.

New drawings

I'm finally able to post my next two drawings. It's been quite a while since I've had some time to work on them, but here they are. The first is a coloured pencil drawing of Bart, Jessie and Cooper, a Bernese Mountain dog and two Leonbergers. The first image is the reference photo and the next one is the actual drawing. I've put in 6.25 hrs of work on this one so far. The scan of the drawing is cropped a bit more than the real one because it doesn't totally fit on my scanner. The final product will be cropped the same as the reference photo.

The next is George, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier from the UK. The first image is the reference photo and the second image is the mock-up I created on the computer to show what the final drawing will look like. I often do a mock-up when a client has given me several photos because sometimes there are some alterations that need to be made. With George, for instance, my client wanted the head of the image below, but with the collar from another photo that shows his name better. So I created a mock-up to show what just the head would look like with the collar from a separate image.
And below is 7 hrs worth of drawing time to create George in pencil.

I will post again soon.

Bark in the Park

This Sunday, I will have a booth at Bark in the Park, which is an SPCA fundraiser. I invite anyone who lives in the Fredericton area to drop by and say hi. I will be at Odell Park from 1-4pm, displaying some of my work. I hope to see you there!

Back at it.

For those of you who have been waiting patiently for me to start your drawings, the waiting is over. I have done the initial outlines of both Jessie, Cooper and Bart as well as George. I've put a couple of hours into each of them so far and as soon as I get a chance I will post what I have done. I'm sorry that it has taken so long to get at these two drawings, but as you know, things have just been crazy lately...actually they kind of still are, but at least I have some more time now.

You may wonder why I am working on both drawings at the same time. Well one is in coloured pencil and one is in pencil. When I work in pencil, it is pretty easy for me to cart my work around and I like to take it to work and do some drawing on my breaks. I can also work on them while sitting outside, or just about anywhere. When I work on my coloured pencil drawings, however, I use so many different pencils that I have to have my set-up in one place.

So depending on where I am, and what I have time for, that's the drawing that I work on. Since Jessie, Cooper and Bart are due first though, and will take much longer, I plan on putting more effort into that drawing so that it is done first.

So thank you for being patient and I will post the initial stages this week hopefully.

Another update

Well we moved into our new house last weekend and things went really well. We are still climbing over boxes but they are slowly getting unpacked. As you know I haven't had much time to work on my drawings lately, but now that my exam is out of the way and things are settling down, I will be back at it soon...just one last hurdle... I will be away on a conference for work in Washington DC from June 2-6.

I won't have access to email while I'm away, so if you have any questions or comments, I will get back to you after I return. When I get back, I should have my new studio mostly set up and ready to go. I will post the first stages of my new work as soon as possible.

Busy

I haven't been adding any updates lately because I've been quite busy this month. We're in the process of moving to our first house and there is a lot to get done. We move on the 26th of this month, and just to make things interesting, I've also got an exam to write on the 25th for a course I'm taking through work. Yikes! We are doing renovations to the house as well and we had a painting party this past weekend, all before we move in. So as a result, I haven't managed to get much accomplished in the drawing department.

Once we move in though, I'm actually going to have my own studio! I'm quite excited to have a dedicated place to work on my art. Once we get moved and I get this exam out of the way, I'll have much more time to spend on my next two commissions. They are both due to be finished this summer.

Noah is finished!

Here is the final scan of Noah the cocker spaniel.

Pencil - 8 x 10

Abbee is finished!

Well I'm not sure how long this portrait took me, but I am finally finished. This is totally a guess, but I'm sure I've put in more than 20 hrs on this drawing. Coloured pencil is much more time-consuming than pencil because there is a lot of layering of colour, hence the higher price.

I really enjoyed doing Abbee's portrait. For one, she is a beautiful cat and her pose is a little different than what I'm used to doing. This is also my first commissioned coloured pencil drawing, so it was a nice change from pencil.

My next portrait is an 11x14 portrait of a Bernese Mountain dog and two Leonbergers. The client originally wanted it done it in pencil, but after watching Abbee's portrait progress here on my blog, she decided that she would prefer to have it done in coloured pencil.

I am still working on Noah's portrait (the cocker spaniel) and should have it done early this week.

On another note, we are moving into a new house this month so things will be a bit hectic. I will try my best to keep on top of the drawing, but there will probably be a week or two where I won't be able to work on much.

Abbee and Noah - almost done!

Well I'm getting close to being done both of these drawings. I'm quite happy with how they are turning out, especially Abbee the cat. Her's is the first coloured pencil drawing that I've done in a long time and I'm pleased with how it's going.

Abbee's picture is 11x14 and that size doesn't fit on my scanner, so I had to do two scans and fit them together. That's why there is a line down the middle. The original is not like that.

Abbee - Stage 7

My first overseas commission!

I just accepted my first overseas commission today! His name is George and he's a Staffordshire Bull Terrier from the UK. So far all of my clients have been from New Brunswick, Canada so it's quite exciting that my work is being seen worldwide!

On another note, I recently started using a program called Google Analytics that tracks the statistics for your website. You have to add some code to each of your web pages and Google will track all kinds of stats for you. For instance, there is a map of the world that shows you the location from which people are viewing your site. It's pretty neat! I've gotten hits from as far away as Russia, India, New Zealand, and South Africa!

Abbee - Stage 6

Slowly, but surely......

Abbee and Noah - Stage 5

I apologize for taking so long to post another update on these two portraits. But as you know, I've been away on vacation and it's been hard to get back into the swing of things. I still have a little ways to go with Abbee, but I'm getting close to completing Noah.

After I've finished with these two portraits I will be starting portraits of Jessie, Cooper (Leonbergers) and Bart (Bernese Mountain Dog). This will be my first portrait with three animals and I'm really looking forward to it!

Back from China

Well I've returned safely from my trip to China. I arrived home this past Sunday and I think I'm finally over the jet lag. I had a great time. We did a lot of sightseeing and tons of shopping. I will post some pictures of my trip soon.

You'll notice that my blog looks a lot different. Since I updated my website, I thought my blog could use a new look too. I hope you like it!

Now that things are back to normal again I will be hitting the "drawing board". I am still working on Noah the cocker spaniel and Abbee the cat. I hope to have them both done by the end of this month or the beginning of April. Next will be a portrait of three dogs (Jessie, Bart and Cooper).

Going to China for Vacation!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be in China (Shanghai) from Feb. 13 - Mar. 4. My sister and her boyfriend are teaching there and we decided to take a trip to visit her. So if you are trying to get ahold of me, I will have access to email, but it may be a few days before I am able to respond.

Noah and Abbee - Stage 4

This may be my last update for a few weeks. I'm going to China to visit my sister on Feb 13, and I'll be back Mar. 4. I doubt I'll have much time to work on these before I go. I'll post some photos when I get back!!

Noah and Abbee - Stage 3

Here is another update:

Abbee - 11x14 coloured pencil



Noah - 8x10 pencil

Waiting list as of Jan 26

1. Noah - in progress
2. Abbee - in progress
3. Jessie, Bart and Cooper

Noah and Abbee - Stage 2

Sorry it's taken me so long to post an update on these drawings.

I've had a bit of trouble with Abbee the cat. I started out using a bristol paper, which doesn't have much "tooth", meaning it is quite smooth. I wasn't sure if I liked the texture and I wasn't sure the coloured pencil would layer nicely like I wanted. So I started another one of her on a different type of paper. In the end, I liked the original one better, so I went back to that. And as it turns out, the bristol paper layers quite nicely, as long as you go from light colours to dark.

By layering, I mean that when you use coloured pencil (or paints, pastels for that matter), you need to layer lots of different colours in order to get depth. For instance, if a cat is black, you can just use the colour black, but the drawing will look very flat. Instead, it's a good idea to use blues and purples (or any other colour) to add a sheen, and to make the coat look real. In the black/grey areas of Abbee's drawing, I used a combination of pinks, blues, purples and browns before I even added black. I'm quite happy with how the fur is looking so far.


















And here's Noah. I think he's coming along nicely as well.

Noah and Abbee - Stage 1

This is Abbee the cat. She is being drawn in coloured pencil on 11x14 paper. The scan of the drawing is much darker than it is in real life. The paper is actually white. This is a photo I took of the drawing, and I had to darken it quite a bit so you can actually see the drawing on the computer screen. Once I have more drawn, it will be much easier to see. I've started timing this one, and so far I've put in about 2:15 hrs.




And this is Noah the Cocker Spaniel. He is being drawn in pencil on 8x10 paper. I scanned this on our scanner so it is much clearer and brighter. (Abbee's 11x14 picture won't fit as nicely on our scanner)

Now on to my next commissions....

Well I heard back from Shamus' Mom and she loves the drawing. She said she is happy with the background as well and said that it is "so Shamus". (I guess he likes to sit at the patio door and look outside).

It is always a relief to hear that the client loves your drawing. I'm really glad she is happy with the background too because it's not something that I usually add in. I just felt this portrait needed the background to show the viewer what the cat is doing and where the light is coming from.

So now I move on to my next commissions. I've got two in line at the moment, and I'm actually planning on working on them both, rather than one after the other. One is of a cocker spaniel named Noah that I will be doing in pencil and the other is a cat named Abbee that will be done in coloured pencil. I want to get a started on both of them because I will be away in China visiting my sister for 2 1/2 weeks in February and I don't want to get behind. So I will be posting these works in progess (WIP) soon.

Shamus is complete!

Here is the final scan of Shamus. I'm just waiting for the ok from the client and then it will be sprayed with fixative and delivered!

In the scan, the tones aren't quite like the original.

Shamus - Stage 4

I'm getting close to being done now. I still have some touching up to do and I'm going to add a light background. It shouldn't be long now!