Baby Bear & Pal...

I completed this yesterday, a young bear cub taking a rest in the long grass and being watched by a gull.  This is watercolour on paper and a private commission.

 

Grazer...

I completed this yesterday - bear 128 Grazer in watercolour on paper.  This is a private commission and will be a surprise gift for someone - wish I could be there when they open the parcel!

Next up, more bears...

Holly...

Back in the summer, the American magazine Travel Guide ran a competition for it's readers with the first prize being a painting of their favourite bear done by me.  I have finally completed the winner's painting - I'm only so late in doing so because the winner could not decide which bear to choose for her prize, so commissioned me to do a second painting of the other bear!

This is bear 435 Holly, who lives in Katmai National Park, Alaska.  She is quite something, being fairly old for a bear and yet still producing cubs which she raises in a calm, well practised style. She has also won the annual fun Fat Bear contest in the past - as you can see here, she gets large!  This has been painted in watercolour on paper.

Up next, another commission, another bear...
 

How It Starts...

This is my current commission - I thought you might be interested to see how a painting like this gets started.  Initially the bear was drawn out carefully in pencil, with a sketchy background as in this case it is mainly leaves, with the water flowing around the rock that the bear is standing on.

Then I begin to paint in the background, carefully around the outline of the bear.  Usually I would use masking fluid to protect the edges of my drawing, but I have run out so on this occasion I have just had to take my time and do it the hard way!  Once the paint around the outline of the bear is dry, I rub out the pencil marks so that when the time comes to paint the bear, I have no dark smudgy lines showing through the paint.  I will do this throughout the painting in order to keep the pencil marks that are visible to a minimum.

The reference photograph I have been given was taken by the lady this is for and is a little bit fuzzy - she told me she was so excited that her hands were shaking!  So as I go, I will try and sharpen it all up a little - I do have quite a few other photos of this particular bear that I can call upon to get details of the face etc. to work from.

This is in watercolour on paper.  I have two more bear paintings to produce between now and Christmas if possible...it's going to take some doing!

Otis...

Just completed this - the bear 480 Otis, painted in watercolour on paper.  This was a private commission.  I have painted Otis many, many times, and thought it might get boring but this one kept my interest the whole way through.  The reference photo just had water around him but I was asked to make it that he was sitting in his 'office' - the area at the back of Brooks Falls where Otis likes to sit quietly and gorge himself on salmon.  I have also painted 'the office' so many times that I don't need a reference photo any more!  Painting all that fur was quite a challenge - so many curls and ruffles!  It took a great deal of concentration not to lose my way with it.

This is part of a double commission, the other being of bear 435 Holly.  Good job I like bears...

Interlude...

I have a ton of work to complete before Christmas (hopefully) but had to take a few days away from it to paint this little chap.  Sometimes it pays to take a step back from the commissioned work to do something for yourself in order to keep your work fresh - I mean, I love Otis the bear, but to paint him three times in a row gets just a little tedious!

So this is a young bear at Katmai who as yet has no number and is currently referred to by the unfortunately nickname of Bucky - long and involved story as to why, which I won't go into here.  A few weeks ago he was lying on a rock just watching the world go by and we got some great close-ups on the live web cams.  I collected a few images as I really wanted to make a painting from them, it was such a sweet moment.  Since then, the urge to get this done has been strong so I went with it and am very pleased with the result.  Watercolour on paper.

He will be in my Etsy shop shortly - and for me, it's back to Otis once again!

Bear Cubs & Boxes...

I completed this last week - bear 435 Holly and her cub, using a photograph that Ranger Naomi at Katmai National Park took last year.  This cub is now ten times the size!  This was painted in watercolour on paper. It was snapped up within minutes of me posting it online and is now winging it's way to Spain.

I've also been working on another painted trinket box - this one is a prize in the American magazine Travel Guide summer competition.  The painting on the lid is of Otis, winner of this year's Fat Bear contest.  I assembled it yesterday after lining it.

I think you will agree, I found the perfect fabric to put inside - loads of fish for Otis to snack on!

 This box is already spoken for but I will be making a couple more at some point between now and Christmas.  I can't say when - they are very labour intensive and I have to fit them in around other work.

Grazer...

This is a painting of the bear 128, Grazer, and one of her yearling cubs.  Watching the Explore.org bear cams this year has been crazy, lots and lots of bears and Grazer on the defensive the whole time - she has a reputation for beating the snot out of any other bear that dares to even look at one of her cubs.  However, I caught this tender moment a couple of weeks ago, just after she had been nursing her two cubs in a quiet spot under some trees and thought it would make a sweet painting.  Painted in watercolour on paper and will be in my Etsy shop shortly.

Next up - I've been asked to be the prize in the American magazine Travel Guide's summer competition again this year.  First prize is a painting of the winner's favourite bear, second and third prizes are a painted trinket box & a stuffed Otis bear, so I had better get a move on with the box & toy!
 

Beadnose...

 I completed this yesterday - it is a portrait of the bear 609 Beadnose who lives/lived at Katmai National Park Alaska.  She was a great favourite of viewers of the Explore.org web cams and if you have seen a photo of a bear at the top of a waterfall with a fish just flying into it's mouth, odds are it is Beadnose.  Sadly, she has not been seen for two seasons now - I suppose we will never know what happened to her, whether she passed away or simply moved elsewhere.

This is a private commission and will be a surprise gift for someone.  It is painted in watercolours on paper.

If you'd like your own bear portrait, I'm free for a few weeks, get intouch!

Beautiful Braye...

 Braye Bay, Alderney - watercolour on paper.

When I got this commission over a month ago, I thought 'yeah, this I can do, it will be a doddle' - famous last words!  When it came down to it, firstly drawing buildings has never been my strong point.  Perspective and I are not good friends.  So I drew everything else and wondered how on earth I was going to get that line of houses correctly.  The paper was far too big to use my light box and each attempt to draw them by eye resulted in failure.  In the end, my partner suggested I get the reference photograph up on my computer screen and fiddle about with zooming in/out until it matched the rest of my sketch and then trace the buildings.  Which, thankfully, worked a treat!

Secondly, the sky was fun to paint but so very time consuming!  I was constantly worried that I would mess up the effect of the golden light so had to be very careful and paint each little cloud one at a time - no big splashy washes for this one!

Then there was the business of adding in the client's children - she'd Photoshopped them in but put one child in the water, which would have meant the girl would have to be ten feet tall to have matched the spot where she was.  So I had to tinker about with the drawing to place them together on the breakwater and hope that the girl was taller than the boy in real life!

In the middle of all this, my partner fell ill and had to be rushed to hospital by ambulance, where he stayed for three days.  Turned out he had a very severe case of vertigo, caused by an imbalance in the ears which can come on with no warning and no reason at any time, and is totally debilitating.  That was all extremely worrying and for the first few days after his return home, I was basically his carer as he was very insteady on his feet.

Finally this week I got the time to devote to finishing it off, just within the deadline.  It was a very challenging painting but I really did enjoy it - I know this beach so well, having lived in Alderney throughout my teenage years and have holidayed there frequently more recently.  

Next up - another bear!

Love's Young Dream...

 I've really not had the time nor the inclination to paint lately - not sure what the problem is, too much lockdown perhaps.  However, I have managed to paint this, even though it took far longer than usual.  This is a watercolour of bear 151 Walker and bear 708 Amelia in a post coital snuggle.  This happened on the Explore.org web cam a couple of years ago.  I was under the impression (as were a lot of people I guess!) that once bears did the deed, they ambled off on their separate ways.  Not so in this case - Walker and Amelia spent quite a long time cuddled up on the grass in the sun, giving us webcam viewers ample time to snap away and take photos.  When I did get around to working on this, I really enjoyed it! It will possibly be for sale in my Etsy shop soon - I have someone already interested in it.

For a complete change, my next commission is an Alderney scene - can't wait, it's going to be difficult but I'm looking forward to it.

Bear 610...

This was a sweet little commission I had, completed yesterday, as a gift for someone who has been badly affected by catching Covid19 and is still very poorly months on.  This is bear 610 who lives at Katmai National Park in Alaska, and has quite a story of survival.  She was seen often on the live web cams in the far distance as an abandoned yearling cub.  Somehow she managed to survive on her own to adulthood, but what makes it even more amazing is that when she was finally seen closer, she has the most enormous dent above her right hip (you can see the mark in the painting) from what must have been a horrendous injury.  She survived this too - she could have died from blood loss, shock, starvation, predation, and yet is still with us.  Quite the metaphor...

This was painted in watercolour on paper.  I have to say, the reflection took twice as long to paint as the actual bear!

Waterfall...

This is a watercolour of a small waterfall that I discovered while exploring the banks of the River Lyn in Devon a couple of years ago.  I used to go there every morning when I walked the dog and it was so calm and peaceful and pretty.  I have painted it before but this was from a slightly different angle.  Got to admit, painting during lockdown does a huge amount for my mental health.

Next up -another bear.  Surprise, surprise!
 

Otis...

I've been a bit quiet on here lately - as usual, the run up to Christmas has been very busy and also I have not had much to show.  However, here is the painting I have just finished for the winner of this year's Travel Guide summer competition in the USA.  The winner chose to have her favourite bear, Otis, as the subject of the painting and once I got the Christmas commissions out of the way I could devote my time to this.

It is painted with watercolour on paper, using a wonderful reference photo by Olatz Azcona Munarriz and a composite imagining of the background, 'the office'.    I thoroughly enjoyed painting this and am glad to report the recipient is very happy too!
 

Fishing On The Lip...

 I'm gradually working my way through the Christmas commissions - finished this one last week.  This is bear 503 and bear 812 (brothers from different litters) fishing on the lip at Brooks Falls.  Painted in watercolour on paper.

Next up, a dog portrait - that makes a change!

Christmas...

Here is the first commission this year for a Christmas present - bear 135 Holly, with her cub 719 and her adopted cub 503.  I thoroughly enjoyed painting this one - watercolour on paper. One down, three to go...

I'm still making masks when I have a minute or two spare.  I love the print on this autumn themed one.

I am also making some in Christmas themed fabric - if we have to wear masks this Christmas, we might

as well make them jolly!
 

Handsome 503...

I completed this watercolour painting of  Bear 503 a couple of days ago  - very pleased with how it has turned out.  I'm now dithering as I have a buyer for it already but was also thinking to enter it into a watercolour competition...

Righting A Wrong...

I am usually very meticulous about removing a painting from my Etsy shop if I have sold it elsewhere.  Last week for the first time ever, I had the absolute nightmare of selling a painting on Etsy and then discovering it was nowhere to be found in my portfolios.  I turned the house upside down three times, and could not find it anywhere.  I could not recall having sold it either.  So I had to go to the buyer with hands held up and admit to having fallen down miserably.  I offered either a refund or to repaint the picture.  The buyer chose a re-paint.  Thankfully the original painting was done a couple of years ago, so painting the subject again was not dull - I purposely did not look at photos of the first one during painting as I wanted the second one to be fresh.  The photo above is the new version.

This is the old version - I think the newer one has come out better and much to my relief, so does the buyer! Lesson learned - keep better records!

Lefty - Complete...

Just finished this painting - such fun to do!  Now I am waiting to see the real Lefty show up at Brooks Falls on the Explore.org cams!

Watercolour on paper - will be in my Etsy shop tomorrow.

Nevermore...

I finished this yesterday after 24 hours of agonising over whether or not to give it a slight washy background.  Then I sold it before the paint was even properly dry...
Which caused a slight problem as I had already entered it into a virtual exhibition with The Wild Life Art Society - thankfully they have kindly allowed me to submit another painting in it's place.

This is watercolour on paper and when I started it I had no idea it would take me quite so long - but I am glad it did, because it took my mind off current events for an hour or two each day.

Next up, something on the garden gate...