Thursday 9 May 2013

09/05: I'M LATE, I'M LATE .... FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE ....


I'm late / I'm late / For a very important date. / No time to say "Hello, Goodbye". / I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. 

Well I know how the white rabbit from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' feels now.  

I promised an update on the two dogs today - with some requested refinements ... but I've been chasing garden furniture and ornaments round the garden  (gale force winds in Kent) and have been chasing my tail most of the day it seems.   Lots of email enquiries to respond to and then a much needed haircut this afternoon.

I made some adjustments to the portrait but by the time I photographed it the light was poor so this is the best I could do ... .   I 'untidied' the dog on the left a little and added more grey to the dog on the right (although the camera has over-emphasised the grey) so will try for a better photo tomorrow and I'd also like to make a start on the double cat portrait ready for when I'm back from holiday as I have several commissions which need to be finished and despatched by end June/early July.   So much for the recession - no shortage of people wanting bespoke portraits it seems.

The owner of these dogs makes the most wonderful traditional carved rocking horses.  I'd love one for myself (no chance) or for my Grand-daughter if only she wasn't such a tomboy .... perhaps when I can show his name etc I will be able to show an example of his work ... but t'internet is a funny place and I don't want to risk his name, or the dog pictures, coming up on an internet search.



I bought a new can of fixative on Tuesday so have given all 3 of my recent small coloured pencil pics a light spray and added final touches so will submit them to the jury for the forthcoming UK Coloured Pencil Society exhibition which is being staged at Patchings Arts Centre, Notts this year from 1st September to 6th October.   

I had planned to spend more time on doing a larger picture for entry this year but I was busier than usual with commissions, and the deadline was moved forward slightly to 5th June.  I will be on holiday next week and not back till 7 June so need to submit entries before I go.

I did show all the potential entries on this Blog as I was trying out some new pencils and supports and these are the ones I'll submit but I won't show them again now as the exhibition entries specifically say that there must be no critique or help with drawings .....

Garden visitors are as prolific as ever - the male woodpecker is almost a permanent resident now and visits several times a day to raid the fatballs - no sign of the female though.

David and I did our usual voluntary day at Pilgrims Hospice eBay office yesterday and I just had to photograph the back of this old car which was parked in the nearby car park.  I cropped it down a bit to hide the registration

I guess all car drivers will sympathise - although petrol prices have dropped quite considerably in the last few weeks



 and finally ......

I'm late / I'm late / For a very important date. / No time to say "Hello, Goodbye". / I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. 

to go back to the original quote on this post.   The very important date is my Wedding Anniversary (well actually it's David's Anniversary as well).   We'd booked a meal at a local restaurant we like but I was so busy trying to photograph the dog portrait (in poor light) that I left it to the very last minute to get ready and David was getting a bit ratty ... though he won't like that description!

The meal at the 'Oyster & Chop House', Herne Bay was superb.     The owner/chef is Bulgarian and his cooking is worthy of a Michelin Star and certainly as good as, or better than, the local Whitstable restaurants which are very trendy and expensive.   The owner sources all ingredients from within an 18 mile radius.  Although he specialises in 'game' he also offers vegetarian dishes and most of the accompanying vegetables/green stuff is organic and much of it is 'foraged' so quite unusual.   He makes a point of visiting the tables to describe and discuss the ingredients he uses.       The meal was Fantastico!!

The owner always provides free water, an 'amuse bouche' small tasting dish, home baked mini bread loaves and home made butter and a sorbet dish between starter and main course.    So I can never manage more than a starter and main course but David (bless) likes his desserts.

This was the chocolate mousse he ordered ...


It may look small but, boy was it rich, and David struggled to finish it.   The raspberries and strawberries were delicious!!

Thats it for tonight!!







8 comments:

  1. Happy Anniversary! Glad you got cleaned up and enjoyed your dinner. That desert looks wonderfully rich and sweet :D

    Love the Cocker's flowing ears :)
    Hahaa You could send some of your commissions my way if you wanted to :D I'd be glad to help you out of your jam :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Anniversary! So glad you had a good dinner out.

    The two dogs look better than ever and David's dessert does look very rich and filling!

    Hope your have a wonderful, productive weekend too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those dogs are so beautifully portrayed! You have an amazing way of rendering fur. I love how it seems to come up off the page, like I could touch it. What spray did you use on your colored pencil pieces, and are they on paper? I'm so afraid to spray mine. What are the benefits of spraying? I trust your opinion! Thanks! And happy anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Free water? Don't all restaurants give you free water? They do here.

    Sounds a fab meal, Happy Anniversary, I would have been alongside David with that dessert,looks fab. Love the message on the plate.

    Dogs looking fab, no matter the light.

    JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

    ReplyDelete
  5. First...Happy Anniversary, Sue!!!
    Second.. LOVE the paintings of these dogs...SO realistic!! I love how you paint the fur...Wonderful work!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What in interesting post, full of this and that. The painting of the dogs is a masterpiece as is the dessert! But the dog pic will last forever! So Happy Anniversary! Oh I saw a Smart Car and on the back in metal so looked very official 'Smart Arse'. Amazing what you see in car parks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you ladies.
    These dogs are in pastel on sanded paper but I use the same fixative for pastels or cps.
    Winsor & Newton Fixative is the one I normally use although the last can I had was very problematic and kept sticking and spitting - had to throw it away.
    with cps it stops 'wax bloom' and enables me to add another couple of layers to pictures if necessary.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you Hilda.

    Hi Polly. Love the Smart Car logo

    I own the domain name
    www.smart-arts-studio.co.uk
    and have been using that as one of my trading names for years. Sad person I am!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Let me know what you think :-)

I have disabled the Captcha requirement at the request of followers who find it irritating when posting comments. However to stop the subsequent flood of spam posts I can no longer accept comments from Anonymous sources.
Apologies if this is a problem
Thank you
Sue
x