Sunday 30 October 2011

It's a dog's life

Well, I suppose it had to be done eventually and what better way of using up the extra hour we got this morning here in the UK thanks to the end of British Summer Time. The downside is there are less daylight hours in the evening now and that means very little after work sketching for a few months :(

I used a photo taken on a recent walk for this quick and loose charcoal and watercolour painting of Louie. His eyes are closed as he sits and enjoys the warm wind blowing at his face, bringing exciting new sensations to his sensitive nose :)

Happy Sunday!

Louie I, compressed charcoal and watercolour on Arches 300gsm/140lb Rough, 230mm x 250mm/9" x 10"

30 comments:

  1. I can feel the bliss!
    Lovely informal portrait of your darling boy xx

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  2. Oh he is so sweet! What a lovely portrait, well done! Yes, he is handsome!

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  3. Oh... He looks so content... BJ

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  4. This is really beautiful Michael. It is a very lovely painting. You now have a beautiful memory of Louie.

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  5. Ugh, don't you just hate it when the clocks go back!
    But I love your sketch! It is fantastic! What an adorable dog!
    I'm having a head-scratching moment with my oil at the moment! So frustrating! :0)

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  6. Michael,
    Great sketch of Louie. I knew it was him as soon as it came up on my blog side bar. Once again. Well done. Now I must get to my art work.

    Have a great Sunday.
    Joan

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  7. This is a lovely drawing of Louie.

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  8. How lovely is this!? He is really loving the wind on his nose, beautiful expression!

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  9. Lovely painting, made with love. This year they decided here to forget about winter time change. I wonder how it will turn out for us.

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  10. I knew this is Louie as soon as I saw the thumbnail image. Beautiful portrait! I know this dogie expression...

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  11. Lovely work, Michael! You have successfully caught Louie's feelings, not only his image! I also like the combination of charcoal and watercolour (you'll soon see something about this on my blog...) ;-)

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  12. Wow - thank you so very much everyone!

    Pat - yes he is a darling - and a little scamp too :)

    Judy - he certainly is a handsome dog, but sweet .. Hmmmh lol :)

    BJ - yes, he does look content on this one :)

    Renske - I have a lovely memory to keep now. I should frame this one I think :)

    Sandra - yes, booh to short days and long nights! Hope you resolved your oil painting problems :)

    Joan - hope you did manage to get some art done :)

    Sue - I know you love drawings. I must start to do more too :)

    Jane - his expression was priceless. I'm glad I managed to get that across :)

    Rose - if Louie could talk he'd always be telling me to stop sketching and hurry up :)

    Irina - he is truly loved by all of us but he is quite naught ayt times :)

    Blaga - I think he's becoming quite familiar to you all now. He pulls some great expressions sometimes :)

    Lucia - I look forward to seeing what you do with charcoal and watercolour :)

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  13. What a sweetie... makes me wonder what Louie would say if he was blogging about that moment. Also makes me want to get a dog.

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  14. Thank you Lisa. He is a sweetie. I think he would say "am I really that portly? I'm on a diet from now". LOL.

    You want a dog? Ok, I have an idea. Louie would REALLY love to run along all those lovely Dorset beaches. Only kidding he's priceless. He'll have to wait till we get jobs down there!

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  15. Don't tease! I'd take him off your hands in an instant! Portly?.... those snuggly jowl bits are his most appealing asset, and his lovely ears, soft intelligent eyes, flopsy ears....sigh...I think I've got a crush..lol

    Have a great day.

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  16. Lisa, no he's fine around the face, it's just his back and shoulder areas. He really does need to stop eating the cats' food - that's two dishes in addition to his own! He's worked out how to close the dining room door behind him so we don't notice he's in there, wolfing all the cat food down LOL.

    And ... if the crush becomes too much, FYI we got Louie from here: http://www.africandawnsdogtraining.co.uk/beagle.htm

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  17. This is how I stand when I am on a hillside Michael! :) A very lovely painting! :)

    You may not be able to help me here, but I notice that your blog doesn't come up on blog when you post a new painting. I have to seek you out. Anyone any ideas on how I could rectify that?

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  18. Thank you for your lovely comment, Ingrid. If you go into the design page (top right or from the dashboard) for your blog and then edit the 'My BLog List' widget, press 'ADD TO LIST' then 'Blogs I'm following'. As you are already a follower, my blog should show up in there. Sometimes, even when you have done all this, it may show old posts for hours or even days after someone has posted! You can also follow me by email :)

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  19. A lovely spontaneous portrait Michael. Kudos!!

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  20. Thank you very much indeed, John. I really don't do enough true drawing so I enjoyed this.:)

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  21. Louie`s very own Portrait. I bet he has it in a frame already Michael. Well done. Dog portraits are`nt easy are they my friend? All the best Michael.
    Vic.

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  22. Hi Vic. Thank you very much my friend. Dogs aren't easy to do but they don't complain if you get them a bit wrong LOL. Louie is delighted with this and wants me to frame it and put it up in the kitchen above his bed ;) Best wishes, Vic. Michael.

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  23. Hi Michael, really beautiful this portrait of Louie. I like how you used the different medium. Ciao.

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  24. Thank you very much for your lovely comment, Tito. The charcoal does add an extra texture I think. Ciao.

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  25. Hi Michael, you really have created a truely beautiful painting of Louie. Maybe during the dark evenings to arrive here soon you could do some more portraits of Louie and perhaps some still life work inside the house.

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  26. Good morning Caroline, Thank you very much indeed for your lovely and encouraging comments. Thank you too for following my blog :) Yes, plein air sketching for me (apart from weekends) has to go on hold now until next year :( But I do like your suggestions for some winter projects!

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  27. contented louie ..great micheal .. really appreciate your last post thanks for highlighting what happened.

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  28. You are very welcome, Jane. It must have been quite a shock to see a direct copy of your own work. Thank you too for your lovely comments:)

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  29. very good captured the sensations of the dog, Michael : )

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  30. Thank you so very much for your lovely comment, Sadeu.

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