The end of 2019 was a busy one! Not only was I working on the second part to my Animals in Hats series (which you'll hear more about soon) I had a bunch of Christmas commissions to complete.
I love a Christmas commission, I love the fact that 9 out of 10 times they are a surprise and I love how they get me into the festive spirit when drawing them. This time around I was lucky to have quite a varied bunch to work on...
One of my last projects of 2019 was this drawing of the gorgeous labs Newky Brown and Alfie Black. I was commissioned to create a piece fit for a Christmas card and was given complete creative freedom to make it as festive as I would like. This was such a fun piece to put together, I have such a soft spot for these pups and their gooey, soulful eyes that it made for a really therapeutic draw.
This portrait of Milo was the first of the secret Christmas commissions, I have never had a photoshoot with such an eager-to-please pup before. With so much fluff, there was an awful lot of pup to draw in this piece and I love the effect he has as he fills the frame.
I had the honour of drawing Steven as a surprise Christmas gift for his daughter after he sadly passed away a couple of years ago. We didn't have the high definition images I would usually work from, but I was able to work from a couple of different photos, and working with someone who knew him, we achieved a good likeness.
Dobbin was actually my first ever commissioned cat (!). I have of course drawn cats before, although never one with Dobbin's sun-bleached colourings. He was quite a big drawing, which meant loads of room to give his fur that fluffy softness.
This portrait of Berry and Darcy is definitely one of my favourites for the year. This mother and daughter duo have such characterful expressions and the size of their portrait really does make an impact. I played around with a lot of different photos of the girls to come up with this composition, since I rarely get to meet the pup I draw it's great when I'm able to talk to their owners to get a true representation. I really think we nailed it with this one.
The last piece that I created last year was a pretty special (and strange) one. This painting of the Naiver Stokes equation was for my boyfriend, Benji. It was the equation he wrote about in his dissertation for which he earned himself a first. I painted it in a super-retro style, so, if I do say so myself, I think I made a maths equation cool?!
Thank you to everyone who commissioned me to create a piece last year, I was so lucky to draw and paint such a variety of pieces. I hope that they were well received and that they are being enjoyed in their new homes.
I'm pleased to say my books are now open again for this year, so if you would like to book a commission in (for anytime this year) please get in touch. You can fill out the form on my website here. Please be aware that I do have a waiting list, so let me know as soon as you can to grab your slot and avoid disappointment.
Thanks!
KTx