Margaret Slitheen

I don't believe it, I managed to complete a piece of artwork in one day today! What a rarity that is. I even have bum-ache from sitting so long painting. It's a rarity, because I'm usually breaking off to do housework, run after Rosie and do countless other little jobs. Today, with Rosie at nursery in the morning, then taking a THREE hour nap in the afternoon, I was lucky indeed.

Right. Onto the next painting for The Oncoming Storm Event. It's nose to the grindstone time for the next couple of weeks.

A note for Graham: Don't worry, I've not forgotten your painting. I'm working on the revised composition sketch in spare moments. I'll be able to do more with it after The Oncoming Storm. Speak to you soon. :)

The Oncoming Storm

I'll be at The Oncoming Storm event in Gloucester in a couple of weeks. Trying fiercely not to panic about how much work I haven't done yet for it. I do however have the above new piece of artwork ready to go.

Wahay! The wonderful people at Strictly Ink have added my new sketch cards to their website. Go have a look! http://www.strictlyink.com/06si/sketchers_carolyn.html

Do check out the other artists there too, I'm in complete awe!!!

Due to public demand, I am currently taking commissions for sketch cards. My own unique design of sketch card will be back from the printers in about 8 weeks. Contact me at walkineternity@yahoo.co.uk for more details.

Beauty and the Beast completed

Yay! Finished and approved. Actually a few days ago, but I've already been busy with other projects. More on those later. I'm pleased with the way the painting has turned out.
It would be interesting to attend the 20th Anniversary ('Perchance to Dream: a Life Without Limits') Convention in Los Angeles, where prints of this painting will be sold. I'd also love to see the series again, having spent so much time with the characters lately ;).
Unfortunately, it's only available at the moment on region 1 DVD, or VHS. I'll have to wait until it is released here in the UK. Fingers crossed!

Beauty and the Beast # 6

The painting is taking shape now. I'm pleased with Vince's face. It can be frustrating at times, only being able to work one or two hours a day, at most. Just occasionally it would be nice to get a whole day's run at it. However, I hope to have finished it in the next week or so. I'm going over and over areas of the painting now, refining and refining until the subjects look nicely three dimensional and lifelike. The final hurdle will be deciding when the painting is complete!

Didn't get any painting done today, because I was at the Cavern Club Doctor Who event, in Liverpool. I met up with friends, networked and watched the panels onstage, which featured Colin Baker, Terrance Dicks, Anneke Wills and Sophie Aldred. The place was packed with people. The Cavern Club is a strange and wonderful venue, steeped in nostalgia and history, tucked away down a side street, and deep underground. As a result it gets very hot and smokey, and I took frequent trips up to the surface for air, only to be greeted by a barrage of cameras whenever I stepped out of the entrance. Even on a Sunday, Mathew Street is a haven for Beatle fans!

I booked my ticket tonight for The Big Session in Leicester, in June. The OysterBand are headlining the event and Show of Hands will be there too. I can't wait to see them both live. I've been playing their new albums to death these last few weeks!

Beauty and the Beast # 5

Ten hours in, and it's coming together slowly. The new albums by Show of Hands(Witness) and The Oysterband(Meet You There) are helping me along on a wave of folky nostalgia. Yep, I'm a closet folky and not ashamed to admit it! Is it my imagination, or is Roy's nose getting longer?!

Beauty and the Beast # 4

..but then, as I start to work on specific areas and refine them, correct little mistakes (such as Roy Dotrice's left eye), the finished painting, or a promise of how it might eventually look begins to emerge and I feel hopeful again! Painting, for me is sometimes a frustratingly slow process! However, it's a medium which throws up challenges I do enjoy working through!

Beauty and the Beast # 3

A couple more hours work and I've covered all the white up! Another thing I need to do as quickly as possible! All the base painting is done now. The painting looks very rough and it's often about here that I hit a wall, where I start to think it's never going to look good and I find myself making excuses not to paint, which in a busy house, with a 3 year old toddler bombing about is pretty easy to do! This is the stage of any painting I like the least...

Beauty and the Beast # 2

A few hours in and I've started blocking in the background and base colour, and establishing the features. I'm never happy until I've got fairly good likenesses. I use acrylic paint(usually Galeria by Winsor & Newton, or System 3). My base pallet is more often than not a mixture of yellow ochre, titanium white, burnt umber, mars black and crimson red. I've tried lots of combinations of colours over the years, especially for skin tones, and this is the one that works best for me.

Beauty and the Beast # 1

Here is the initial drawing for my Beauty and The Beast painting. I thought you might like to see the progression from start, to finish, as it were. The size of the painting is A3, on thick watercolour paper.