What I'm working on (Patreon)

Hi everyone,

I thought I’d share a few of the paintings I’m currently turning into tutorials so you can see what’s coming up.

The first one is a dog’s eye study. Over the years quite a few people have told me that they find dogs’ eyes difficult to paint, so I decided to make a study that focuses just on the eye itself. It’s a great exercise for practising values, soft blends and reflections without having to worry about the rest of the portrait. In the tutorial I paint a larger eye first so you can clearly see the techniques, and then I paint a smaller version closer to the size you’d normally paint in a portrait.

I’ve also been working on a painting of three lambs. This one is all about soft edges, texture and subtle colour in the white wool. It’s a good exercise in keeping the painting loose and fresh while still suggesting form.

Another painting I finished today is a hoopoe. Someone asked me to paint one and I thought it would make a lovely tutorial because of the interesting crest and the beautiful warm colours. This one is fairly quick to paint.

I’ve also been painting orchids. Orchids are always a pleasure to paint because of the soft colour transitions in the petals and the delicate shapes.

And finally, I’ve been working on a value study of a teacup and saucer, painted using just one colour. Value studies are a really useful exercise because they train you to focus on light and shadow without the distraction of colour. When the values are correct, the form of the subject naturally appears.

I’m currently editing these tutorials and I’ll start releasing them here on Patreon once they’re ready.

Louise