Couple more dogs added.

I obviously haven't updated the blog for quite some time now. This is partly due to not having any new work to show you, and partly due to 17 days of shows in the run up to Christmas leaving me with about as much time on my hands as Santa on Xmas Eve.

Anyway, with shows (and Christmas) over with for a short while, I can get back to drawing - I need to as I have no original drawings left and an exhibition in less than a month's time!!

The shows were slightly affected by the weather, with the first week being very, very quiet when compared with last year - fortunately, it picked up from there. The 17 days of shows have been extended to 25 days for next Christmas, so that'll be fun!!

Here are a couple of drawings completed back in November which will be added to the dog collection. It is actually the same Schnauzer, Charlie, drawn from two different profiles. The owner should have received the original for Xmas yesterday, so I hope they like them.

Swaledale Profile Complete

'Swaledale Profile'

Size approx 14x12"

I said in my last post that i'd be working on the Swaledale over 3 days at the Harrogate Flower Show. The show turned out to be way too busy and successful for me to get much drawing done, so it was completed at this weekend's Hawes fair.

I think I need a break from sheep for a short while now, so it's either onto a dog commission or time to revisit the Hares! Time will tell which...

Westie complete

After a very busy and very successful 7 days of shows, plus the ending of a 5-week exhibition, I have finally got this Westie drawing complete.

Time to get ready for the next set of shows!

Printer issues

I guess I can't really complain, having owned my Epson R2400 for about 5 years now, but it recently began spewing ink out of the front every time I changed a cartridge or it went through a cleaning cycle. It was still producing excellent prints, so I was reluctant to spend £600+ on replacing it.

I contacted Epson to see what they could do - they could collect it and service it for £200, but that seemed like a lot of money to spend on a 5-year old printer. After a bit of online searching, I decided that it must be the waste ink tank that was full. Rather than spending £600, or £200, I ordered a waste tank kit for a tenner that essentially bypasses the internal waste tank.

The printer is working fine again, but the really worrying thing now is, since the waste tank is now outside the printer and visible, I can actually see how much ink is wasted every time I have to change a cartridge! For what is said to be the most expensive liquid on the planet (mine works out to around £1 per ml), that's a lot of waste!

Do you think I can bottle it and sell it back to Epson?

Commission completed

As expected, I didn't have chance to scan any further stages of this during the last 5 days of shows, so here we are at the finished article.

It's been a very successful 5 days, beginning with Thornton Le Dale Show on Wednesday, which was much busier than I was expecting, then 4 days at Hawes, which gave me chance to get this dog finished.

So that's it for commissions for this year (having done 2). I now need to get my print stocks back up for the next set of shows and to replenish the Harlow Carr Exhibition that is still going on.

"Tawny Owl"

Image size approx 14"x11"

A bit of finishing off this morning after a very quite 2 days working on this at a fair over the weekend, and the Tawny Owl is finished. This one will be off to the Harlow Carr Exhibition on Sunday.

Barn Owl number 3 complete

"Barn Owl II"

Size approx 10.5" x 14"

Finally got this one complete today. starting another drawing in the middle of working on this one has made it feel like this drawing has taken an age to get complete, but we're there now.

This will be mounted and framed ready for the RHS Harlow Carr Summer Exhibition at the end of the month. Just a couple more to get done before then!

Little Owl Completed

'Little Owl'

Size approx 11.5"x15"

How good does a marquee need to be?

As mentioned in my last post, I was at the North Yorkshire County Show this weekend, but it didn't quite go to plan. Although, in the end, the day was a very sunny success, it did cost me my marquee!

I went to set up the marquee the day before the show and it wasn't particularly windy. It had started to rain, but that is always a guarantee when i'm putting up a marquee. However nice a day it is, the Weather Gods spot my marquee and decide it must pour! Just as I had opened up the marquee but not got it fully pegged down yet, suddenly a gale started, pulled out half the pegs and flipped the marquee straight over, buckling it in a number of places. With the help of some other traders, I managed to get it upright and standing with a lot of Duck tape and steel poles so it stood for the duration of the show (as you can see from the image), but i'm not sure it will live to trade another day!

I've had cheap pop-up gazebos that have blown to bits within minutes of going up, but this was a heavy duty pop-up marquee... I guess not heavy duty enough! Luckily, the rest of my outdoor shows this year are within other organisers' marquees, so I don't have to do anything about it until next year.

A note to anyone out there that is considering their own marquee for events like this, the good ones aren't good enough. You really do need to go for the full commercial grade marquees.

Swaledale Completed

'Swaledale Ewe'

Image size 14.5x10"

Managed to get this one complete yesterday, and it seemed to get quite a bit of attention, so we'll see how she does!

New Card packs

I haven't managed to get back to the Swaledale drawing since the last show almost 2 weeks ago, as i've been busy getting ready for the bank holiday weekend.

I have been working on a couple of new greeting card sets as shown. They will be two boxed packs of A5 greeting cards, one 'British Wildlife Collection' and one 'Yorkshire Dales Collection', each containing 6 fine art cards with envelopes.

I am currently producing the cards myself as I do with my A6 dog greeting cards, but due to the time involved and depending on how they sell, I will be outsourcing these to a professional printer in the future. They are printed using the same Giclée printer as my fine art prints, so each one has to be hand fed and takes over 2 minutes to print - if they sell well, there's no way I can continue printing them myself!

Anyway, I hope to complete the Swaledale whilst at Hawes for the 3-day bank holiday, so should have an update on Tuesday.

Barn Owl - Hunting at Dawn

Barn Owl - Hunting At Dawn

Image size 10x14"

Finished this one up over the bank holiday weekend. It'll hopefully sit well against my earlier drawing of the perched barn owl.

On to Swaledale sheep next!

Books back in stock!

I finally have my books back in stock! All 3 books are now available to purchase directly from my website, and come signed by the author.

There is 'The Art of Drawing Animals' (pictured), 'Drawing Made Easy: Dogs and Puppies' and 'Drawing: Dogs and Cats'.

Click here to view details on my website.

Otter Study finished

"Otter Study"

Image size 12x8"

After a couple of weeks of ignoring this Otter drawing, I finally got back to it at this weekend's show. It was a fairly quiet weekend (everyone out enjoying the sun), so I had plenty of time to finish this up.

I don't come across many otters in the Dales, so the reference photo used for this drawing was kindly donated by an excellent photographer, Jeff Hawkins. You can view more of his photographs at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkk2004/.

I'm exhibiting at the Harrogate Flower Show this weekend, so I need to get my stock levels up and get this little one printed and mounted .

Oh, and a note for future reference - NEVER draw wet fur again!

Black Labrador Head Study

Size - 12"x8"

Finished this Lab yesterday and straight onto an Otter today. I should have an update of that to post tomorrow.

Fox Study complete

'Fox Study'

Size 11x15"

I got this finished today as I hoped. This has been a bit of an experiment for me as i've been using a completely new paper, Arches Aquarelle Hot Press watercolour paper. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the manufacture of the paper I used to use (Langton Hot Press) has changed completely and now has too much surface texture for my taste. Arches is maybe still slightly more textured than Langton used to be, but I think it has passed the test.

How I approached this drawing was somewhat interesting also. Usually I would either complete the background and then move onto the subject, or complete the subject and then move onto the background. I have no idea why I worked in the surrounding background as I moved around the fox - when things like that happen during a drawing, I tend to just go with it.

New website now live

My new website is now live if anyone out there would like to take a look. The URL is still the same www.nolonstacey.com or you can click the homepage image below. Hopefully it's a little slicker than my last site. There may be a few alterations to come over the next couple of weeks, but it's essentially done. I'd love to hear what you think.

New website coming soon...

I have been working on a new website for quite some time now. For those of you that noticed that I recently updated my old website, I knew it would be a short while before the new one went live, so wanted to iron out some of the issues with my old site.

The old (current) site was built using a wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) web builder. This meant that it was limited to what I could do with it, and had a lot going on in the background which slowed it down a little.

The new site is built using Clikpic, an Artist/photographer specific site whick uses templates rather than having to build from scratch. It also has a built in shopping cart, making the buying process much smoother.

Anyway, here are a couple of screenshots showing the homepage and gallery section. I have gone for a similar style to my current website, simple and minimal. It should be live within the next couple of weeks.

Barn Owl Complete

Finally got this one finished. Full size approx 15"x10.5".

The blurred background didn't take too long today, but drawing the owl first, meant a lot of work was needed to 'freshen' up the owl once the background was in.

I haven't had time to tweak the scan as yet. I usually produce a couple of prints to ensure that the scan is as close to the original drawing as possible. It should be about right, but may need a little darkening.

Taking a break!

As followers may have noticed, I haven't posted anything for a short while, mostly because I haven't had anything to post. Once the Christmas shows are over, very little happens (for me at least) until Easter. There are very few shows to attend and, the ones that are on during these early months of the year, usually aren't worth attending. The only exception is three weekends at the Art and Craft Fair at Hawes (once in Feb and twice in March).

With all this time you'd think I would be off travelling the world (didn't earn enough last year to do that!) or at least filling my days with drawing. In reality, this time of year seems to becoming my 'sorting' time of year. My stock levels are so low after Christmas that I have around a month's worth of printing, mounting and framing to get done. My website is so behind schedule that I have a good few weeks of work there. And once that is all done, I find myself frantically trying to get 4 or 5 drawing complete (which isn't going to happen this year).

Which brings me to the website. I created my own website but, knowing nothing about HTML, I used a WYSIWYG website creator, Bluevoda. It still took me close to a year to design and create it. Last year I made the switch from Windows based PCs to the Mac (best move I ever made), only to realise that Bluevoda doesn't work on the Mac OS platform. It has meant that there has been very little updating going on. I have now purchased Parallels, software that allows you to run Windows on the Mac within its own window....fantastic!

So my website has had a spring clean. My prints are now only sold mounted/matted (people seemed to be confused thinking loose prints came mounted and mounted prints came framed!), my 2010 show programme is updated (with more dates to be added as I book them) and it is all generally a little tidier.

I can finally begin drawing......

Springer Commission

As Christmas has now passed, it should be safe to show you a recent commission. Due to time issues with shows, etc., I rarely take on commissions anymore, so this is the only one undertaken this Christmas.

Now that we are coming into the quiet (and broke) months of the year, I will, hopefully, be getting a lot of drawing done. My plan is to add more breeds to the dog collection, and get more wildlife pieces complete...so watch this space...(maybe don't bother watching until after New Year though...)

Squirrel complete

Well, I was pretty much spot on with saying that it would take a further 5 hours to complete this one! A nice quick 10 hours or so!

Finished image size of 10.5" x 7.5".

I picked up my frames from my framer, Wensleydale Galleries in Leyburn, this morning, so I just need to get this, and the others mounted and into their frames ready for drop off on Monday.

This squirrel, being the smallest, will be my 'cheap' option for the exhibition!

Red Deer Stag Finished

Another busy weekend of demonstrating and the Stag study is complete. I now need to mount and frame this ready for the Masham Arts Festival next week (and then get started on the next drawing)

Finished size approx 15" x 10.5".

Cotter Force commission

Here is a recent commission I completed a few days ago. Ok, so it isn't actually Cotter Force (just west of Hawes), but it's just up from there. There was certainly a bit of detail to get through in this one!!

Size approx 14.5" x 9"

Second Hare study complete...finally!

It's taken me a couple of weeks to find the time to get back to this one, but I have finally finished it.

Finished image size is approx 14"x11" and has taken around 50 hrs to complete.

Studley Royal Deer Finished

I said that I wouldn't get chance to touch this again until the weekend, and I was right. Another 10 hours or so at this weekend's fair and it is complete. I only have 2 days off before Reeth Show on Wednesday, so I now need to get this printed and mounted to test the water with the art-buying public!

Airedale Terrier

I have found a few hours today to get this one finished. I think I'll probably take a break from anything curly for a short while - and that includes sheep!

Finished piece approx 20x30cm and a relatively quick 20 hours!

Whippet finally complete!

Finally found a couple of hours to complete this commission. It's only taken me 9 days, but in my defense, I have been preparing for an exhibition. For anyone who lives in the area, get on down to the RHS Gardens at Harlow Carr for the Summer Art Exhibition (on until the 13th August)

On The Run Complete

"On The Run"

Finally got around to completing the background of this one.  Image size 35x25cm 

Another Hare!

When you draw in public as often as I do, it had to happen one day - someone drips something on your drawing!

I attend an Art & Craft Fair once or twice a month at Hawes, Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales (see below).

It's a great little Art & Craft Fair with a strict policy ensuring all exhibitors produce their own crafts (that may sound like an obvious statement for a 'craft' fair, but to date, it is the only one I have come across!

I have been attending for about 2 years now and always demonstrate there. Drawing at the fairs is pretty much the only time I get to draw these days - Artist Mike Sibley once said that he probably only spends around 20% of his time as a professional artist drawing. Before I became a full-time artist I never believed this... he was right!

My weeks are spent printing, mounting, framing artwork and greeting cards, booking fairs and shows, contacting galleries, updating websites, etc... My weekends are spent at fairs and shows, so, inbetween serving and talking to customers, I draw. This way, I actually get some drawing done, but it also acts as an attraction to visitors. I have always been wary of kids with ice-creams, adults wanting to know what paper I use (they can't just ask, they have to rub their grubby fingers across the middle of my drawing), elderly women buying a greeting card and insisting on placing their handbags ON my drawing while they count out their pennies, and people shaking the table as their dog jumps up to see what's going on. Unbelievably, I have never had a drawing damaged by all of this, until now! Typically, it was simply a few drips of rain water dripping from someone's head as they leaned over to take a closer look.

This may not sound like much but, the fellow pencil artists out there will know how easy it is to affect the tooth of drawing paper. Unfortunately, the drips were in an area of the drawing where little detail was going to be (otherwise I could have simply hidden the area in detail). The drawing is recoverable. As the drips were in the top right corner, I will just need to keep that area very light so the drips don't show - luckily, the light source is from this top right corner, so that should work.

Anyway, here is the drawing so far. You shouldn't even be able to see the damage, and I hope that will remain the case as I continue. The hare is pretty much complete, but a lot of work is still needed on the grass and background.

Deer complete

A couple more days work and this one is complete. I'm still not 100% sure whether this is a Fallow or a Sika deer, so i'm not committing as yet - with quite a bit of research, i'm quite sure it's a Fallow, but need an expert to hop over here and confirm that for me... Is Robert E Fuller around???

Finished piece is approx 35x24cm

Show season is upon us!

You may have noticed that, compared to my recent flurry of drawing activity, things have slowed down considerably. The reason for this is that show season is finally upon us. Unlike Art and Craft fairs, I don't tend to draw at the agricultural shows and the days in between are filled with printing, mounting, framing and generally preparing for the shows.

I'm not attending as many shows this year as last, so I should have much more time for drawing (I don't think I managed a new piece for over 6 months last year).

You can see our show set up here. This was Saturday's Honley Show. Being the first of the year, we inevitably forgot a few things, including our banners - hence why there is nothing in these photos to tell the public who we are! This was also the first test of our new marquee, which faired very well. We had a very sturdy marquee last year, but it took around 45 mins to erect. This marquee is almost as sturdy, but goes up in a couple of minutes.

Rottweiler

Here is this weekend's work. It was a 3 day fair this weekend due to the bank holiday, so I managed to get this drawing started and completed whilst at the fair.

I do already have a Rottweiler puppy in my collection, but, as it was one of the first dogs I ever drew, I felt it was in need of replacement. This was such an attractive Rottweiler (called Rocky) that I couldn't resist drawing him.

Size is as usual with my dog drawings at 21x30cm

Jack Russell

Well, this one went so quickly that I didn't get chance to post any stages other than the finished thing. This is this weekend's work, finished off this afternoon.

I already have a Jack Russell in my collection, which was drawn for my first book, but it wasn't a very 'generic' looking Jack Russell, so I have been wanting to draw another one for quite some time now.

Well, here we are! Finished piece approx 20x30cm

Jacobs Complete

After almost a 2-week break from this drawing (I had a lot of printing and mount-cutting to get done), I have finally got around to finishing it.

Final piece approx 28x19cm and around 45 hours

Dobermann complete

A few more hours today and the Dobermann (I know it is spelt 'Doberman' in some countries, but not in the UK) is complete!

Pheasant Study

I had meant to get back to the dogs after the last Hare drawing, but got distracted by some recent Pheasant reference photos. We currently have a family (I assume they are a family) of Pheasants that regularly visit our garden, which makes collecting reference material quite convenient.

This is a relatively quick piece; measuring approx 28x20, it took around 15 hours to complete.

The Hare is complete!

As mentioned in my last post, a long Easter weekend working on this and it is complete.

Finished piece approx 26x36cm

Mules completed

"Mules"

Approx 19x29cm

Castle Bolton Finished

'Castle Bolton'

Approx 18x28cm

Castle Bolton

Here is the top half of my next piece. This is Castle Bolton near Aysgarth (and also near my last drawing at West Burton).

I wanted to draw the castle from a different angle, so thought I would place it in the background of yet another stile drawing. This scene does actually exist, but if you were to stand at this stile, the castle would be much smaller in the distance...the joys of artistic licence!

Cauldron Force - West Burton Complete

"Cauldron Force"

Size 30x20cm

No it's not a dog!!

Here is the top third section of a new drawing. I thought i should take a short break from the dogs and try something a little different.

This is the beginnings of West Burton Falls in the Yorkshire Dales. I live just down the road from here, so have visited it often, but on this day it was really roaring (it was after quite a rain storm) and I thought it would make for an interesting drawing.

Greyhound complete!

Another 6 hours and the Greyhound is complete.

30x21cm

A little bit more Greyhound

Here is today's work. Having put in about 7 hours, I actually thought I may get a little further than this today, but I guess you can't rush a Greyhound!

The head is pretty much complete, with the exception of the mouth which needs more work.

A few more hours tomorrow should see this one finished.

Can't stop drawing dogs!!

I had decided that I would take a break from drawing things of the Canine variety, so here is something different... OK, so it isn't different at all, it's another dog, but I just couldn't resist!

Here we have the beginnings of a Greyhound. We are about 7 hours into this with quite a way to go yet.