A purple fairy...

Started my first fairy painting in oil.... first layer done, so many ideas though of how to finalise the background... time will tell what I decide :-)

I love the way this turned out... makes a lovely gift for little girls ;-)

Black and white oil painting for Mynie de la Rey

I've been asked to do my first black and white oil painting... don't understand why I'm so nervous each and every time I take on new work...

The first layer is done... now just needs to dry before I can move on.

So this was my first black and white portrait and rather more challenging in my mind than a colour portrait!

A3 Pencil sketch for Leana Rudolph Smit

Leana requested I do a sketch of her son... and was very pleased with the final product.
It is so gratifying to have a happy client!

Thanks for again approaching me to do a sketch Leana...

you have a beautiful daughter!

Photoboads for Children's parties

I recently painted a photoboard for my daughter's 3rd birthday... clearly it was a Tinkerbell theme.

I'm considering hiring out boards or selling them should the request arise.

Please contact me for pricing.

Minature portrait of my great grandparents

This tiny painting... roughly 20cm x 15cm is of the MOST amazing people... my great grandparents... both lived to be in their 90's - they had a genuine kindness and modesty and LOVE for each other with such mutual respect and I miss them dearly.

I decided to give my gran a personalised Christmas gift this year by giving her this painting of her parents :-)

Finally, the portrait is complete!!

A4 portrait sketch for Marwyn Sowden

A4 Portrait sketch for Sheila Linde

Portrait of a little redhead... Maronelle Markram

I've been commissioned to do a portrait of a beautiful little girl... there is something magical about this photo... perhaps the cowboy hat... perhaps those beautiful red curls or those pretty little pink lips...

I've done the pre-sketch on A4 paper... and will start the painting this week...

So, I've now begun the painting of this beautiful little girl. I've managed to do the basic sketch and begin on the background... I now need to wait for this layer to dry and then I'm trying a technique which is new to me and I'm going to use masking fluid... it should give the effect of genuine wood... which is the dark colour you see at the moment... so it will still get it's final coat of paint and then I can begin on the rest of the painting... for now I've done part of the base coat to her skin... she is very fair which is a bit of a challenge but can't wait for the final result! :-)

I managed to get some painting done, the background is not quite yet done... the first layer is now done and drying before I can continue but you can get an idea of the pretty little face :-)

... close up shot...

So this is now the difficult part for me! Having enough patience to let the layers dry... otherwise if you apply to many oil layers on top of each other the paint seems to get a mottled effect - weird... but I've seen it!

For now it doesn't look like much has been done, however I've worked on the background and also the flesh tink blending the colours of her milky skin a bit more, I might need to still make it even lighter as she is very fair...

I managed to have the perfect day off at home and was able to get quite far with this lovely little painting...

My daughter keeps on saying this painting is of her - mommy, Chanéll... and the portrait of hers hanging in the lounge has now been demoted to - girl!

So, still got a bit to go... as it is now, nothing is completely finalised but it is really starting to look good ;-)

Finally making some progress and the painting is coming together nicely... just hope the paint is dry enough to continue tonight (holding thumbs)!

The final brushstroke has been made and the portrait of Maronelle Markram is now complete... I'm very chuffed with the end result! (size 40 x 60cm)

A step by step guide through the process of a portrait sketch / painting

As the saying goes... you are never to old to learn.

I've had a wonderful month where I have been learning quite a bit... I've started teaching myself Photoshop... and boy is there still tons to learn.

I've also enrolled in an art class and I've decided to do portrait studies... I've attached a photo of my first sketch... in the weeks that come I will be doing a painting of my daughter... and I can't wait to see my finished result!

Maybe I will become good enough and can do portrait sketches for people as gifts that they can give loved ones...

This is the finished product and size of the portrait... below is the step by step process to complete a painting...

I've now finally finished the portrait sketch and I'm tackling the world of OIL paint! I'm not sure what I'm in for as it takes at least a week to dry each time you touch your brush down onto the canvas but here we go...

I managed to prepare the canvas last night too, so the basic sketch is done and the background is all filled in... so here comes the "hard" part...

So this is now a week later and I've started filling in Chanell's little face... it is going to be more of a process than I thought in order to make her look "real"... I fairly hard on myself and trying really hard to keep the patience.... lol, I'm NOT used to using oils but they blend so much better than acrylics do and seem perfect for a portrait... I've got at least another 3 layers or so of various colours before her final skin tone will take place... but I'm loving every moment and feel so proud of myself when I stand back at the end of a good painting session and feel like I've accomplished something!

So... watch this space as my portrait of my daughter takes shape...

I've now done my next sitting and made some progress... to do a portrait is so time consuming and you need to put so much effort into it and have so much patience! I do however think that in the end it is completely worth it!!!

Last night I attended my 5th art class and by now had really thought the skin tone would be realistic and complete, but we are very complex individuals - and so too is painting skin tone... so I'm one step closer and loving the results... however, I still have a little journey before my first portrait is complete. I also love the process and documenting my journey... it's lovely to see the progress that has been made and makes me feel proud!

I've taken a break from working on her skin tone and started the little dress... this is the first step in the process but everything is really coming together well :-)

So, the finishing touches have now been added to the flesh tint... time to wrap up this painting... next task is to complete her dress... then her lips and eyes and finally her hair! Can't wait to see the complete product!!!

So, I've switched things up a bit and started with her hair and will finish up with her eyes and lips... the hair is only half way there as all the detail must still be painted in but FINALLY the painting is starting to come together... roughly 22 hours of work later but it is well worth the result.

Okay, so the finishing touches to her hair are done... now just for her lips and eyes and my first portrait painting will be complete!!!

I had hoped to finish my portrait last night, however, the eyes are far more intricate to paint that I had thought. So for now I will have to wait it out and finalise my portrait next week... it's terribly exciting!

And finally, after 2 months of hard work my portrait of Chanéll is finally complete.

Feel free to leave your comments.

Should you want to commission an artwork, kindly contact me.

I've done a second sketch of my daughter and hope to do a few more to increase my portfolio... watch this space ;-)

Let me know if you know of anyone interested in purchasing a sketch of a loved one...

New Paintings

I was afforded a lovely opportunity to paint at Spar's AGM. They had delegates from all over the country and many people got to view my new painting as I was busy... rather nerve wrecking as this is something I'm not used to but I managed to survive the day and get 3/4 through the painting... I will put up a pick shortly and then find the time to finish it with a terribly busy 2 year old at home :)

This is the beginning stages of another painting... size is roughly 60 x 45 cm.
It is a wheat field - I will update the photo as I go...

and this is the end result...

I have also just completed a seascape and it is for sale, kindly contact me if you are interested.

Then lastly, I've been commissioned to do the below painting... and I love the variety of the 3 paintings I'm busy with, no time to get bored!!!

I've been showing the lovely lady my progress... Emmie, you are an angel and really make me feel so good about the progress I have made with your painting... thank you so much for pushing me to achieve more than what I thought I could.

.. and this one is finally done!

Sketches for Debra of Tristan & Keira & her cousin

All sketches are done with love and care to capture your precious memories.

I was so chuffed to be asked to do a sketch for a lady by the name of Debbie.

I was so nervous that she wouldn't like it. It took me about 4 hours to complete but the thanks that I received from her made me blush... I'm so glad that she is happy with my drawing and has even said that she would spread the word and help me get more business :-) How awesome is that!

This is Tristan & Keira

Debra requested a second sketch from me... so glad that I'm getting come backs :-)

Tiger Sketch

My latest sketch!

Portrait sketch of Emily van Zyl

My most rescent sketch was done for a friend of mine, Marisa. This is her beautiful daughter!

Portrait for Miriam

Miriam requested a sketch of her grandchildren. She supplied 2 photos and requested that I draw the one child from the one photo and the other child from the other photo.

She was so thankful to receive her sketch and complimented me by saying that I have truly blessed her with a lovely gift.

A sketch of Olivia Anne de Jager

One of my work colleagues and friend Ulinde recently gave birth to a bouncing baby girl... this photo was taken when Olivia was roughly 4 days old...

I loved it so much that I had to draw her. Such a cute chubby face!