June Showers

Last week saw typical April weather… except it’s June… blistering sunshine on the Saturday, heavy rain on the Sunday. Blue didn’t care that much, he still wanted his walk. The sun made a break through the clouds and I caught this shot on my mobile.

Springwatch

Well, it’s been a while since I last posted and as Blue is loving Spring, I thought I’d better post a few pis of what he’s been up to. The above shot shows him cooling down in the cool grass with his (hidden) tennis ball. He’s pretty good off the lead now. A good chuck of the walks are off the lead. He’s been making more doggy friends this way and loves to run off the lead with them. Plus it really knackers him out.

He likes to leg it into the bean crops with his tennis ball… he knows I can’t catch him. The crops have grown quite quickly, since this shot was taken, the beans have shot skyward – in some fields they hide him completely now. The only way to know where he is is to follow the crops that are moving.

More chillin’ in the cool grass

Making Friends

As the snow makes a return, Blue loves to get his nose buried into it and enjoys a game of catch the snowball.

He bumped into a recent new friend –  a big ol’ Lab called Leo, about five times his size. Whilst they were messing around a couple of other dogs showed up. Blue was in dog play heaven. He took a particular shine to a beautiful 5 month old blue merle collie called Tiger on account of his markings.

Tigerfire II

Tigerfire II – Bengal Tiger, Watercolour. Size A1. (Zoomed in & cropped)

I mentioned before that I got into painting tigers by seeing a print by Simon Combes and decided to try to copy it in watercolour. This oil painting by Combes was called Indian Summer. There is a picture of it below. Copying an oil by using watercolour is no mean feat, especially as I only had a tiny picture of it in a leaflet from the local gallery. Anyway, the above photo is of my effort. It’s been slightly cropped as it is a photograph of the painting in a frame and the glass reflections were causing problems.

Why ‘Tigerfire II’? – my parents used to have this huge tiger oil painting in the dining room when I was a kid, I’m sure it was called Tigerfire, so I named it after that.

Simon Combes original oil painting ‘Indian Summer’

Autumn Mist

Autumn Mist – Bengal Tiger, Watercolour. Size A1.

I thought it was about time I sorted out getting some of my artwork on here. Being as it’s the Chinese year of the tiger, I thought I’d kick off with this…
This is one of a series of Bengal tigers created in watercolour. Size A1.  This one is called ‘Autumn Mist’. I used a book that I was bought on Bengal tigers for the composition of the paintings.

I got into painting tigers when I saw this beautiful limited edition print of a tiger oil painting in a local gallery leaflet,  I couldn’t afford it (it was by a well known wildlife artist – Simon Combes), so I took the leaflet and set about copying it – that’s how I got into painting these beautiful animals.

Arctic Man… & Dog

A few days ago I was watching the BBC’s Arctic Man documentary on the legendary Alaskan race and this cool looking dog made an appearance.

Tree

January and February can be gloomy, miserable months. It’s like the saturation & contrast has been knocked down on everything. Gladly, the low sun occasionally makes an appearance and you are reminded of what the Spring and Summer will bring.

Not snowed in

With the UK blanketed in snow, the media are really going to town with the downbeat reporting of ‘Arctic UK’. Personally, I’ve found the main roads salted and clear with no real problem. I’ve driven 250 miles this week with no issues.

Blue’s loving it, maybe it’s his Tibetan Terrier genes, but he had a great time today.

Mayrhofen, Austria

G strapping up his bindings at the top of another empty slope. Nearing the end of a bluebird day, the wind picks up and the dry powder flows up n’ over the slope.

Shot taken 20th Dec 2009.

Taming of the Blue

I’ve finally managed to tire out Blue by running with him off the lead. He carves out large arcs at breakneck speed in figure of 8’s around me, followed by a extended game of chase the tennis ball, crashing through hedges, ending with (if there are any other dogs around) an explosive run-jump-play fight with a random fellow local dog. He loves it and is getting used to running off the lead. He’s crashed out next to me, where he’ll stay like that for several peaceful hours.