“Stay Blessed!” Still Life, working in series and Fish meets Cat

It’s been several weeks since my last post during which time I’ve been lucky to have had quite a lot of people come to pose, it’s always great to have someone who is patient and interested enough to come and sit still, sometimes for hours on end, so a big thank you to everyone who has come to sit recently, I really appreciate it! Here are some of the drawings since my last post:

     

For anyone who was wondering why it was so long between new posts here on WordPress it’s because I tend to wait until I have a group of new works before adding them to my blog. If you’d like more frequent updates I upload images as I do them to my Twitter and Facebook pages:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Simon-Tolhurst/16537193567

Twitter: @simontolhurst

A number of recent pencil portraits have become a series, I don’t always plan a series of pieces, instead the repetition of scale, media and subject means the individual pieces relate to one another in a way that holds them together as a group. My drawings of some of my recent sitters together with Rembrandt (my fish) have become one such case. I posted a couple of them in my last post but here is the complete set, click on any of them for full size:

            

They’re all pencil on paper, 24 x 33cm with the exception of Camilla (30 x 40cm). I wanted to include Rembrandt as he always helps to entertain my visitors and because he’s a bit of a challenge, being one of the worst models for staying still that I’ve ever tried to draw!

My latest still life is also finished, this has taken quite a while as I got more and more into the details but it’s been nice to work on when I haven’t had someone to pose. I’m undecided on it’s title, initially calling it “Still Life with Angel” which seems a little dry but after a comment on my facebook page I’m thinking maybe of calling it “Stay Blessed!”

Here is the finished picture:

A special mention to Anita Klein, the artist whose card I was sent by a friend and which I’ve included in the composition, here’s a link to her website too:

http://www.anitaklein.com/

I would also mention Manet and Modigliani but they didn’t say hello on Twitter earlier!

… and finally, it’s not just people that I’ve had the chance to draw recently, the fox in my garden (see earlier photos) and a neighbourhood cat have been obliging enough to visit and not run away whilst I got my sketchbook! Here are the best drawing of each and some photos of the cat meeting Rembrandt!