Last night was the opening of The Eclectic Exhibition and it was a fantastic evening.

I really enjoyed the evening and the exhibition. There is something for everyone and you still have time to catch it this week. There are a lot of talented artists on the Island and I was delighted to be included.

Taking photos was difficult as it was really busy but we managed a couple of shaky ones.

Are you impressed that I coordinated my dress with my drawing?

Back to work though as there is more to come very soon

The Big Wight Space at the New Rembrandt Gallery is hosting a special exhibition in aid of Earl Mountbatten Hospice on Isle of Wight.  You can find the gallery at 15 Scarrots Lane, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 1JD.

The Eclectic Exhibition will consist of a diverse collection of original artworks from over forty of the Island’s many talented Artists and Sculptors.

The exhibition will run for one week only from Saturday 19th May to Saturday 26th May with a special private viewing on Friday 18th May 5.30pm – 8.30pm.

There will be a special prize draw on the night with two fantastic prizes:  A piece of original artwork by renowned artists Martin Swan RSMA and a framing voucher for £60.00 from the New Rembrandt Gallery.

It would be great to see you there, I will be there on Friday evening as will Kadi who is making his first public appearance.

I am pretty excited

This drawing provided me with a new challenge as the skin of this monkey is not something I have tackled before. I love this little character though and hope you do too.

Fudge is a male javan langur. He has a shiny bright orange coat and wakes up most mornings with a ‘bad hair day’. I know how he feels!

Fudge is one of the residents at the Isle of Wight Owl and Monkey Haven and was definitely my favourite ….. I think

This is the photograph I took..

.. and here is how the drawing has started.

It has been difficult to post progress on this drawing this week as the signal here is pretty awful. I have had a wonderful week taking lots of photographs to draw later though and I am looking forward to sharing them with you.

I have finished this latest drawing though and I am happy to share it with you.

As always, I look forward to hearing what you think.

I thought this drawing was going to progress quickly like the tiger did but, so far, we have had a false start and a slooooooooow start.

The second session has brought better results and I am now starting to enjoy this drawing.

I have also had the excitement of picking up Hamish from the framers

He looks pretty pleased with the result. Me too.

I made a quick visit to the wonderful Owl and Monkey Haven today to take some reference photographs. I am working on exhibition drawings with a local attachment.

Here are three of my favourites which will be added to my drawing list.

Looking forward to drawing these.

I have had two attempts at starting this new portrait but I hope it was worth it.

Meet Chiquita. She is a Jaguar who was the victim of illegal animal trade and rescued from a garage!! She is beautiful, living and playful and I love her. You can see her spirit and I am so glad the wonderful Isle of Wight Zoo saved her.

Here is how the drawing has started.

I am keeping my promise to myself of having my most creative year yet.

I love drawing with coloured pencils. I love that I can take my work anywhere I go. I can curl up on the sofa with my drawing board on my knee, sit in the garden on pack up and go to the beach (not in this weather)

What I don’t love is that they are a very unforgiving medium. If you make a mistake hours and hours of work can be gone in an instant. That nearly happened this time. I got the horns wrong on this portrait. Very wrong. Luckily for me I could rescue him and crop him in close

Phew!

Made some more progress on this drawing.

The challenge with this drawing is to find the character with no eyes to draw you in. The strength in most of my work is on the eyes but what can you do when there are no eyes to be seen?

How about a big, delicious pink nose instead? I hope you can see what a character this great beast is. He was wonderful to see.