Calves. Happy calves.

So, challenged to paint something a bit less depressing, you can't get much happier than a calf sticking its tongue out, can you? I could get used to painting with block colour and a limited palette - this one only took a few hours from start to finish.

Old man - work in progress 1&2

And this is it again about half finished. Taking shape, but veering towards the dark and threatening again, as ever!

Photo taken when I'd just started this one - had to plan it out to get the perspective right as it's a much bigger canvas than I usually paint on. Liking it so far.

Experimental faces...

Something of an experiment this one - trying for three different faces in one painting, but not sure it worked. Learned a few new techniques while doing it though, so not a complete waste of time.

Russians and Chechnyans - acrylic on canvas - work in progress (March 2012)

Poppy the English Setter. Acrylic on canvas, December 2011

I thought I'd make my first post the painting I did for my parents' Christmas present in December 2011. It's their young English Setter, Poppy, painted in acrylic on canvas.

It's the first time I've tried drawing a dog, rather than a human and it took ages - none of the usual perspective rules seem to work when you're painting a dog's muzzle!

I showed it to the dog and she was suitably unimpressed.