COTD: Teddy Bare!

I wasn't sure whether to call this "Thread Bear" or "Teddy Bare" but went with the latter in the end! :-)

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Teddy Bare! by mike_jory
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POTD: Cervidae Country

Here's another wildlife painting. On a drive along the back roads from Tiverton to Bickleigh (in Devon) I came across this deer roaming wild in a field, I stopped the car and sneaked into the field staying as close to the hedge as possible and managed to grab some reference photos. There turned out to be a group of 5 deer in the end, and it was quite comical watching each one appear from over the brow of the hill and then see them eventually realise I was there at which point they scampered off.

This painting is one of several I've worked on recently with a low width to height ratio (this one is 12" wide and 48" high) and I'm enjoying the challenges of composing scenes within these constraints. Here I've placed the horizon very high in the picture and painted the background landscape in cool pale colours to place it distant from the deer. What you may not have noticed at first glance is the rabbit hiding in plain sight!

Cervidae country by mike_jory
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POTD: Mr. Gorilla and the Gang! part 3 of 3

Here's the final part of the triptych!

This is an acrylic painting of several cartoon animals. Bottom left is a bespectacled tiger doing his crossword, next to him a flower chain wearing tapir. There's a milk shake drinking gorilla and a lion waiting for someone to throw his ball. A skateboarding rhino is being towed by and octopus tentacle and giving a ride to a bird. Meanwhile an pink elephant holds a mirror up for a tiewearing giraffe. That looks like an owl wing reflected in the mirror though...

Here's a pic of all 3 paintings together:



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POTD: Mr. Octopus and Co. (Part 2 of a triptych)

This is an acrylic on canvas painting by Mike Jory featuring several cartoon animals. Bottom right we have a turtle brushing the teeth of a hippo who is also getting a tooth clean from fish. Meanwhile a tentacled jellyfish thing floats by with a bowler hat while a manatee checks out a crab that is cutting out a paper chain of fish. Up above a swan zooms past. back down below is an octopus who is blowing a bubble with his bubble gum...the same gum from Mr. Moose and Friends

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POTD: Mr. Moose and Friends (Part 1 of a Triptych)

This is an acrylic painting of several cartoon animals. Bottom right is a pig balancing and packet of bubble gum on the end of a spoon on his nose. A squirrel watches TV, the aerial lead being connected to the antlers of a moose. Nearby, we have a bear eating a lollipop, while some cows in the background enjoy eating a flower. Finally , an owl sits on his branch, except it's actually the tentacle of an octopus! This picture is 1 of a series of 3. See "Mr. Octopus and Co." and "Mr. Gorilla and the Gang" for more details.

You can also buy this design on a range of merchandise here

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POTD: The Sentinel

This is "The Sentinel", 8" by 24" on edge wrapped canvas, painted with atelier interactive acrylic.

The shape of the hillside is designed to echo the shape of the horse's jaw line and the sky is dark shade of blue (ultramarine mixed with cobalt) to add to the atmosphere, the highlights on the horse are painted more orange than in real life to compliment the blue and enhance the contrast of the image.

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Blast from the past: 'You'd better hang on!'

This image originated as a black and white drawing in the birthday card of a friend who is a climber. That was back in 1995 (I'm guessing!). Then in around 1998 I painted this version, which I came across when looking through my portfolio the other day.
(Looking at very old work is always something of a mixed experience, sometimes you discover things and it's a case of "I don't remember this being this good, cool!" other times it's the opposite "hmmm, this is nowhere near as good as I remember it being" but then you also get some "I don't even remember doing this...but it's alright".)
On the whole, I totally recommend looking back through old work, it's good to see how your technique has changed, and for reminding you of ideas you really should get back to but have neglected.
Anyway, prints are available here or click on the panel below for other products.
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POTD: Tip Toes

Pencil and biro drawing of a Dartmoor horse. Biro doesn't seem to be used all that much in art, at least as far as I know, but I really like the marks and lines the pen can provide. One of my favourite techniques is to use pencil and pencil dust / smudging to define the loose shapes and then use the biro to add some fine detail, but with this sketch I decided to use harder lines in both pencil and biro to describe the form, hopefully giving the image a sense of movement and a feeling of being 'captured quickly'.

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POTD: New Friends

Here's another painting that will feature in my exhibition come 1st June this year. This is based on some cows observed on Dartmoor. It's painted on a 20"x30" box canvas with atelier interactive acrylics, the more I use these paints the more I like them, they are so adaptable and allow easy blending as well as more traditional acrylic techniques. You can buy a print here or see my website here


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POTD: Baby Blue!

A cute horse for the Easter weekend! This picture was initially marked out with some broad sweeps of charcoal, some colour was then added using pastels and finally acrylic glazes were applied to deepen some of the dark areas and bring out the sheen on the foal.


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