At the finale of the musical ride of the Household Cavalry mounted regiment the flags of the United Kingdom are galloped around the arena to the cheers of the crowd. It is a wonderful sight! I took these photographs in 2018 at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and have enjoyed revisiting these images to paint these illustrations. I loved painting the flags and was wondering if I need a Northern Ireland flag as well. Greetings cards are available in my shop.
Little girl in orange. Dressing up box.
An oil painting on Belle arti board 20 x 25cm. The surface is primed cotton. I use Windsor & Newton Artists Oil Colour and am still using the colour selections that we were encouraged to use at Edinburgh College of Art. Lemon yellow, Cadmium yellow, Yellow ochre, Cadmium red, Alizarin crimson, Cerulean blue, Windsor blue, Burnt umber and Titanium white. I still have some of the old tubes which I think had aluminium casings. I even have some old warrior brushes which are filbert but I now prefer square bristled brushes for mark making. The biggest difference in my painting kit now is my palette which is no longer the traditional wooden one with thumb hole. I prefer a stay wet palette box with paper inserts which can be discarded in the bin.
Sisters lending a helping hand
A painting in mixed media which started with watercolour and then acrylics with some colour pencil added in. This was painted on Two Rivers watercolour paper which is thick enough to take some paint and scrubbing and changing. Two Rivers Paper are based in Somerset and all their watercolour paper is handmade and has a lovely texture and the size gives clear colours.
Wild paddling on a summers day Kilbride Bay Beach, Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
A new watercolour of a racehorse in action. To lighten the load on the racehorse, the bridle and saddle for the racehorse are very different from the polo pony. Very streamlined almost minimal and the jocket wears boots which are very light weight compared to the boots and leg protection of the polo player.
Racehorse at the gallop
A little girl taking her chickens for a walk. Pencil drawing on cartridge paper. I used 2B and 3B pencils. This drawing is available on a greetings card in my shop.
Taking my chickens for a walk.
A new set of drawings of children playing on the beach. These are available as children’s art cards which can be framed for a nursery or used as greetings cards.
Windy day on the beach!
Big sister lends a helping hand!
Secret treasures! Beach combers.
A new elephant polo illustration in watercolour and pencil on Fabriano4 paper. I liked adding texture to the elephant’s skin.
Elephant polo in watercolour
Gold State Coach
As a little girl I was entranced by the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II which we watched on a tiny television. I was given a dinky toy of the Gold State Coach with tiny horses and tiny wheels that turned. It was lost long ago but I still wanted to paint this magnificent gilded carriage and got the chance when my daughter took a photograph of it at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne in 2022.
The Gold State Coach built in 1762 has been used by British monarchs for major state occassions and especially coronations at Westminster Abbey since King George III and most recently for the coronation of King Charles III in 2023.
It weighs 4 tons and is drawn by 8 Windsor Gray horses. Visitors can see this iconic gilded carriage at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, London.
Blues and Royals
The Lifeguards and Blues and Royals are mounted on Cavalry blacks. The Lifeguards wear their helmet strap under the bottom lip and the Blues and Royals wear their helmet strap under the chin.
Lifeguard
These are the final 4 bird watercolours for Mystique5 inspired by Tim Flach photography.
Wood Duck
A Mandarin Duck
Golden Pheasant
Himalayan Monal
More bird paintings for Mystique55 inspired by Tim Flach Photography. Find the finished ceramic designs on www.mystique55.com
Blues and Royals trooper on cavalry black.
A recent watercolour and colour pencil painting of a Blues and Royals trooper on duty at Horse Guards. Cavalry blacks are the imposing all-black horses used by the Household Cavalry for ceremonial duties. They are a minimum of 16.2hh in height and can be seen at ‘Changing of the Guard’ at Buckingham Palace and Trooping the colour.
Featherless Chicken from a photograph by Tim Flach. ©
These watercolour paintings were a commission from Mystique55 (Adler and Company Ltd.,) in a collaboration with Tim Flach the celebrated British photographer who specialises in studio imagery of animals which combine fine art, portraits and wildlife photography.
The paintings are watercolour versions of the photographs (© Tim Flach) and they have been combined with striking geometric backgrounds in a range of limited edition luxury fine bone china items.
The pieces can be found on mystique55.com
Because the colour was so important in these paintings I used many layers of intense watercolour to achieve the necessary hue. My series 7, Finest Sable Winsor and Newton watercolour brushes were indispensable for this project as they keep a needle point and hold a huge amount of paint. Unfortunately after 11 paintings the points are no longer pin sharp so will have to be replaced at some point.
I used Fabriano 4 pure white cartridge paper as it stands up to lots of paint and colours appear brilliant.
I lightboxed the basic shapes and feathers and then drew carefully from reference photos. Feathers are difficult to keep track of but I hope I have done then justice. I also ruined a few brushes using Winsor & Newton colourless art masking fluid. Zest masking fluid remover worked fairly well but the brushes are really hors de combat!
The paintings are ©Mystique55 and the photographic reference is ©Tim Flach.
Himalayan Monal from a photograph by ©Tim Flach
Peregrine Falcon from a photograph by ©Tim Flach
I recently did illustrations for a poem written by Vanessa TK.
The lighthouse is at Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin. The illustrations are watercolour and colour pencil on Fabriano 4 cartridge paper.
Illustrations for a poem.
Lighthouse, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
Captain P J Richardson.
I have recently finished this commission of an oil portrait of a Welsh Guard. The crest is that of the Welsh Guards during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
There are 5 Regiments of foot Guards ; Grenadier Guards; Coldstream Guards; Scots Guards; Irish Guards and Welsh Guards. Historically the Guards Regiments protected the sovereign and today they perform public duties, like Changing the Guard, that are a modern extension of their historical role in protecting the sovereign. Changing the Guard takes place 3 times a week at Buckingham Palace.The Guards regiments remain an important part of the British Army’s infantry and they are deployed all over the world.
It is painted on a canvas panel covered in fine cotton and gesso primed.
Dancing with Daffodil the hen.
A drawing in watercolour, pastel and colour and lead pencil of a little girl and her pet hen called Daffodil. Hens love people and come running.
This drawing started with washes of watercolour and then pencil followed by pastel on a dryish surface. I like to draw into the image with colour pencil and more pastel for highlights. The paper was a thick watercolour paper with a NOT surface (not hot pressed so a bit more textured) which I found in an old watercolour sketckbook block.
Mud kitchen and potions!
A new drawing of a child playing and concentrating on a new potion in the mud kitchen. It’s a messy process concocting new potions from petals, leaves mud and sticks - hours of fun.
This is drawn on my favourite 8ogms copy paper for printers with 3B pencil for a fluid line. The paper has no ‘tooth’ so the pencil just glides over the surface.
I sketched this in action and then revised the drawing in the studio. The actions are so fast that I can have 5 or 6 drawings on the go in one sheet and I go from one to another as my little model goes back into position.
In action sketches of mud kitchen.
Dressed up as Flower fairies at an exhibition of illustrations by Cecily M Barker at the Watts Gallery.
