Sue Linton Artist

On a happier note..

2012-01-27T12:30:00.002+11:00

We've had 3 lots of ducklings this year.These parents seem pretty laid back so maybe they are the same ones that had some last time? I don't know how many ducks can have in a year.

Sorry its a bit blurry but they were a fair way away.

They have 11 - the same as the last lot we had around.

Rain & Roos

2012-01-26T16:19:00.002+11:00

We've had a really dry January so the rain yesterday was lovely. Good painting and baking weather!

Here's the view from my studio windows.

Three's a crowd!

I just walked past a group of lazing kangaroos and noticed this little one looking lost.She's lost an ear and her mother. She was trying to get into this mum's pouch but she already has a joey and was growling and fending her off.

She won't last long on her own. She isn't big enough to be weaned so she needs mum's milk and being out on her own will make her an easy target for predators.I walked closer hoping I could catch her so the wildlife people could take her and hand raise her but she's too fast .Chasing her would also stress her out and they can die from stress but she's already stressed at not having a nice safe pouch to retreat to when danger threatens.The female hopped off as I came closer and the poor little thing was hopping madly after her and trying to take refuge in her pouch.

Maybe dogs have chased the mum and the joey has fallen out of the pouch .
Natures sad at times.

I've sent the kiss off for approval and here's my latest portrait from the portrait group

2012-01-24T13:01:00.002+11:00

I've emailed the MK2 version of 'The kiss" through to see what Alex thinks.
Here's the latest portrait from the portrait group. It's unfinished as usual. One day I'll have to finish some off as I always get stopped at about the same stage due to lack of time.
We paint from a model for about 2.30hrs and it's where I get to experiment with colour.
untitled

30 x 40cm
unfinished 2.30hrs portrait
Oil on canvas

The group has thrown out the challenge and we're all supposed to do a self portrait that will be hung in a group exhibition in April ( I think). I'd like to do one but I don't know if I'll have time as I have to start on my equine art entry soon and also complete portraits that are booked in.

Zeuss and his mates

2012-01-20T21:06:00.003+11:00

Zeuss my horse, usually lives alone in the paddock (other than c 70 kangaroos). The last few months he's had a herd of cows to hang around with and he's been really laid back and happy.
The feed is getting down so today they were all taken away to the yards down the road where the guy was going to separate one cow + calf to bring back to keep Z happy.
I got Zeuss and groomed him to distract him as they were taken off and so he wouldn't be a bother as they were trying to run them out.
It took him a little while but after I let him go he realised they were gone and ran around bellowing for them. Luckily the truck came back about half an hour later and popped 2 back in with him.
He cantered over to rejoin them tossing his head and whinnying . Unfortunately for the cows who were a bit stressed having lost most of their mates they then had this paranoid horse shadowing them everywhere. He was only making sure they didn't get out of his sight but they thought he was chasing them .He is the boss of the paddock and occasionally does push them around.
The faster they'd run the faster he'd go after them... Things have settled down a bit now but Zeuss is still following them around like a bad smell! lol's

Rays portrait

2012-01-19T11:21:00.001+11:00

Ray
20 x 30cms
Oil on gallery wrap canvas

Here's one from the archives.I was going to post the reference photo but I can't find it..grr

You can also have me paint portraits of people- friends , family members etc.
Some artists can paint dogs ok maybe cats , less can paint a good horse and even less can paint people well-they may do a nice portrait of a horse but the rider just doesn't quite cut it.
Because I regularly practise painting portraits from a person in a live sitting rather than a photo I can provide a more natural portrait than someone who has only painted from photos.
When you are painting from 'life' you can see things a photo can't - photos make everything look very flat & 2D , with no depth.The dark areas of the face are often just drab/ blackish and the light areas pink or white.
When you are painting with a person sitting in front of you your eye can see there are all sorts of subtle colours in those areas. With regular practise and experimentation I can use this experience to liven up my portraits painted from photos so they look more realistic.

Ray had cancer. I painted his portrait from an earlier photo taken with a flash but I used more colour and made him younger and happier.
At his funeral the portrait was placed on the coffin as a nice memory of better times and it now hangs on his wife's wall where she can remember the good times they had.

Plan ahead and take advantage of my monthly interest free payment plan

2012-01-13T11:24:00.004+11:00

Take my payment option to make budgeting a breeze!
Pre order your portrait and you can then make regular interest free monthly payments while your portrait is created for when you need it.
Great for all occasions but particularly portraits as gifts for Christmas , birthdays , special occasions etc.
Email me at
sue.linton@bigpond.com
to discuss your needs.

New portrait option - a line sketch of your pet!

2012-01-13T11:20:00.002+11:00

You can now have a one colour line sketch of your pet created on a gallery wrap canvas ready to hang.(Don't worry other than a small signature my name won't be on it like this - that's just internet copywrite protection).

I can paint them in several colours so you can suggest what you like .The main criteria will be that it needs to be a fairly dark colour or the portrait won't show up - e.g - light yellow isn't suitable although a deeper orange yellow may work.Best colours are probably black, dark blues , purples etc but feel free to suggest a colour and I'll tell you whether it will work.
30 x 40cms size $250
This option may not suit all photos but email me your favourite photo and I can tell you whether it will work!

Rhiannon & Storm

2012-01-13T10:55:00.003+11:00

Here is a larger portrait I am creating at the moment.
The portrait is to be a framed Oil and the image area is 52 x 57cms.It was to be a 50 x 60 but the portrait suited a square shape so that's the equivalent size in that shape.
The reference photo was taken at a distance and I've zoomed in and cropped it.
As a result it isn't very sharp and it isn't a very flattering photo of Rhiannon and her face is in the shade so I'm using a different photo that I took for her face to create the perfect portrait.
I chose this photo even though I had many sharper ones , as Storm is groomed for a show and it has lovely lighting so she is nice and glossy .

Here is a nicer photo of Rhiannon that I took.

This is the early stages of the portrait.I love this stage - what a pity I can't leave it as it is! I will eventually make her jacket black.

More holiday escapades

2012-01-04T10:19:00.002+11:00

At this time of year my car is usually full to the brink with sailboarding equipment - on standby so I don't have to pack the car when I go for a sail.
I was driving down to go sailboarding last week going about 60kms/hr down a twisty backroad and a large spider crawled out from behind the steering wheel.
!@@#@^^%%!!!!!!
I HATE spiders. Luckily I could pull over.I sat for a minute frozen as it moved across the front of the instrument dials and then carefully got out hoping it wouldn't scurry away elsewhere.There was NO WAY I was getting back in if it did.

I found a towel from the back and managed to grab it and throw it out onto the road.
My partner was supposed to be coming down soon after me in his car and a car like his was coming up the road. I wiped my brow and sagged making a mock show of relief only to realise it was a stranger. It probably amused him!
I drove off hoping none of it's mates would crawl up my leg..There is so much 'stuff' in the car heaven knows 'who' else is in there!
I was so lucky it didn't run up my leg in a 100kms zone or I would have been off the road for sure! I wonder how many unexplained accidents are caused by spiders..lol's

Holiday escapades

2011-12-29T10:44:00.001+11:00

Thought I'd post a few tales from over the break.

Kayak-
We went for an early morning kayak on the lake and paddled with 2 dolphins.It was lovely we were with them for about a km and once one surfaced about 10' from my kayak.You could hear them blow air out as they surfaced.
Nearing the end of the paddle there was a small fibre glass runabout half cabin with about 6 big guys in it that came flying along did a really sharp turn and stopped. As it did one of the guys sitting in the back fully clothed did a slow backward flip off the boat and into the lake..
Hee hee...silence.
I think they were all shocked and embarassed as they knew we'd seen them..He got himself together and swam over and got back in to nervous laughter and jokes.I think they'll be a bit more cautious after that. Lucky its summer and the lake is warm.

Roos

I noticed a joey who looked sick hanging around the house.It was just lying around and looked like it had a stomach upset. Once they are on their own like that they are easy pickings for dogs etc.

We rang the wildlife people who came out and picked it up ( clucking and growling) to check it.They then picked the ticks off it and patted it and said it was too far gone.' If we can pick them up they are pretty bad'. They put it in the shade where it was cooler and it died about 2hrs later. Once they get upset stomachs there isn't much they can do for them. It looked about the age to be freshly weaned so the stress of weaning could have set it off.

Sailboarding
When I'm not painting my greatest love is sailboarding.

I don't have many of sailboarding photos so I persuaded my partner to come and take some photos and I went out in a strong wind on Tuesday.

As the wind picks up in strength you need to use a smaller board and sail to keep in control. I used a slightly larger board than appropriate as I can sail it better and I wanted decent photos. It doesn't blow strongly enough ( 25kts +) to get to sail my smaller board much so I've only used it a few times and I knew I wouldn't be able to gybe ( turn ) succesfully on it.

Ugh..I've been hobbling around on painkillers the last few days.

The first run out I tried to jump some waves for the camera and got the sail a little far forward and got whiplashed as I was smashed over the front into the water.. I can jump but just made errors. After that I decided to play it safe after as I was a bit overpowered and on the edge.

If the board is too big for the strong wind and big chop it bounces around, gets uncontrollable and the wind can get under them and pick them up.
Later that day the wind got under mine and threw it , plus me attached by the harness, into a downwind jump. I got smashed onto the deck thigh first. It was so painful I wondered how I was going to start and sail in .The waves were crashing over the top of me as I lay in the water ready to waterstart. (Waterstarting is when you raise the sail up into the air to catch the wind and then it pulls you up onto the board ready to sail away. My board is too small and unstable to try and stand on it and pull the sail out of the water.)

So the end result of the day was 2 whiplash injuries, an injured leg and a strained ankle when the board flipped upside down with my foot was still in the strap .
See below-


When the wind is strong you need to keep your weight in the harness to keep the nose of the board down. As soon as you unhook and take your weight out - as I have here ready to come into land - the board can ' tailwalk' and get uncontrollable. After this shot it flipped upside down with my ankle trapped in the strap.

This was my last run for the day. I'd been out for 2hrs and was tired and also had injuries so it was asking for trouble to keep sailing.

With the ankle I've found out that if you ignore the pain and just keep going sprained ankles often come good and this one did thank goodness.

Grr. It's been blowing for 3 days now although a lot less than the day I was out. That's rare for around here and I can't sail..

I just heard on the radio that there have been several rescues on the lake in the last few days..I wonder how many people in small boats don't check the weather forecast before they head out?

It's been great for sailboarding and sailing.I rarely get injured sailboarding despite going out in strong winds and people who go out in those conditions have sailed for years and know what they are doing.We love it!

Here's some more pics.

As you can see the lake gets quite choppy when it blows ( hence the reference to boaties in small boats and weather forecasts!) It can get bigger than that. I've been out when there have been 4' waves rolling down the lake and you can surf them.Great for us sailboarders..not so good for people in small boats.


Here's a hotshot to show you what can be done in those conditions..It's a real buzz!I have done decent jumps at times but not often lately.I was too overpowered to safely try that day. You can get slammed pretty badly if you are overpowered.

Grr I don't think I'll be doing a lot for the next few days..hurry up and get better leg!
Its now 8 days later and I regret I didn't look after my leg better earlier . I toughed it out and ignored it and only just got some crutches and anti imflammatories yesterday. I'm supposed to keep off it but I'm not really doing that as well as I should. I hope it settles soon.

Post note - It's 10 days later and I'm still hobbling around on crutches but it's gradually improving. Before my injury we have had a pretty average season wind wise - not as much as usual.
I think I must have been a sacrifice to the wind gods as it's blown almost everyday since I got injured!

Bonnie and the puppy

2011-12-25T16:47:00.001+11:00

I created a commissioned portrait of Bonnie for Mel to give as a Xmas gift for her parents. Bonnie was old and arthritic and we made her younger in the portrait.

The family had to make the horrible choice to put Bonnie down a few days before Xmas and Mel took a photo of Bonnie sharing her bed with the new puppy they have.It was a sad situation especially so close to Xmas.
I loved the photo and here is the painting I am creating from it.

This is pretty rough but I'm just getting the placement on the canvas to make sure everything fits ok.I paint this stage with acrylic paint as it dries very quickly and it's easy to alter things.With oil paint you have to wait for it to dry as if you put different colours on top of each other it can make a dirty muddy mess.With acrylic you can put any colour on top as the underlayer dries so quickly and it won't be disturbed.

At each stage I am checking to make sure its getting more accurate.This is where I want to get the general proportions right as its much easier to fix here than if I've spent hours detailing etc and realise their heads are the wrong size!


Rough but not a bad start. Now I'll start to go over the underpainting with Oil paint.I'll have to start with the oil later as I've run out of time today. Continued below - Here I've started top paint over the top in Oil.In the reference photo Bonny is looking down and looks a bit worn out so I've changed the painting so she is looking at you.The two of them have just been caught in the act of snuggling and looked up as you've walked into the room. Unfinished Here I've got the whole canvas covered with the general idea. I had a lot of fun painting this bit. I'll let them dry and come back .From now on I'll have to slow down. I'll do their eyes and nose and correct the colour and general likeness.I like the painterly look so hopefully I can still manage to keep that as I go along.So long as I don't worry too much it should be fine. Next session Here I've done their eyes roughly and painted more of Bonnie. Next session I'll leave Bonnie for a while and concentrate on the puppy and the background.I want the finished painting to be more painterly and unfinished than my usual portraits but capture that cuteness and bond. Below-A few painting sessions later I've done a bit more detailing on both dogs and filled in the canvas with colour generally. The Finished painting. 'Bonnie with the new puppy' 30 x 40cms Oil on gallery wrap canvas Bonnie had to be put down soon after the reference photo was taken so in the painting .I've made Bonny younger and in her prime so that the painting will bring back happier memories. This is what I mean by a gallery wrap canvas.The painting can be hung as is - no need to frame. Obviously the painting will look much better when it is displayed on a wall rather than my grotty easel..lol's You can frame them if you want to.They need a different sort of frame as they are deeper in the side so there aren't quite as many choices . More than enough though!

How to relax kangaroo style

2011-12-22T09:23:00.002+11:00

These guys can give us some tips on relaxing at this time of year..I was watching them yesterday and I think that's why I didn't really feel like doing much..

Slackers..lols'' They don't have a care in the world!


Part of the group


So cute! Good snoozing weather..

'Not my most flattering angle..I didn't know you'd be watching!'

Stuck trying to find a last minute Christmas gift for a mad pet lover?

2011-12-20T07:41:00.001+11:00

I have gift certificates available for Christmas.
Let them choose how they want their pet immortalised in a portrait!

Email me

Country Tide & Alex - The Kiss

2011-12-19T16:45:00.000+11:00

Here's a photo of what I've done so far. To give you an idea of the size the white thing on the left is an A4 piece of paper . The area near his ear isn't accurate but that doesn't matter as I'll correct it later. This is just the underpainting. I want to cover the whole canvas so there is no white.

The photo I have of Country Tide chops off the bottom of his nose and the top of his ears and it is blurry so I can't really see the shape of his ears. I'm using photos I took of a similar horse in a similar position to help but I'll need feedback from Alex to ensure it does look like Country. The reference horse isn't in quite the same position either so I have to ad lib a bit to make sure things look right.

Above - I've just finished the underpainting in this pic.I've started on the oil painting and he is now bay and the portrait is going through the ugly stage. Now I've got to work out how to give it some interest.

I painted my first version from the reference photo. I made up the ear and muzzle as the photo cropped them off and I ended up moving the position of his eyes twice, his ear 3 times and changing the shape of his muzzle. By the end I ran it past Alex and we both agreed it didn't quite get there. I found I was just copying the dull lighting of the reference photo and I couldn't see the positions or shapes of his head as it was so blurry.

I decided to take a big risk and just use the original photo for proportions and positioning .I would use a photo of a similar horse in a slightly different pose in better lighting. I must say this portrait certainly kept me on my toes!

Alex & Country Tide

Oil

Framed size 58 x 89cms

A creek bushwalk

2011-12-18T12:54:00.002+11:00

My partner and I went for a bushwalk yesterday. This walk was a loop walk we'd both done several times years ago with a bushwalking club.The plan was to walk along a disused ( hardly noticable) logging track to the end of the ridge go down into the creek and follow it for a few kms and then back up another ridge and another logging track and back to the car.
We took a map and compass but we were a bit slack navigating as we'd done it before and figured you couldn't really get lost..

It was nice easy walking along the ridge.The only way you'd know it was once a logging track was that there weren't any larger older trees there. Setting off down into the creek we encountered a thick patch of scrub with ' lawyer' vine or 'wait a while vine'. It's called that as it grabs you with its thorns and won't let go.I even got scratches through my long pants and sleeves..My partner wasn't impressed and suggested we turn back but we decided to push on another 15mins to see if it got better. 5 mins later we were out of it and into a lovely little side creek that led into the main one.
I haven't done a trackless walk for quite a while and I love the feeling that hardly anyone has ever been there before - other than the occasional logging stump there was no sign of man , no litter , no weeds and only the sound of the running water and birds.
It was really lovely and peaceful.The creek was about 3-4' wide and the water clear and clean.1st time I've drunk from a creek for a while!Back in the 80's we used to always rely on drinking the water where we bushwalked but these days with more settlement and people it can be a bit risky. There is no human activity anywhere that could pollute this one.
We ambled along taking heaps of photos. I didn't have a tripod so my photos are hand held and not as sharp as they could be ( it's quite dark down there.)

We had a few friendly leeches who wanted to come along on us for a feed but the insect repellent we put on our shoes seemed to keep most of them away.

Looks like a leech had a nice feed and then dropped off..

Walking back out along the ridge I was feeling pretty proud of myself..Cripes..its only taken us 3hrs .This used to be a full day walk I must be fitter than I thought..Then my partner said ' Isn't this the same ridge we walked in on? '. Bummer.. we had hardly gone any distance along the creek and turned up back on the same ridge we entered on..saving about a 5km walk..Next time we'll pay more attention to the map..Oh well at least we were home for lunch .

The creek wasn't very big but the water was clean , it was pretty , peaceful and easy walking.


Surrounding vegetation

The water was beautiful and clear and ok to drink.
The weather here has been pretty average this season 95% overcast and cool (not that I mind that) but this weather is ideal for creek walking as it's not too hot and the lighting is great for photos.If you get sunshine it is too contrasty for the camera to cope with. Creeks never photograph as well as they are in the flesh ( like most things I suppose).One day I'll have to work out how to get my easel to one so I can paint..and work out how to avoid the leeches if I stand in one spot for too long..lol's

From the archives - Winston & Rebel

2011-12-15T16:05:00.000+11:00

I took lots of reference photos and we selected the best photo of Winston & the best of Rebel and put them together to come up with the ideal portrait.The portrait was a surprise Xmas gift for Linda's husband.He was overcome and couldn't stop showing everyone his boys!
The painting looks stunning hung on the wall in the house entry where everyone can enjoy them.
Rebel ( rear dog) has since got a chronic condition so it's good that Linda has him captured in the portrait when he was happier and healthier.

Winston & Rebel
50 x 60cms image size
Framed Oil

Here they are framed.This gives you an idea of how big a 50 x 60cms image sized portrait is framed although these days they would probably be a bit bigger as I use wider framing.

A day at the races..

2011-12-11T10:25:00.001+11:00

I am going to enter the Inglis Equine art prize again although this time I will allow myself enough time to do a decent painting. The theme is a day at the races so I organised to go and take some photos at the local track.

I had a good day at the races yesterday although a bit different to most of the other visitors. Thanks to Alex and Alan I got ferried up to the starting barrier for each race and got to take photo of the horses preparing , going in and leaping out.

There were 5 of us in the car so it was a bit chummy in the back seat.Graeme one of the guys who's job it was to put the horses in said I must have liked them to keep squishing into the car..I said I was stalking him..
As we were going back to the buildings after the race had started there were horses cantering up and everyone was amused when I asked ' Is that the next race?' Dur.. it was the same race finishing..Didn't fall for that one again..

The weather was favourable it didn't rain and we even got a bit of sun occasionally.I really need a better camera as the ones I took weren't as sharp as I'd like but there are some good ones that should do for a painting.The problem will be selecting only one as I don't have time to do more.

The photo is Alex in action. Alex is having me create a portrait of herself with Country Tide her favourite horse who sadly passed away earlier in the year.

My first newsletter

2011-12-08T15:41:00.001+11:00

The December Newsletter is almost ready to be sent out so if you would like to receive one click on the join up button to the top LHS of this blog and register your details.

Palettes & Kero

2011-12-06T12:35:00.001+11:00

I lay out my oil paints on a white rectangular laminex 'plate' called a palette.( See photo).
I mix my colours in the centre. Every portrait ends up with different variations of colours mixed and to simplify things so I don't have to throw away paint and remix colours every day I cover each in gladwrap and freeze them. The paint stays good for weeks that way.
I have all 3 palettes used at the moment - one left over from the portrait group , one from my last demo and one from my last portrait so I had to clean them all down to get a clean one to start Country Tide. I have to brush kerosene on them and leave it for a while to soften any dried paint and then I scrape it off and clean the palettes with a rag.
I was feeling a bit whoozy and realised the kero was getting to me as I needed to open the door to get airflow..ugh..
All done so now I can put out my Oils to start.