Welcome to my Blog

I'm a professional award winning Portrait artist from NSW Australia.

Not just a likeness- portraits with Life!
I bring your photos to life in paintings that will touch your heart!

A photo freezes a moment while a painting melts hearts.

Capture a moment in their life and
keep it alive in an Heirloom Portrait !

"Your portraits capture more life than a photo ever could!"
Vanessa.



Satisfaction Guarantee .

Have me create a special portrait just for you!.
Supply the photos and then plan the great unveiling!


I have original animal and landscape artworks available for sale on my website.

Learn more at my website-


https://www.suelinton.com.au/wordpress/




Friday, June 29, 2012

Framed ' Pre Race Banter'

Not the most flattering photo of me or the painting but it does show the size.lol's
 Pre Race Banter
Oil
76 x 81 cms framed size

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Callum - this weeks practise portrait


Callum
30 x 40cm image size unframed Oil on Canvas
Here's today's practise 2.30hr portrait from a model. I really enjoyed painting Callum and he made it easy by posing well and not moving.

I found painting his long hair and headgear great fun!

I feel that even unfinished this portrait captures something indefinable..

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Dog Funkhana at the dog cafe Gosford last Sunday

The dog fun khana on Sunday was good.
Dog Fun Khana
It rained on & off but we had a good turnout and plenty of dogs for the races and games. It was very entertaining and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
I wanted to get some action photos of them racing but my camera battery decided to die just as I set up. Bummer..
I was busy socialising so I was late starting to do my dog sketches. I only ended up doing one but it was of 3 dogs! which was challenging and ended up taking me 40 mins odd. Everyone had gone by the time I finished.



Due to lack of time I usually  use my camera to get the proportions of the dog and then finish off the sketched portrait from the live dog. This sketch I did mainly from the camera as with 3 dogs you need to plan where to place each one on the paper etc and I knew it would take me longer than normal. I did finish off at the end with each dog.


It was fairly dark where I was sketching so some of the photos of the sketch didn't turn out. here I have positioned each dog and in a lighter colour roughed them in.
Here I have shaded the darker areas a bit in a slightly darker pastel.It's not very obvious in the photo but I have done it! lol's
 Usually my sketches stay in sepia but the dogs were black so I decided to make them a bit darker. I didn't make them a black blob as I wanted some life in the sketch. The ' finished' sketch is below.
I'm going to frame it for Cindy and deliver it to Sharlene.

Cindy's dogs
Holly , Heather & Hanna
Considering the time it took at 15mins per dog I think it turned out pretty well.
My full portraits take several weeks per dog so are obviously more realistic and accurate!

  
I finally got around to framing Cindy's quick sketch from the dogfunkhana.

Below
 
I decided I wanted to finish off Cindy's sketch a bit more so here is the latest version. I've put it back in the frame and it looks great! I'll deliver it to her tomorrow.




 


Holly, Heather and Hannah
quick pastel sketch
30 x 40cms image size

 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Artscrawl 2012 -June Long weekend



Here are some hotos from the weekend.
I had a display inside on both days and did a demo painting on the verandah for people to watch on the Saturday. I didn't get as much done on the demo as usual as I was talking to people a lot but I enjoyed meeting everyone. 
When I first setup my display I realised I had mainly horse paintings .That is only because I have been doing displays at horse events so have more samples. Many of  my recent dog portraits have been commissions and gone out to the client.
 I thought 'I hope some horsey people come!".
 Did they ever? Everyone came out of the woodwork and it was great to meet them all. 

Here is the full display - see there were some doggy portraits! lol's

This is the demo painting I started of Rusty. There is a long way to go to finish him. I'll get back to him after I've done my equine entry.


 I paint in a different order when I'm doing a demo. You are supposed to start of doing all the darker bits and then the middletones and then the lightest and the finishing touches. If I did that the portrait would look really drab and boring and send people to sleep so I cheated and started on his eyes and mouth first.
The paper is a dark blue colour which I want have showing through in places in the finished portrait so I am going slowly so I don't cover it all up. In retrospect it wasn't the best choice for a demo as it takes forever to look decent. Oh well you live and learn!

I'm gradually adding colour. He will get lighter and more orange as I get closer to finishing him.Note I've cheated and made his eyes really vibrant to give people something to look at.They look a bit over the top at the moment but that's just because the rest of the portrait has to get a lot lighter.


This is what I got done on the day. I was painting in bright light on the verandah and when I got him home I realised he looked dark and drab compared to how he had looked on the verandah.
I have to make him a lot brighter. 
The type of light you paint under has a really big effect on the end result.If you are painting a landscape with your easel set up outside you need to have the painting in the shade as you are painting.If you have it in bright sunlight it will look good out there but really drab once you get it inside.
To be continued!
 Here are some more photos of the day. The Artscrawl is on every year on the June Long Weekend so put it in your calendar for next year! 
Me demonstrating on the verandah. Lovely views from there! I have sat and painted those views years ago.
Louise Dews with her hand crafted jewellery.
Opening night
There was screen printed clothing and pillows , blown glass , paintings , fancy handmade scarves , and many more interesting gifts.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

I've revamped my older sample painting ' Power & grace"

I didn't realise but it's been 2 years since I painted this one! I decided I could improve on the old version.
In the earlier version I had deliberately not made the background too dark as I didn't want it really dark when the painting was hung indoors. I decided it's usually viewed in bright light so I'd darken the background for more impact. In the photo above I've just started to darken it around the front of the horse.After I changed the background I subtly altered the rest of the painting for more impact and to suit the background.
 Here it is  completed.


Above -  Not a great photo.It does show the frame and size.
Power and Grace
59 x 59cms 
Framed Oil
Detail

Monday, June 4, 2012

Print this voucher & see me at the art bazaar this weekend for a discount!



Print this voucher and present it to me at the Art Bazaar this weekend for a 10% discount off any portraits booked on the weekend or 10% off one of my existing artworks ( either at the exhibition or on my website).
To qualify for the original work off my website discount a deposit must be paid on the weekend.
You don't need to print the voucher in colour .A quick B & W will suffice.
Hope to see you there!

I will be at an art bazaar this long weekend. So come along and say hello!


I will be at the opening Friday night and then demonstrating / painting a portrait for people to watch all day Saturday.
  Note the art Bazaar is only on Friday & Saturday!