H.K.Hollinstone Studio

New addition, this time a real one!

2012-01-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

Friday I went to a local garden centre where they had a pet section, for sale were rabbits nine weeks old and litter trained (they are house rabbits). I'd been told about them and immediately wanted to go and see - I was just going to see them but I ended up bringing one home with me!! It was impossible for me to resist!

So here she is, I named her Anouska which is a Russian name and means "Gracious" - I didn't choose the name because of what it meant, I just liked the sound of it. We'll have to see whether she's gracious or not;)

So while my mum held her I took a few photos:

New additions

2012-01-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

These three Schleich arrived this morning

The Jaguar which I've been umming and ahing over, I'm so glad I got him now:)

And I bought these very cheaply, they're the versions before the ones we have now.

Not great models, but they make my zebra herd larger and will look good in outside photos.

Anancus 1:30 scale

2012-01-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

One of my last figurines for 2011, a Anancus prehistoric elephant in 1:30 scale. This was my first prehistoric animal, he was really fun to make, I especially enjoyed doing the skin detail.

This chap arrived at his new home in Germany yesterday.

Gifts from Friends

2012-01-01T03:56:00.000-08:00

Some friends of mine kindly gave me these wonderful figurines

The first is the Safari ltd Phoenix Cockerel (Rooster), which I've been hunting for ages for, but couldn't find one here in England. Then a friend said he was going to America and asked whether there was anything I'd like, so here it is and it's even more gorgeous in real life than in photos.

Then I had a surprise package from a DTF friend, with this beautiful Japanese crested Ibis inside! It's made by Kaiyodo.

AND this wonderful Safari black bear came from another wonderful friend, I'd been looking for her to go with the cub I already had

Schleich 2012 arrivals and some others...

2012-01-01T03:47:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update on my collection.

The last additions for 2011 came in yesterday morning, I managed to get some 2012 Schleich before the new year, amazingly.

First up are the birds - other than the lovely snowy owl, I'm not 100% pleased with them all.

The Pelican is nice, but nothing new in it's pose, the same pose with the fish as all the other brands.

The Stock, the quality of the plastic isn't as nice as the usual Scheich figurines, it's very light.

The Peregrine Falcon I have to say was a big disappointment, the paintwork isn't nice in my opinion. I think I'll try and repaint this guy.

Now for the sheep and goat

These are lovely sheep, although they have glittery coats, like the schleich Arctic fox had.

With all the Schleich sheep for comparison

Pygmy goat, very cute and with the old version...

I also got some extras with this order, a couple of Papo

Chamois

and Wild Boar

Latest figurines

2011-12-29T01:55:00.000-08:00

Some new figurines which I made for a friend who creates beautiful dioramas.

The first is a female Sloth bear and her cub...

...and a male Gharial crocodile, half protruding from water - both figurines were made in 1:22 scale.

A few new arrivals

2011-12-13T06:55:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to concentrate on enlarging my bird collection - CollectA make some wonderful figurines which, with the help of a friend as they are hard to get hold of in England, I was able to add a couple to my small selection.

These included the Spoonbill and Barn Owl

I bought another owl the other week, a Great Grey owl made by Bullyland, I slightly customised this figurine to look more like the catalogue photo.

This owl is the one pictured in the photo of the month.

And finally another owl that I've been wanting for a while, I saw it on the STS forum and instantly fell in love with it. In a trade I was able to get this wonderful bird, it's made by 4D Master and I believe it is an Eagle Owl.

It comes with a base which has a tiny chipmunk on it!

Kaiyodo BONGO

2011-11-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

A wish came true when a friend emailed me and said he had a Kaiyodo figurine that he thought I'd like.

The Bongo Antelope, I still can't believe I have him!

Impala Trio

2011-10-31T02:36:00.000-07:00

Gemsbok: First Painted Casting

2011-10-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

Jeremias

2011-10-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

A good friend from Schleichtiersammler asked me to make a gift for another member, knowing how she loves Donkeys:) The donkey lives on a farm in Portugal and is named Jeremias.

Staffordshire Bull Terrier

2011-10-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

I had photos of the owner's dog, which weren't exceptionally good but I hope they are pleased with what I could make from them.

My photos aren't that great either, it's incredibly hard photographing a black figurine!

First two castings!!

2011-10-07T02:32:00.000-07:00

I'm having a company make mould and castings from my Gemsbok Antelope, yesterday two copies were dropped off and they are fabulous!

Here are some photos, because they are white it's hard to see the detail, but the detail is there.

Northern Lapwing

2011-09-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

A commission for an anniversary

Boer Goats

2011-09-21T03:46:00.000-07:00

Boer Goats

Just need the kid now, I got these so cheap on ebay, brand new - someone put them up for buy it now, just a couple of pounds each! I hope I can get the kid for as good a price.

Recent Repaints

2011-09-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

First of all, a friend from the forum (schleichtiersammler) noted the ears of my Bengal tiger were too white, so I changed them and they do look better.

Secondly, another friend from the forum sent me a Schleich Wisent to repaint, it was in poor condition.

I felt bad repainting it, as I know how rare these figurines are - but it was in bad shape.

Before you start thinking "he's a bit dark isn't he?" I based the colours on this image below:

I just loved the richness in his coat, which looks almost purple and the rusty red on his shoulders.

Tiger

2011-09-09T01:09:00.000-07:00

Tiger, is my cat - she's ten in 6 days time, which is my birthday as well. She's a house cat and rarely goes outside. Her mother was a feral cat, who was just a kitten when we moved here and gradually became tame. In her lifetime she had four litters, the first one Tiger was in.

The following photos are of Tiger in her ecstasy, she loves the sun.

This one (above) is my favourite

Hooded Crane

2011-09-06T00:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we had a down pour of rain and one of the drains at the side of the house over-flowed. Afterwards I went out to check everything was OK, and had an idea when I saw the water in the grass:

I had to be quick as the water was already soaking into the ground.

Three new Kaiyodo

2011-09-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

In a trade with a forum member I received three Kaiyodo.

'Animaltales' Common Kestrel pair and 'Natural Monuments of Japan' Hooded Crane

1:22 White-tailed Gnu

2011-09-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

Gemsbok/Oryx

2011-08-28T00:53:00.000-07:00

Because the sun was out yesterday, I took some more photos of the Gemsbok

Previous photos have been a little dark and you couldn't see the detail very well.

I have a friend who lives near me and she has recommended a mould and casting company, who makes moulds from her figurines. So I've emailed them and I am waiting for a quote.

I will (hopefully depending on the costs) have a limited number of copies made.

Schleich Mountain Goat

2011-08-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a few retired Schleich recently, all of which I managed to get at bargain prices or in trades with friends.

This Schleich Mountain goat I won on eBay the other week - in great condition:

I already had the Safari one, which is an identical mould, the Schleich one has finer detail and stands flat on it's hooves. But I love them both.

Latest Additions

2011-08-25T02:43:00.000-07:00

This one is retired and I noticed a lot of sites were out of stock and of course they'll never get them back again, so I thought he'll be hard to get soon and bought one.

Three cute hedgehogs, which were a gift - I'll have to get the adult to go with them

And a comparison with the Bullyland Ibex

Gaur from Poland

2011-08-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

This morning I received the stunning Gaur Bull, made by Anna Dobrowolska-Oczko

With the Common Eland Bull and Bongo also by Anna

My Entire Collection

2011-08-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

Following a recent topic of Schleichtiersammler forum - I decided I'd post pictures of my display cabinets.

So starting from the top of the cabinet:

Wildlife

Domestic animal display cabinet:

That's it!

New Bullyland

2011-08-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

Most of the time I just add my new additions to my collection pages on the right, but then people don't know they're there unless the look regularly.

So I'll share new figurines I get here as well :)

So this week I received six Bullyland animals, some of which are quite rare!

First up is the Chamois. There's also another colour variation in the model, but this dark version is the rarer of the two. I just love him, he may not be as realistic as the new Papo Chamois, but I think he's gorgeous.

Then two Mufflon Sheep, I'd never seen before and it turns out the white one is very rare. These are quite small, you'll see a comparison picture in a moment.

A cute cock Pheasant, all of these animals are made in Germany.

And finally two adorable Guinea Pigs, I have a soft spot for these critters. There are a few more from Bullyland to collect, it seems they're hard to get hold of though.

All together, the seller kindly popped a gift into the package, a Golden Retriever!

Schleich Musk Ox

2011-08-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting this guy for ages and finally won him on eBay last week.

In the picture on the listing he looked in poor condition, but when he arrived he was almost perfect just a couple of rubs on the horns.

2011-08-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

I thought these thistle like flowers were rather neat, you can see them in stages as the flowers begin to come.

The actual flowers are so luminous they remind me of something from 'Avatar'

I don't know their proper name, but they look like they're related to the thistle, these are domestic.

Tiger

2011-08-14T05:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quick Bengal tiger I did this morning

It's my take on a German book's cover illustration - mine is a lot more simplified and I added the sketchy jungle background. The book illustration has his mouth open.

Favourite Animals

2011-08-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a painting I did recently of my favourite mammals and birds.

From left the right:

Okapi, Green Woodpecker, Bongo, Japanese Crane, Red Panda, Knobbed Hornbill, Bengal Tiger, Goldfinch and Moon Bear

There are so many beautiful creatures out there to choose from, it's almost impossible to decide - so these are just a few of my absolute favourites.

Rhode Island Red Chick

2011-08-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

One of my hens was broody and only sitting on one egg, fortunately it hatched! Here are a few pictures, these first three are the chick a couple of days old:

and below are to date:

Puma

2011-08-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night I did a quick picture with dry water colour pencils:

Puma/Mountain Lion

It's from a book that I recently bought, the painting looks to be done in watercolour. My take is small and was a "get well" card for someone.

Shoebill

2011-08-04T02:24:00.000-07:00

Female Shoebill in 1:10 scale - a commission piece. She stands about 5"/12cm tall.

More pics of the Eurasian Hoopoe

2011-07-22T03:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some better pictures of the Hoopoe I recently made for someone.

With my other clay birds, which are made from a different material

Lesser Indian Civets or Rasse

2011-07-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

A pair (male standing ~ female lying down) of Rasse or Lesser Indian Civets

Made from clay by myself

Hoopoe

2011-07-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Eurasian Hoopoe a recent commission I did

Morning Ride

2011-07-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

Safari Ltd Okapi repaint

2011-06-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

Before

After

With the Papo Okapi

Safari Ltd repainted Zebu/Brahma Bull

2011-06-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

I decided to repaint my Safari Brahma bull

Before:

After

If you would like a figurine repainted email me here:

hkhollinstone@hotmail.co.uk

and please put a detailed description in the email heading so I know it's not scam, thanks.

In the Rockies

2011-06-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

Safari ltd repainted Puma

2011-06-24T02:44:00.000-07:00

Recently I acquired the Safari ltd Puma, it's a really nice figurine, only the painting isn't fantastic - I bought it to repaint anyway. So her she is before:

After

Tiger Customisation

2011-06-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

I bought a job lot of tigers off eBay, the one I was after was the Safari wildlife wonders tiger, but the others were just cheap things, which I was going to give to my nephew. But on seeing one I had an idea and decided to mess around with it.

So here are a few pictures of what the model looked like before the operation;o)

I hated it's jaw so off it goes:

I put a new mouth on as you can see and added clay here and there

Then I repainted him into a Bengal:

With the Papo for size comparison

Gemsbok female antelope

2011-06-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this Gemsbok for a few weeks now, with the fantastic help from a few friends, who I can't thank enough for all their time in reviewing the figurine.

So here she is:

Woodland

2011-06-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Three more Papo!

2011-06-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

I received a box this morning with three gorgeous models inside - Papo Simmental Cow, Marmot and Black Bear:

Simmental Cow

Marmot

Black Bear

Three new Papo Figurines

2011-06-10T03:44:00.000-07:00

This morning I recieved three 2011 Papo - I'd pre ordered them at the beginning of the year and they've only just come!

So first the Wild Yak:

The sculpting is beautiful on this figurine and the painting is great too - the only thing that looks odd is the paintwork on the horns.

The sculpting reminds me of the old Lineol Yak which you can see here

http://gallery.me.com/kikimalou#101252/Yak-1&bgcolor=dkgrey

I love his face, the expression is wonderful.

For comparison the Schleich domestic Yak. They are the same scale, which is nice, they'd look great in a diorama.

Now the Bactrian Camel:

This model is amazing, SO detailed, just look at that face, he's a camel all over and looks like he could come alive any minute.

I'm very pleased with him!

And with the Schleich for scale, the Papo is quite a bit bigger.

Simmental Bull:

I'm very fond of cattle in general, so I couldn't resist this Bull and I'm so glad I did get him, he's gorgeous.

Schleich are known for their farm life, but soon I think Papo will have the best cattle on the market. The sculpting of this bull is so much more realistic then the Schleich Simmental. But of course I still love both models:o)

New Addition to the Family

2011-06-04T03:09:00.000-07:00

My Grandad who lives in the south of England, rescued a Mallard duckling. He raised it indoors, but the duck was getting too big and messy for him to look after, she needed a new home. Of course I had to have her;o) So she's come to live with my ducks in Cumbria:

Hunting

2011-06-01T02:29:00.000-07:00

A Package from Poland

2011-05-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

I received a package from Poland last Thursday - it contained a box with a beautiful picture on the front:

Inside this "treasure chest" was the most beautiful Common Eland Bull figurine ever made:

Anna Dobrowolska the talented creator of this Eland bull, let me have one unpainted.

So I'm really looking forward to painting this model.

In the Forest

2011-05-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

Voting Poll

2011-05-05T04:04:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all the people who voted, the winner is Gemsbok!

Stegosaurus

2011-05-05T04:03:00.000-07:00

Lappet-faced Vulture

2011-05-03T13:28:00.001-07:00

News

2011-04-29T00:58:00.000-07:00

As you can see I have put up another voting poll.

I will be making another Giant Sable antelope bull, but this time I will hopefully be making some moulds from it. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
Also, as I mentioned before, I have made the Lappet-faced Vulture. It's not yet painted and I need to figure out how to make some legs for him!

Giant Sable antelope, male

2011-04-25T03:41:00.000-07:00

So here he is:

Giant Sable antelope, female

2011-04-20T03:18:00.000-07:00

I've made a male to go with her, but he has yet to be painted, so here's the female for now:

In the Asian Forests

2011-04-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

Update

2011-04-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, I have finished making the Giant Sable Antelope and the Lappet-faced Vulture - all I need to do is paint them.

Bengal Tigers

2011-04-09T01:55:00.000-07:00

Black-faced Spoonbill

2011-04-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

KAIYODO Spoonbill

2011-04-06T04:01:00.000-07:00

This is my first Kaiyodo figurine, Spoonbill

I bought it off eBay and it's the first time I've ever seen them for sale there, I would really like to collect some more from the bird series

With the Schleich female black rhino for scale

Voting Poll Update

2011-04-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all the people who voted! Winners are Giant Sable Antelope and Lappet-faced Vulture. Keep an eye out for them :o)

The Toucan

2011-03-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Knobbed Hornbill and Brown Lemur

2011-03-26T03:21:00.000-07:00

And with the Red-Breasted Toucan

If anyone is interested in either of them they are both available, please contact me here hkhollinstone@hotmail.co.uk

Sculptures in the Wild

2011-03-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

This Poll's Winners

2011-03-14T06:58:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all who voted - winners are Brown Lemur and Knobbed Hornbill

Birds and Flowers in my Garden

2011-03-07T01:47:00.000-08:00

Blue Tit

Blue Tit and Coal Tit

Dunnock...

Robin...

Snowdrops...

Mini Iris

Mini Daffodils...

Royal Antelope

2011-03-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Here he is a Royal Antelope male adult

And for scale

Voting Polls

2011-03-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the votes! Royal Antelope is the winner.

Female Fennec

2011-02-28T02:21:00.000-08:00

Fennec and Red-Breasted Toucan

2011-02-25T05:05:00.000-08:00

Here they are!

Voting Polls

2011-02-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who voted on the polls! I will look forward to making the Fennec Fox and Red-Breasted Toucan.

The Caribou

2011-02-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

The Caribou (also more commonly known as Reindeer) in North America is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic. While being overall widespread and numerous some of it's subspecies are rare and some completely extinct.

The Caribou varies quite a bit in colour and size, both male and female have antlers, though these tend to be larger on males and there are a few populations where the females don't have them at all.

As mentioned already the colour of their coats vary considerably in both male and female but also depending on the season and subspecies. Northern Caribou are smaller and whiter than the Southern Caribou which are larger and have a darker coat.

Since 1961, Caribou have been divided into two major groups, the tundra Caribou with six subspecies and the woodland Caribou with three subspecies.

Caribou have specialized noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal's body heat before entering the lungs, and water is condensed from the expired air and captured before the deer's breath is exhaled, used to moisten dry incoming air and possibly absorbed into the blood through the mucous membranes.

The Caribou's hooves adapt to the season - in summer when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become sponge like and provide extra traction. In winter, the pads shrink and tighten - exposing the rim of the hoof, which helps cut through ice and crusted snow keeping it from slipping. This also enables them to dig through the snow to their favourite food, lichen.

Caribou have a variety of predators that prey heavily on them. Golden Eagles take young calves and are the most prolific hunter on calving grounds. Other larger predators consist of Brown bears, wolves and on the rare occasion when they encounter one another, Polar bears.

Some populations of the North American Caribou migrate the furthest of any terrestrial mammal, travelling up to 3,100 miles a year, and covering 390,000 sq miles.

Another Schleich 2011 Figurine

2011-02-08T04:06:00.000-08:00

Arctic fox and some comparison pictures with the retired Schleich polar bear and emperor penguin

The Ponies of Dartmoor

2011-01-30T05:58:00.000-08:00

The Dartmoor Pony has lived in south-western England for centuries. Because of the extreme weather conditions on the moors, the Dartmoor is a particularly hardy breed with excellent stamina.

It is kept in a semi-feral state on Dartmoor, Devon. It is similar to the Exmoor Pony - from Exmoor which is also (partly) in Devon.

The Dartmoor pony has short legs with a medium amount of bone, and tough feet. Having a free shoulder, with flowing gaits.

They have a kind temperament and are reliable, gentle and calm

Numbers have declined - from an estimated 25,800 in the 1930s to perhaps 5,000 today

Needle-Felted Okapi

2011-01-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

I still haven't finished, but here they are anyway - I have yet to make their hooves:

Mummy

Calf

Schleich 2011 Additions

2011-01-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

African Buffalo and Calf

Kudu Adult Male and Calf

Knabstrupper Stallion

Akhal-Teke Stallion

Dartmoor Stallion and Foal

Poitou Donkey Foal

Texas Longhorn Cow and Calf

Needle-Felted Tiger

2010-12-26T03:53:00.000-08:00

This is my FIRST needle-felting animal, it's a Siberian tiger:

I'm in the middle of making an Okapi too, I'm quite pleased how it's turning out, I'll post pictures when I've finished.

Step by Step: How to Paint a Somali Giraffe

2010-12-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

Step 1: This is an AAA Giraffe, which I will paint with acrylics into a Somali (Reticulated) Giraffe. The first thing to do is lightly sand the model down, getting rid of any unwanted bumps or mould lines. The first lot of pictures are of the model sanded down ready to paint.

Step 2: Make sure the model isn't greasy as the paint will not go on very well otherwise. Once it is clean and smooth, put your first coat of white paint on.

You will see, from this picture above, that there are still areas that are showing through... You will need a second coat of white paint. Don't be afraid of putting it on nice and thick, but make sure there are no lumpy bits and all is smooth... wait for it to dry

with second coat of paint

Step 3: Now that the model is fully covered, with no bits showing through from the old paint-job, you can put your third coat of paint on. But this time mix a light yellowy colour... white, yellow and a bit of Burnt Sienna (reddish-brown). Don't bother to paint the mane or the tip of the tail. Wait for the paint to dry.

Step 4: Get some white and mix it with water on a plate. This is a wash, which you will evenly spread over the whole model; it's to dull the yellow colour you've just put on, so make the white paint quite watery but don't over do it.
Step 5: With the latter done, start painting the spots. Don't get too excited and start painting the best bits i.e. eyes, horns, mane, tail and hooves; I always leave them till last.
Mix a red-brown colour, Burnt Sienna and a little yellow. The first coat of the spots doesn't matter too much; it's just to mark out where the spots will go. The spots continue onto its belly and a little way down the legs, getting smaller as they reach the knee.

I think it's best to start on the neck and work down.

Step 6: Having finished painting the undercoat on the spots, mix a darker colour for the second layer. Again Burnt Sienna, yellow, a tiny bit of black and a bit of orange. Don't mix too much black in, or you'll get a muddy colour.

In this picture you can see where I've started with the second spot colour.

Don't paint the spots with the darker colour on the lower part of the legs, I will explain in a second.

Step 7: With the spots done, you can add detail. So mix some watery white paint and put a wash over the areas that I have encircled below:

Put this wash also on the inside of all the legs right to the top and over its belly.

Step 8: Now for the fun part! Mix a dark brown (Burnt Sienna, bit of black and yellow) for the nose and up the middle of the face to the forehead. After that colour is on and dried, add a few spots, almost black, for a faded pattern.

Then mix a lighter, more sandy colour, Burnt Sienna, white, yellow. Get some on your brush then wipe it on some kitchen towel, so that it almost dries the paint out - it's called "dry brush technique"; this will give a 'dust' like effect over the dark brown and faded spots. Black out the nostrils, and you can put a few highlights on the nose.

Step 9: You can use the same dark colour you used on the middle of the face, for the horns. Then useing the "dry brush technique" put a dusting of white on top.
For the ears, first paint the insides black then mix a sandy colour and paint fine lines over the black to give the effect of hairs. Finish with some white highlights over the sandy colour as you can see in the final picture.
Step 10: Now add the finishing touch to all the spots. Again make some watery white paint and with a small brush go round the edge of all the spots. This gives a very nice softening effect and covers any mistakes.
Step 11: Finally you can paint the eyes, mane, tail and hooves.
Eyes: mix a dark brown colour (Burnt Sienna, black and a little yellow). This will be the colour of the iris. Then paint the black horizontal pupil, which is like a goat's or sheep's. Paint black around the giraffe's eye. Then you can put one or two little white dots in the eye, like a glint. To give more depth to the eye, paint just below it a grey line, as you can see in the picture:

Mane: Mix Burnt Sienna with a little orange and yellow for the base colour. Add some highlights using a lighter sandy colour and a darker brown.

Tail: Simple, Giraffe's tails are black, but you can add some highlights like dark brown and even a little white.
Hooves: Mix a grey colour then add yellow, this should give you an almost green colour, paint the hooves. You can put a grey wash over it if you like. Then once they're dry, paint the cloven hoof line with a dark grey colour. After that the dry brush technique comes into play for the last time - dust over the hooves.
So now you have completed your Giraffe! And your finished model should look something like this:

Icicles

2010-12-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago, they were on the chicken shed.

Most of them were about 12 inches long

A cute picture of two Blue Tits and a Robin

And snow piled up on some of this summer's flower heads

Mosaic Leaves

2010-12-13T02:24:00.000-08:00

I'd just come back from a walk and I saw that the roses had a wonderful frost on them, making them look almost like a Mosaic. It was really beautiful.

The Broom shrub looked rather fantastic too

Bongo Antelope

2010-12-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

While waiting for a Bongo Antelope from my friend Ana, I painted one in Acrylics.

And... I had a wonderful surprise this morning, Ana's Bongo arrived!

Grizzly Bears

2010-11-29T02:30:00.000-08:00

A Trip to Antarctica

2010-11-29T02:21:00.000-08:00

More Snow

2010-11-27T00:38:00.000-08:00

Wow, I wasn't expecting to see this when I got up this morning! We had about three to four inches of snow over night, it's amazing.
I took pictures of course ;o)

The sparrows thought I was letting the hens out and were waiting in the bush for the grain I put on the fence for them.

This is the hen run, they're not going to like the snow when I let them out this morning!

Makes my last post of the snow look pathetic!

It's Cold Outside

2010-11-25T01:57:00.000-08:00

It's November and it's snowing outside. Here are some pictures of the snow, I know it's nothing compared to some countries at this time of year and even to what we'll get later.

I took the photos through the window, as it's tooooo cold out! So sorry if they're dark and blurry.

This is out the front of the house

and this is the back garden, a very snowy sky, it's actually sunny now so the snow won't last long

this picture is really dark, but the sky was amazing and it was over exposed otherwise

The Cathedral Express

2010-11-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

My oldest brother works in a signal box, so he gets information on trains passing at different times of the day. He was notified that a steam train would be passing at 1:30, so we all went up to watch it go by. I only managed to get two pictures as it went by so fast! It was called "The Cathedral Express"

This is where my brother works, it's surrounded by fields and there's a little village just up the road, where he lives.

I could hear it coming and saw the steam, this is the best picture I took...

You wouldn't believe how fast it was travelling. It was a beautiful engine, fantastic to see.

So after it had gone we went home with my other brother, in his little orange VW Beetle ;o)

The Brown Pelican Goes Outside

2010-11-16T13:07:00.000-08:00

Taking two pieces of wood, a rough looking round branch, nails and duct-tape... I made a jetty for a setup. It's not that great, but I just wanted an impression. I will have another crack at the setup again tomorrow, if the weather’s nice, I wasn't quite satisfied with the lighting in these shots, which is why I messed about with them a bit.

Evening Sketches: post 2

2010-11-09T02:59:00.000-08:00

The Old Oak Tree

2010-11-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

There are around thirty-two native trees in Britain; one is the most English of trees and this is the oak. An oak can live four to five hundred years, although some are estimated to be 800 to a 1000 years old. When oaks are this old they are often seen with bands or supports of some sort, helping to keep them together and taking some of the weight of their branches. They're also usually hollow at this age.

Where I live, there are many oak trees; one in particular is at the back of our house, in the centre of a field. We call it 'The Old Oak Tree'. It has lost quite a few branches in high winds, but it's still majestic and I love sitting beneath its twisted branches.

At this time of year, the leaves are amber and look stunning against a blue sky or even with the lush green grass as pictured here…

That's our house in the background.

Evening Sketches

2010-11-02T02:24:00.000-07:00

When I sketch it’s usually in the evening, sometimes late at night. So I get a favourite pencil, most cases a graphite pencil, sit down and draw whatever comes into my head. Sometimes I have a book for inspiration. But mainly the things I draw are made up.

At the moment I'm into, as you will see, dragons and horses. To start I will show you one of my favourite breeds of horses, the Friesian:

That's all for today

Apple Picking

2010-10-27T02:05:00.000-07:00

Two nights this week we had a hard frost. When letting the hens out I noticed the stream had a thin layer of ice over it, just shows how cold it went during the night.

There were some apples left on the trees, so I picked them and filled the bottom of a wheel barrow.

I had my camera with me, because a few apples in the shade had not yet melted their coat of sparkling ice. I thought they looked rather yummy like this, as if they were coated with icing sugar or something.

A Visitor

2010-10-25T03:09:00.000-07:00

The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a regular visitor in the garden. In the Spring and Summer the parents often bring their young to the feeder. I haven't managed to get a good picture of the youngsters yet.

But while passing the lounge window I saw this male feeding on the nuts...

Males can be distinguished from females by the crimson spot on the back of the head. This bright colour is absent on females.

Exmoor Ponies

2010-10-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

Stegosaurus

2010-10-04T03:56:00.000-07:00

After the pictures of the Tapir, I thought the setting looked rather prehistoric...