Such wonderful weather we've been having. I've been taking morning or evening walks with my camera (with a fully charged battery now) around our village with the intention of finding source material for some fast-and-loose watercolours of the lovely heritage cottages and farms hereabouts. It's too hot to paint in the mid-day sun, the paint dries far too quickly even in the shade, but I can sketch, observe and collect source material. I've also enjoyed sitting under a cherry tree in the orchard sketching the puppies as they play, with a glass of something suitable to hand. It's also been useful, I've found, to take quick video clips of them gambolling about, from which I can then freeze- frame the action for inspiration. I needed a new project to work on at my weekly art group so I've chosen a pastel portrait based on the photo of my new Corgi puppies from my last blog. I'm using Faber-Castell pencils on Canson paper (taped to a board). I started off by making an outline drawing with a well-sharpened grey pencil. The way I usually work is to block in small areas of colour using pencil strokes going in the same direction as the hair, which I feel helps with portraying the fur texture. I blend with a shaping tool (or fingers for larger areas if you prefer a more tactile experience.) Then I use very sharp pencils to add the next layer of fine detail. I take quite a strategic approach to this because I prefer to avoid using a lot of fixative, so I have to be careful about tackling the painting in a sensible order to avoid smudging. I usually do the eyes and facial features fairly early on, because they can make or break the finished product and if I'm not satisfied I don't want to have to discard an almost-completed work and start again. I may use a little fixative in the early stages, but never on the final details because I think it dulls the colours and blurs the detail. You can see what I've done so far in the image. I'll report back next week on my progress. Meanwhile, happy painting from Rosemary