Wildlife Gallery

Portrait of a Tigress

Coloured pencil on black Rising Stonehenge

I photographed this tigress during a fantastic day at Knowsley Safari Park.  This portrait took 4 weeks to complete.  This won first place in a FanArtReview "Art in Nature" competition and I was able to buy a fantastic new set of gouache paints with the proceeds.

Looking for Trouble

Coloured pencil on Rising Stonehenge paper.

I photographed these three young and inquisitive otters at the Shire Horse Centre near Tarporley.  Earlier this year, I was given a selection of long thin picture frames and set about looking for long, thin subjects to fit them and this composition seemed perfect.  This painting has been selected for this year's UK Coloured Pencil Society exhibition.

Lemur Ball

Coloured pencil on cartridge paper.

My nearest zoo is at Chester, but the lemurs there are kept on an island and I have only ever seen the briefest of glimpses of them.  However, at Blackpool Zoo, there is a fantastic feature called "Lemur Walk", where you can actually walk through an enclosure amongst the lemurs.  I took many photos there and this painting was a composite of them.  It was exhibited at the 2009 UK Coloured Pencil Society exhibition in Birmingham.

Worker at Rest

Coloured pencil on cartridge paper

I met this adorable donkey called Tony on Blackpool beach and had a really nice cuddle until his friend Teddy got a bit jealous and decided to muscle his way in.

Golden Boot

Coloured pencil on bristol board

I was keen to try my hand at equestrian art so contacted a nearby racing stables.  Elegant Golden Boot is one of the race-horses stabled at the Alan Bailing Racing Stables in Cheshire.  Mr Bailey kindly let me visit and take as many photos of the horses as I wished.

Pinnewela Elephant's Smile

Coloured pencil on cartridge paper

In January 2003, I accompanied a large group of students from IDPM, University of Manchester on a field-trip to Sri Lanka.  Although we spent most of the week in lectures and presentations, at the weekend, we got the opportunity to do some sight-seeing.  We visited the elephant orphanage in Pinnewela where we watched the elephants bathing and enjoyed the opportunity to get really close.  This drawing is from a lovely photo taken by Cen Yuhong.

Penny of Chester Zoo

Pencil on cartridge paper

Giraffes are a life-long love of mine.  The more I learn about them, the more fascinating they become.  Penny was one of the giraffes in residence at Chester Zoo, a beautiful young lady with a very agreeable personality.  She even allowed me to stroke her nose!  This portrait was exhibited at the "Wild about Art" 2001 exhibition in Sheffield.

Jangali and Po-Chin of Chester

This pencil sketch features Chester Zoo's Jangali and her young calf Po-Chin.  This portrait was a finalist in the PAWS 2002 competition.

Rainbow in Black and White

Derwent drawing pencils on cartridge paper

This coloured pencil drawing was exhibited at the 2003 "Wild about Art" exhibition in Sheffield.  I nearly drove myself insane with all these stripes, sometimes being unable to tell where one zebra ended and another one began but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.  I thought that I was doing something a little different, but lo and behold zebras seemed to be really trendy in that year's exhibition!