5. Capybara poo At number 5 is capybara poo. Cabybaras are the largest rodents in the world and super cute. They are related to guinea pigs but much much larger. Capybaras are native to South America and live a semi-aquatic lifestyle. They are herbivores meaning they...
Old Blue was now 9 years of age, old for a species that has an average life span of 4 years. Shortly after being transferred to Managere island one of Blue and Yellows’ nests was destroyed in a storm. The robins built a replacement nest and Blue laid two more eggs....
Black robins are native to a group of islands off the East coast of New Zealand called the Chatham Islands. The islands were originally called Rekohu (“Misty Sun”) by the Moriori people. For thousands of years the black robins flourished on the forested Islands. There...
Antennae, we’ve seen them on insects but what do they actually do? It turns out they are a pretty amazing piece of anatomy. They connect into the brain and have the ability to augment senses like navigation, orientation, smell and even taste!What are Antennae? In the...
Why use a heated drawing board? For coloured pencil artists, a heated drawing board melts the pencils making it quicker to layer on surfaces like pastelmat and makes pencils easier to blend. It works brilliantly with neopastels on drafting film for smoothing and...
What is rendering? The final week of the Natural History Illustration course involved rendering an animal of our choice. Rendering is the process of adding the fine details of colour, fur, feathers and shading. For this course we were only allowed to use graphite,...
I recently completed a fantastic course, Drawing Nature, Science and Culture: Natural History 101. It’s an online course run by the University of Newcastle in Australia on the edX platform and is aimed at artists who want to improve their observational skills in order...
Have you heard of the Tizzie-Whizie? The tizzie-whizie is a very rare creature found only in Bowness Bay, Lake Windemere in the UK. It is described as having the body of a hedgehog, the tail of a squirrel or fox, insect-like wings and antennae. It was first discovered...
I started drawing in 2019 as a mindful activity to reduce stress. I followed a Kingfisher tutorial and got completely hooked. I had no idea about all the equipment required for professional drawings, special professional grade (and expensive) pencils, the right paper, eraser, sharpener and not least all the techniques involved. I drew more wildlife pieces, and was surprised and delighted when my fourth ever drawing, a snow leopard, was accepted to the 16th World of Colour Pencil Exhibition run by the UK Coloured Pencil Society.
My first coloured pencil piece. Little did I know a few months later I would be exhibiting.
My first exhibited piece, a snow leopard with fabulous eyes.
That exhibition was a turning point for me. I started to get requests from friends and family to draw their pets and for a while thought I might become a pet portrait artist. But there was something missing. I felt like my full passion for animals wasn’t being fulfilled and I realised that I wanted to tell animals stories as well as draw them.
Jax and Sox, two friendly dogs who were my first pet portraits.
I am inspired by the incredible stories of amazing animals whether they be true stories or tales of mythical animals from folklore. Whether they are stories of triumph over adversity, heart-warming unconditional love, the fascinating science behind their abilities or just loveable characters they never fail to lift my spirits.
Old Blue, a true story of how a black robin saved her species from extinction.
The tizzie-whizie, a fantatsical animal from English folklore.
Telling stories brings with it wonderful opportunities. Some animals have only been photographed in black and white and I can add colour to see them as they really were. Some animals haven’t been photographed at all and so their anatomy must be pieced together from the skeleton up. What a joy to see how these animals come to life!
I still do occasional pet portrait commissions but my main aim is to continue to use my art to bring animals and their stories to life. In the future I want to start creating my own fabulously fantastical animals and tell their stories.
If you have an animal story or fantastical animal you would like to see brought to life I’d love to hear about it.
Follow the story at: https://www.sniffyfacesart.com/blog/
5. Capybara poo At number 5 is capybara poo. Cabybaras are the largest rodents in the world and super cute. They are related to guinea pigs but much much larger. Capybaras are native to South America and live a semi-aquatic lifestyle. They are herbivores meaning they...
Old Blue was now 9 years of age, old for a species that has an average life span of 4 years. Shortly after being transferred to Managere island one of Blue and Yellows’ nests was destroyed in a storm. The robins built a replacement nest and Blue laid two more eggs....
Black robins are native to a group of islands off the East coast of New Zealand called the Chatham Islands. The islands were originally called Rekohu (“Misty Sun”) by the Moriori people. For thousands of years the black robins flourished on the forested Islands. There...
Antennae, we’ve seen them on insects but what do they actually do? It turns out they are a pretty amazing piece of anatomy. They connect into the brain and have the ability to augment senses like navigation, orientation, smell and even taste!What are Antennae? In the...
Why use a heated drawing board? For coloured pencil artists, a heated drawing board melts the pencils making it quicker to layer on surfaces like pastelmat and makes pencils easier to blend. It works brilliantly with neopastels on drafting film for smoothing and...
What is rendering? The final week of the Natural History Illustration course involved rendering an animal of our choice. Rendering is the process of adding the fine details of colour, fur, feathers and shading. For this course we were only allowed to use graphite,...
I recently completed a fantastic course, Drawing Nature, Science and Culture: Natural History 101. It’s an online course run by the University of Newcastle in Australia on the edX platform and is aimed at artists who want to improve their observational skills in order...
Have you heard of the Tizzie-Whizie? The tizzie-whizie is a very rare creature found only in Bowness Bay, Lake Windemere in the UK. It is described as having the body of a hedgehog, the tail of a squirrel or fox, insect-like wings and antennae. It was first discovered...