A New Chapter and more Puffins!

Another fortnight has flown by since I last posted here and more news to tell! As of tomorrow I will be starting a new job working for an environmental consultancy as an ecologist surveyor which I'm very excited about. All those years of being out and about in the natural world observing birds, mammals, flowers etc. have not been in vain and my seemingly vast collections of natural history books are certainly going to be earning their keep, not to mention my Zoology degree! I know I previously mentioned hoping to study as a veterinary nurse but sometimes you need to follow the paths presented to you and this job is going to be wonderful opportunity to not only boost my knowledge but allow me to assist others with that knowledge which I have already gained and putting it to good use out in the field. I can't wait to get stuck in! You can expect to read more about my exploits as I go along, wellies are at the ready :)

Obviously my embarking on a full-time job for the summer season will mean I'll be spending less time sat behind my desk with pencils in hands BUT this doesn't mean I'll be stopping drawing altogether, far from it. I have a couple of wildlife commissions to complete as well as preparing for my being the "Summer Artist" at a lovely little gallery called Aradia in Emley, Huddersfield where delectable Tuscan edibles and wines are also available www.aradiaglobal.com Here I will be exhibiting both original work and limited edition prints for the months of May and June 2014 so if you're in the area do pop by and say hello! I'll post more about this closer to the time.

Still rather giddy about my Mountain Gorillas drawing  going to that London (read more from a previous blog post here) The exhibition will be open to the public from 3rd June to 7th June 2014. If you're thinking of going it will be free admission and well worth a pop in if you're local-ish so scribble the dates in your diary if you're a fan of wildlife art, there are going to be some stunning pieces there! Here's a link to the Exhibition website where an online catalogue will be available to view from May 10th www.davidshepherd.org/way/ 

I also mentioned I would be posting up a progress post of my Puffin Study that I'm currently working on so here are a few more updates for you:

Taking off or about to land? You decide!

Havin' a scratch

Scratching pose completed and onto a snuggled pose...

A double update as the layering of the feathers has built up, my brain was definitely starting to feel fluffy after staring at so many!

I hope you're enjoying seeing the portrait taking shape, it's great fun to do but as with all my work, very time-consuming. I had an idea of the poses I was going to include from my own selection of reference photos taken while I was on Skomer Island but as the portrait has progressed I've adjusted and swapped round the original ideas do even I'm not sure what the end portrait will look like but that is what makes it so much fun :)

If you're a Facebook-er there are more in-depth posts about each pose and if you want to be more closely informed about progress of my drawings then you can also "like" my page  https://www.facebook.com/megghyllpencilartist

Once the like button is clicked you can hover over it and click "Get Notifications" to be alerted every time I make a new post :)

Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday, here are some pretty Wood Anemones to go on with, I found them while out on a walk yesterday (brushing up on plant ID!)

BIG Art news!

So I opened my email inbox on Thursday to find a piece of amazing, superb, thrilling news. My Mountain Gorillas have been shortlisted for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year award and will be exhibited along with many other wildlife artists at the Mall Galleries in LONDON in June!!! I had to re-read the email so many times to check I'd not missed something but it's still there in black and white, eeee!

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation carry out vitally important charity and conservation work, David Shepherd himself being made a CBE for his services to the world of conservation. Proceeds from the sales of artwork at the Exhibition in June will be put towards the organisation's many conservation projects. You can read more about these projects here http://www.davidshepherd.org/projects/

This is definitely the biggest thing to happen in my art career so far and it certainly seems to have filled me with a new-found respect for myself and my art, the fact that a prestigious international art competition has seen fit to accept a piece of my work and provide a space for it to hang in the company of many superb artists in our capital city is, quite frankly, blowing my mind! I'm feeling motivated and inspired to create new pieces where previously I admit I was wondering if all the hours spent on drawings was a productive way to spend my time. I'm thrilled and beyond chuffed! I finally feel like the last four years of completing pet commissions for those wonderful people who enjoyed my art are being rewarded as well as me, I am so grateful for that.

Anyway, this is the drawing in question! Have a click on the pic to see in a tad more detail.

Naturally I guess that now would be a good time to mention that this drawing is available as a Limited Edition print, so that's limited to 100 prints! These and a selection of other prints can be purchased from my online shop www.megghyll.co.uk/shop.html

Now I need to get cracking and finish off those Puffins so I can get started on a very exciting new drawing which isn't like anything I've done previously, a bit of fun too, watch this space! I'll post an update on how the Puffin Study is coming along on here in the next couple of days :)

Ciao for now,
Meg x

An Atlantic Puffin Study...so far

I'm just about to get back on with my latest wildlife portrait, "An Atlantic Puffin Study". I was lucky enough to spend two months working as a volunteer on Skomer Island (Wales) in 2011. I got to spend plenty of time getting to learn the quirky ways of the hugely charismatic Puffin. Fantastic little birds that spend most of their lives at sea and come to our islands only to breed and raise their Pufflings I didn't want to waste such an amazing opportunity to photograph these birds that are so unafraid of humans they will happily pose for the many tourists that flock to the island in the breeding season.


Here are a few pics of the drawing's progress so far...

We have an eye! The focal point of the drawing, I always like to have eyes done first :)

A filled in bill, normally very bright & colourful so intriguing to see how see how it would turn out in monochrome

Almost done!

Next up, a feeding pose with a beak full of tasty sandeels!

Addition of a preening pose, like the bird is wiping a tear from it's eye!

A peeking from burrow snapshot & last but not least, where the drawing is currently at, halfway through a takeoff pose!

More progress pics to follow soon when I crack on with the next stages of my Puffin Study, I hope you like it so far :)