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Showing posts from October, 2008

Happy Anniversary!

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To Mr.Fuzzy aka John and me :p 3 years that have gone by very fast. So I decided to post some pictures of the day :) John's family all dressed up :) From the left: his 2 brothers, his parents and his grandparents. I didn't say they had to wear kilts but they did and they all looked great. John wore a kilt and a really nice shirt No idea where or when he would ever wear this shirt again but it was really nice and is put away in case he can wear it again. We got married in my dad's front yard. The trees were so colourful :) I spent I think $65 for my outfit. 2 separate pieces from 2 different stores. My sisters dress cost a lot more then mine :p I think my bouquet cost more then my dress. John's family. My family. From the left: an uncle, my dad in a tux (I had so many people asking me how did I get him into a tux. I didn't he said he wanted to wear it), my sister and my mom and her partner. Yes they wore black, no comment :p I was very tired :/ But I loved my hair. I...

Scottish Word of the Week

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The hedgehog was back today, eating all the bird food that the birds tossed away in disgust :p I think I need to name it ;) If you see a hedgehog, post the info here :) This weeks Scottish word: 1. breenge Answer to last weeks Scottish word: 1. pibroch is a piece of music for the bagpipes I know the posts this week have been very short and sort of boring. Mr.Fuzzy has the week off from work so haven't been able to draw a lot and we are still sorting things out at the flat. So hopefully next week I will be back to posting art more often :D And yay! I get to get the freckles/moles taken off my back tomorrow so I am sure that will make an interesting story :p

Visitor to the Yard

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"Camoflauge" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Almost done with the petals. I forgot the direction the light was supposed to be coming from so some petals look a little odd :p Once the whole piece is finished I will go back and add more tonal value to it. And try to correct the mess up :p Once the dragon is done, the rest will be easy. Just a basic crumbling stone texture with lots of cracks and moss growing on it. I should have laid down a few layers of Neocolours down for the stone before I started the dragon. Would have helped with the texture. And we had a visitor to the front yard. One I really hadn't thought we would have. Was rooting around by the bird feeder. I had never seen one in the wild, and I am assuming this is a wild one. The aren't kept as pets here like they are in North America. I always wanted one. And I didn't get close to it, didn't want to startle it. It scurried away after about 10 minutes into the rose hedge. They can move pretty fast lo...

Everyday Matters Challenge #195

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Everyday Matters Challenge #195 and #132 Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Very short blog post today as I spent most of the day cleaning :/ The necklace is one Mr.Fuzzy bought me last year. I love this necklace: It was a wedding present from Mr.Fuzzy's grandparents. My favourite colour and my favourite animal all together. I just wish I had somewhere to wear it as it a bit too much to wear everyday. That and I am afraid that I will break it lol

Virtual Sketch Date Pears Finished

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"Pears"Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip ACEO done with Coloured Pencils The finished pears :) They are a little bit brighter in person. They look really dull on my monitor (or its my eyes :p) Go check out the rest of the art at the Virtual Sketch blog :) I enjoyed making this little piece of art. I don't draw pears enough. I took 3 progress scans so I will be writing up a small WIP to put on my newsletter (yes its another plug ;) ) And I got a Treasury over at Etsy. I have gotten a few treasury wests but don't think I got one on the main treasury page before. For someone who isn't a girly girl I picked a lot of pink things lol Click on the picture to go the treasury. Pink items from the members of the Crafting in Color Etsy Team . Follow the link if you want more info. If it is a nice enough day tomorrow I want to walk up the hill to see if I can get some nice photos of the hills in the distance. Of course if the weather is anything like today, I don't feel li...

Everyday Matter Challenge #119

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Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip 2 new Everyday Matters sketches. #119 Draw some rocks and #105 Draw some scissors. I'm going to try to get this little sketchbook filled in so I can try to put it with my portfolio. Of course going to school depends on the reference requirement. Which I don't have and probably already mentioned that here :p Either way I think this would be the first sketchbook that I finished. I have dozens that are half empty but I still kept buying more. I think its the blankness of the paper, or the fact that new ones don't look like they have been run over 20 times :p No more sketchbooks until I finish this one and no more art supplies until I get through all my pencils. Which might be a long time as I still have the original set I bought 13! years ago (when they were better made). I am trying to use up all my Prismas and even though I can get a set online I actually prefer the Coloursofts. I haven't had any breakage issues even after I sent the tin f...

Pears WIP

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"Pears" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip The start of an ACEO for the Virtual Sketch Date . Cropped the photo to focus on just 2 of the pears. I have scanned this in parts so I will post the WIP on my newsletter (sign up area to the right) and post the final here. (sorry about the fuzzy photo. Bad lighting) And now that I know that Pryex will take the heat I need to bake my Sculpey I can add another thing to my to do list :D I want to include some of my crystals with the model/sculpture and of course it will be a dragon. And big thank you to anyone who read the previous post :D

This is cool

I don't talk about me having MS a lot on this blog. I don't want people to feel sorry for me, to think I'm bitching for the sake of bitching, to think I'm fishing for sympathy. Its never the case. MS is a huge part of me and I wish people would understand how it really effects me. Well John does because he is here and he would do anything to help and often does. Damn lids on jars :p [I have a little tool to help me open jars but sometimes it doesn't work]. When we went back to Ontario last year Dad asked me if I was all right. I said yeah but then he said "You are a lot sicker than you let on aren't you" He is right in some ways. I don't want people to see that I do struggle with things, that I sometimes have such problems walking I want to cry; that there are days were John has to push me out of bed because I don't want to move. A day never goes by where I am not in pain. I don't want to take extra meds as I am already a zombie with the on...

Aztec Dragon WIP Post#2

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"Camouflage" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Started to lay the basic colours down for the feathers. I still need to add most of the shading and a few more bright colours to them. I plan on having faded colours on the stone dragons feathers, just using red and blue probably. 4 hours just to do this little bit. Coloured pencil is definitely not a medium for people that are into fast results. I love using them, but sometimes I wished I had room to toss paint around. Would have really colourful walls if we did :p And an odd visitor to the bird feeder. Pushed the little birds away and then found out that the little birds had already eaten all the food we put on there today :p

Blue Bonsai

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"Bonsai #1" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Quick ACEO of a Bonsai tree. There are going to be 2 more, red and green and than purple and yellow. I really like using simple colour schemes for ACEOs. It makes things a lot easier. This week Scottish Word: 1. pibroch Answer to last weeks Scottish Word: 1. nocht means nothing :p no really thats what it means

Caramel Squares

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We are crap at taking pictures of food, but trust me this taste great :) Mr.Fuzzy made this (and made a mess), used white chocolate and dark chocolate. About 120grams each. So here is the recipe, but I wouldn't make this if there are only a few people to eat it. We took this down to Mr.Fuzzy's parents as there was no way we were going to eat all of it. Not something to make if you are on a diet :p Ingredients: For the Shortbread 4 oz Butter 2 oz of Caster sugar 6 oz of Self-Raising Flour For the Toffee/Caramel 1/2 small tin/can of Condensed milk 4 Tbsp Syrup (Golden Syrup 4 oz butter 2 oz of Caster Sugar Instructions: Preheat oven to 350F/180C Gas Mark 4 Cream butter and sugar for Shortbread Add Flour Put into a greased tin and poke with fork Bake for 15-20 minutes Put all of the toffee ingredients into pot, melting and stirring continuously until it boils. Use medium heat, as too hot might cause it to burn. Boil for a max of 5 minutes, still stirring. Pour over cooled shortbre...

Aztec Dragon WIP Post#1

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"Camouflage?" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip So from mooning peaches to angry dragons. I have had this idea in my head for a long time. Draw one of my dragons next to one of the serpents that was on an Aztec wall. The ancient Aztecs fascinate me, especially Quetzalcoatl. I transferred the sketch onto watercolour paper, and used my trusty Neocolours for a quick background. I am going to use the Neocolours for more than background colours one day. Once I get some canvas I want to see how they act on that surface. I think I will make the dragon either red or orange. A really warm coloured dragon to stand out from the green. Xmas Aztec dragon :p And then all kinds of colours for his feathers. Faded colours on the stones, but mostly grey rock with the odd patch of moss.

Mooned by a Peach?

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Everyday Matters Challenge #133 Draw a Peach Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip This peach looked like it was mooning me :p I would find it humorous the amount of times I have actually been mooned; if it wasn't for the fact that most of the time it was my sister doing it. And usually in a bar >. Hi sis! ;) :p More art later. A skeebie (I have no idea how to spell that) if I can find the pictures we took, and a start of a dragon piece. Ever mooned anyone? I don't think I have, but I could be forgetting. :p Yes this blogs content is going to the dogs lol well it might give a person a laugh Hi sis again :p

White Knight Finished

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"White Knight" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Coloured Pencils on Canson Mi-Tientes paper Yep. This horse definitely needs caffeine. Its one sleepy horse. One thing down, a dozen more to go. I'm thinking of maybe doing a few more horses like this. Just different colours and different styled head pieces. I think a paint horse would look really nice.

Giant Cookie

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See this was supposed be normal cookies but they didn't rise so Mr.Fuzzy had the idea of just pouring the dough into a cake tin. Took about an hour to cook lol but tastes good (not that pretty but I don't think its going to be around that long). Chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter and raisins. Crunchy and chewy and full of sugar. 1 cup of brown and half a cup of castor sugar. Needs more :p Windy windy here but the birds were all over the feeder. Already have had to put more seeds on the tables. Going to be some plump birds around this winter. When I had food in a bird feeder at dad's house the chickadees were very fat :p Cute but I was a little worried they might get too fat to fly. This one had a smart idea. Hide close to the limb and under the table so the wind doesn't get to me.

Sleeping Knight

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"White Knight" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Small update on the grey horse. He looks like he is about to pass out :p Not sure if this paper is working with the horse. Maybe should have tried to find a paper with a similar colour to the last one. Still need a few more layers to fill the tooth on the paper. I need to think of things to draw using graphite. Not an animal. Was thinking a few dragons or maybe a landscape from NZ. Or I could do something that I saw in Canada. Very pretty down by the lake. I don't want the portfolio to be full of CP drawings but I don't have room for painting. I started a Newsletter! The sign up form is on the right. I will try to include any tips, some WIPS, sale info and any site updates. I want to add a Q&A section but would need people to send in some questions. So if you have any questions about anything really send them to me or comment with them here :) Comes out monthly so wont be cluttering your inbox everyday.

Greedy Birds

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The little black spec is a hot air balloon from Virgin Balloon Flights (yes another bearded company :P and to think he almost called the first company "Slipped Disc Records" instead of Virgin Records, bit off-putting me thinks). You would never get me on one of those no matter how much you paid me :p I'd be afraid I would fall over the side. Or what happens if you have to pee?? :p My father-in-law made us a bird table out of some left over tree limbs. Looks really good and sit perfectly fine on the lawn. I did think that it might take a few hours for the birds to notice that it was there and that it was a free buffet. But nope. Less than half an hour and they started to show up. Little Robin. Very small compared to the Robins I was use to seeing. Hopping all over the place, and hanging from the little hanging bird feed we hung up. Indigestion from eating too much and hopping around? :p These 3 were fighting over a spot on the tables, but also keeping an eye out for roam...

Back in Time

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Well back to 1984 An old Amstrad with tapes for game cartridges. Was in the In-laws attic (its like a black hole up there. Full of all kinds of things lol) I had never seen or heard of one of these. Did have an Atari though. Still works but takes a hell of a long time to load. You could do the laundry, cook a meal, have a shower and it might then be done loading :p And you have to love some of the game titles. I think the best one is "Rockstar Ate My Hamster" Classic. And the cover art on the tape cassette cases is very 80's :p Scottish Word of the week: 1. nocht Answer to last weeks Scottish word: 1. clishmaclaver means gossip Managed to dig a big hole in the front (well ok I didn't do it, Mr.Fuzzy did. Need to beef up his arm muscles :p), and stick our Hydrangea in it. Hopefully it flowers next year. It was pretty pot bound so that is probably why it didn't flower this year. Just have to think of a way to keep the damn cats in the area away from it (I like ca...

This is....

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My current reading material. Topic picked by m ychampagnedreams I usually read more then one book at a time, sometimes half a dozen. I like switching between the books depending on my mood and whether or not I want to think too much :p

Flu Jab

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Had to get up early this morning so we could go get a Flu shot. Me because of the MS and Mr.Fuzzy because we live together. Had to yell (well not yell but not far from it), at the receptionist as she was arguing over the phone that I don't get one for free even after we said my MS nurse said that I should get one and that it was listed on many sites and in pamphlets handed out. Very crappy attitude all round. She phoned back after saying she was going to check and the appointment was made, still with the crappy attitude though. Since they have gotten new reception staff this last year you really get shitty service :/ We have had to fight to get repeat prescriptions after they told me I shouldn't be needing another one for a month, pretty much hinting that I'm either selling the meds or taking too many. Trust me. If I was taking too many of them I would be a zombie or not awake at all. They are not doctors. They have no right saying I should be not be taking something. (hmmm...

Give Me a .....

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Start of a Pompom Dahlia drawing. Neocolours on watercolour paper. And then once it is all dry I am going to try to refine the detail with CPs. Of course if I like the look without the CPs I will just leave it alone. After the background was wetted down (bad lighting) I am not ashamed to admit it but I dressed up as a Cheerleader for Halloween for I think 2 years. Not sure why we all thought it was a good Halloween costume at the time. We probably looked like really young cheap hookers :p Still better than being lazy and cutting 2 holes in a sheet walking around like a ghost. Worse Halloween costume? hmmm might have to ask my sister if she remembers our worse one and try to get the pictures to burn :p

Bird Hotel

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Conifer Bird Table Originally uploaded by mrfuzzy Made from the stump of a tree that was in the In-laws backyard. Makes a great bird feeder and the birds love it. Looks great in the yard and I am sure that in the spring the birds will be fighting over a spot. Mr.Fuzzy's dad made me a trellis for my rose and the birds are loving that too. Need to figure out a way to hang a feeder from it. The Docs was a waste of time. Knew it would be :/ If my jaw is still hurting tomorrow I will just phone the dentist up and explain to them what happened. The dentists at the dental hospital were worried when they heard and felt my jaw crack. It doesn't hurt (well it does now), they were a little puzzled as to why it does pop. Been doing it since I can remember, not sure why I started. Ok I do :p Because it freaked people out when they heard the loud pop lol

Ouch!

Off to the doctor. I swear I should just put a cot in the waiting room some weeks. Not 100% sure what I did, but the right side of my jaw is killing me. I was talking to Mr.Fuzzy and my jaw felt like it popped out of joint and got stuck. Brought tears to my eyes and a few yelps of pain. Every time I open my mouth to talk I can hear a noise like crumpling tin foil and it feels like things are rubbing together. Hurts enough for me to go to a Doc. and I try to avoid going as much as I can. I just think its funny. I had zero MS symptoms today but my body seems to want me ill :/ I do grind my teeth and my jaw always clicked when I yawned or when I had to open my mouth wide. The dentists said not to but its kinda hard when eating things like apples. I have a bit to wear at night to protect my teeth and help with me clenching my jaw. hmm I think its not working :p So probably no art today, hopefully tomorrow and I'm hoping that my jaw isn't a huge problem. Not a very happy post I kno...

Dark Knight Completed

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"Dark Knight" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Coloured Pencil on Canson Mi-Tientes A4 I used the colour of the paper for the head dress. I really like the simple look where things are just hinted at. I'm not being lazy :p On to the white horse and a flower where all the petals are going to drive me insane :p And then I have to think of a landscape and a still life drawing to do. If I am going to make up a portfolio I think I should include examples of different mediums and settings. So I need to draw some more landscapes. I was thinking of doing a few pieces of the New Zealand coast. I also need to find a caramel square recipe to make some to send to dad. If they survive the trip they wont survive very long at his place. He once ate 2 dozen cookies in one night. And he is underweight :p Got up and all the cookies were gone. He said he didn't eat them all. Gave some to the dog too :p He did lose a lot of weight in the hospital. Weighing 105 pounds was way too skinny. :...

Bit of a Snag

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I think I'm getting better at knitting. Not dropping as many stitches as I use to :p Ignore the crappy looking side bit, I don't know what happened there lol So kind of hit a snag with applying to school. I need a reference and I don't have one :/ I emailed the University to see if the reference can be waived so will have to see what they say. *back to knitting*

Pasta Anyone?

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Dinner last night :) Was pretty good. A pasta bake with Italian herbs and cheese. Simple but quick and easy while tasting good (and not to mention cheap). Bought the sauce as we don't have room to make any ourselves. Dozens of tomatoes to use this summer, maybe next year we will try to do something besides eat them. When dad grew tomatoes he got a lot more than he thought he would, so made jars of tomatoe sauce. I'm not talking 10 jars. 20? Nope. Probably close to 40. We were shoving tomatoe sauce at people. "Here take this! And there is more where that came from" :p I don't think anyone left the house without a jar of sauce. When Mr.Fuzzy was using the little veggie patch his zucchini turned into a giant marrow. It got eaten though. "Dark Knight" Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Almost finished. Yay! :p I might try to make the bit a little shinier but don't want it to look too new. I was going to crop this so that the far left was cut when the reins...

Dark Knight Update

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Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Small update on this. Finished most of his cheek and started on his neck. Not sure where all the time today went. I want to get the white horse done soon, but really want to start on a macro shot of some Pompom Dahlias. The light bright colours make me think of hotter days. Its cold :p (yes I freeze easily. I could be walking around without a coat by the dock with 2 feet of ice all around and not be cold in Canada. But I get cold here when there isn't even any snow on the ground :p) On a good note, we have a fence in the backyard separating the neighbors backyard from ours now. This should keep the little roaming brats away and if that doesn't work we will just have to keep swearing at them to get off the lawn like angry old people with shotguns :p The other people in the area are encouraging us to yell at the kids in the hope that they gets the hint (but I doubt that. They are quite thick [the kids])

This is...

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My Favourite Kitchen Tool I had trouble with this weeks "This is". We don't really have any kitchens tools besides a £2 toaster and £2 kettle from the store of evil (where very little helps :p). Not a big enough kitchen to have a lot of stuff. We don't even have a microwave but thats ok because we would only use it to make popcorn :p The kitchen fits our little blue stove, our little fridge a washing machine and thats it. No room for a drier so when it rains we don't have any dry clothes :p So these are my favorite mugs (they count as tools right? ;) ), also from the store of evil. A witch, a pumpkin and a bat with writings on the other side. I also love the white and brown plates but I am cursed. They have probably survived 20 years and I have had them for 3 months and broke 2 in the course of 2 weeks :p So out come the bright green plastic plates so I don't break any more of them :p

Dark Knight

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Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip I though about calling this Dark Knight and the other one that I will be doing White Knight. I don't think that black knight was on this horse but I think the titles will go well with the pieces. The photo above has the muzzle almost finished, just need to darken the darks but going to wait until the whole piece is coloured so I can tell how dark to make things. The muzzle needs to have the grey blended around his lips still, he kind of looks like he ate a sugared donut :p Here the first couple layers of browns are laid down. I used a few dark greys and an indigo blue for the dark values and the shadows created from the tack. I am also using a few dark purples but you can't really tell in the scan. Once the 2 very short Dark Cherry Prismas I have are gone, thats it. I will just have to try to make them last. I will just see if I can find a few open stock Indigo and Royal Purple Coloursofts. Combine the 2 and you get a colour that is really close ...

EDM #90

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Everyday Matters #90 Draw something with wings Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip Badly drawn dragon wings :p Another really quick EDM challenge in my little sketchbook. I usually base the wings on my dragons on bat wings, but sometimes I do use a bird-like wing. Its just easier to draw bats wings as you can use the "fingers" as a guide to were the membrane should go. As long as you know where the fingers should go its easy. Looking at bats flying in person helps a lot if you can get over the automatic reaction of ducking when they come near. (ACK! Rabies! :p) When drawing wings you can go many routes, but there are 2 that are very common. Wings that don't look like they would ever get even a flea off the ground (hey thats a good idea for a drawing :p), or huge gigantic wings that are the size of a blue whale. Of course then they are the wings that are full of rips and holes (I'm guilty of this), that don't look like they would work as the dragon would just come fall...

On the Subject of...

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bread tags. Nope you are not reading that wrong. I'm going to talk about the little plastic piece that tries to keep your bread fresh (even though most people I know just tuck the extra bag under the loaf). You don't get them here. Instead you get this little sticky piece of tape to twist around the bag opening to try to keep the bread from getting heavy enough to kill a horse with. I hate those little sticky things. After you open them, you can never get it to seal properly and more often than not it sticks to the bread bag and not itself. Mr.Fuzzy hated the bread tags and twisty ties that are used in Canada. He didn't understand why people would have drawers full of them. It was because you never knew when you needed one to save the day :p And if you got really bored you could make tacky jewelry with them Photo from here I can't decide on whats worse. That I made a post about bread tags or that there is a article about them Scottish word of the week: 1. clishmaclave...

Charge?!?

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Copyright Jennifer Rose Phillip So the eye of a freaked out horse. Ok not really but I would be freaking out myself if there was an animal that weighed over 1000 pounds running full tilt at me with a strange creature on its back carrying a huge ****** stick :p This is on Mi-Tientes paper, but not 100% sure of what the colour is called. This is the only sheet I have, went back a few days later and the store had gotten rid of all of their Mi-Tientes paper :/ damn. And I have another horse close up like this but of a grey horse and a different cloured headgear. We got a lot of good photos of the horses and their knights, even if not accurate makes for good reference pictures to base drawings on. Still lots to do on just this little bit that is coloured. Need to darken the shadows and the eye. Make the horse look more brown instead of maroon :p And yes I am cheating with the paper colour, helps to fill in the empty space left between the pencils.