Finalist in International Artist magazine.

When I began the pencil drawing 'Eye to Eye' it was exciting and also very daunting at the same time. My idea was to share with the viewer the magnificence of an elephant in the wild, the light, the texture and the sheer size of this amazing and endangered animal. Size was important and so I chose to use a full sheet of watercolour paper at 22" x 30" and therefore the time allocated to this was going to be huge. My thumbnails were an important step in the process so that I had the composition and format resolved before I began on the quality paper. Working on the drawing, on and off, for months it finally came to fruition and was framed up as my 'show stopper' for my solo exhibition. The drawing sold on opening night and there continued to be much interest in it throughout the show which was so exciting and reinforced that my vision had been widely appreciated. This week I was notified that this drawing has been accepted as a finalist in the International Artist magazine's Wildlife Challenge to be published in the Oct/November issue. I am beyond delighted that 'Eye to Eye' has been recognised at this level and makes the art journey even more exciting than ever.