Eli the baby elephant in stages…
Watercolour is a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution. I use mainly Daniel Smith Watercolours as I love the way they flow and the granulation of many of the colours. It is such a beautiful medium to work with although quite challenging in many respects. I am fairly new to the medium but have fallen in love with the amazing effects that can be created by just letting the paint do its own thing. I only use quality watercolour papers either Arches or The Masters Choice.
Scratchboard is a fine art medium where the artist uses a sharp knife or tool to engrave into a clay board coated in dark ink, revealing a white core. I love the dramatic look of the black and white and often add a touch of colour to highlight the eyes. Although an extremely time consuming medium I find it therapeutic and it allows me to capture lots of detail.
I only use quality archival Ampersand scratchboards. These scratchboards are made of kaolin clay and coated with black India ink, allowing cleaner and crisper details and lines. They do not tear, crack or bend like other paper scratchboards – giving you a more durable portrait to cherish for the years to come.
Coloured Pencil is a wonderful medium to use for artists who love to capture beautiful life like colours and detail which is perfect for my style. They take a lot of patience to use as many layers are used to build up the depth and techniques like burnishing are common. Burnishing involves layering and blending until no paper tooth is showing.
All pencils I use are lightfast, my preference being Fabercastell Polychromos, Carandache luminance and Derwent Lightfast. I use only quality archival paper, my go to is Strathmore Bristol Vellum.
Giclée (pronounced ‘gee-clay’) Printing is an extremely high quality, archival grade digital printing method that uses an ultra-fine inkjet printing process to produce superb quality prints with unparalleled vibrancy and detail that literally lasts a lifetime. Paper used is Archival 100% cotton rag. All my Giclée Prints are limited edition and hand signed.
I am always happy to discuss your ideas, so please either email me or give me a call on: 0457 702 229
Taking a good photo of your pet can be challenging, especially if they don’t like posing for you, so some patience is required. The main thing is you need good natural lighting but not direct sunlight. You should get down to your animals eye level, so that their head does not look distorted in the photo. As I love the eyes to be the focus of the piece, try to focus on photographing their head and neck.
I am happy for you to send through several photos and we can discuss what will work best. Just remember the better the photo the better the final artwork.
If you live local to South Gippsland, I am happy to arrange to meet you and your pet and photograph them for you.
Yes, I will send progress photos through to you for review so if changes are needed these can be done. A final image will be sent for approval prior to payment being due. My aim is to make sure you love the final artwork, so all care is taken during creation.
Yes. I am able to ship to over 200 countries & regions.
I take the upmost care with packing your order. Prints will be in a plastic sleeve with a backing board or covered in glassine paper for protection and then either flat packed or rolled into a tube depending on size. Original artwork will be packed with plenty of padding to ensure no damage occurs to the frame or artwork. Cards will be packed in a box to ensure they arrive in perfect condition. I use Australia post with tracking and original artwork will be insured. If you have any concerns or special requests you can contact me to discuss.
More shipping details here
You can contact us via email at customer@hilifebox.com or by using the form located on this page. Also you can just respond directly to any notification you will receive regarding your order, shipment notification or delivery notification emails.