Wildlife & Pet Portrait Artist - Stephanie Sekula

Mischief book

2012-01-31T22:21:00.000Z

Finally finished my childrens book for my university module. Got it done a week before the deadline (phew!). The illustrations were sketched out by hand then rendered in colour solely using Adobe Illustrator, then the textures and text were added in Photoshop.

The book is called 'Mischief' and will be available to purchase within the next month. Enjoy!

Finished commission

2012-01-12T18:46:00.000Z

Holly's Portrait
original drawing, 2012
30 x 42 cm
coloured pencils on paper
mounted

Almost there!

2011-12-24T16:21:00.000Z

Latest update on the A3 coloured pencil drawing, 'Holly's Portrait'.

Progress

2011-12-14T22:54:00.002Z

Couple more hours done tonight on 'Holly's Portrait'.

Few more hours work!

2011-12-08T19:58:00.000Z

Progress I've made this evening on 'Holly's Portrait'.

Progress

2011-12-05T22:01:00.002Z

Here's a progress shot of the latest A3 pet portrait I'm working on at the moment.

3D seal model

2011-11-30T21:30:00.003Z

So I painted my 3D clay model of my leopard seal character this evening for my university project. Think it turned out alright considering I never sculpt!

Fair

2011-11-28T23:13:00.000Z

Had a little fair at the student union at university today.

New portrait

2011-11-19T13:34:00.000Z

Sketched out the lines for the latest A3 coloured pencil portrait.

Prints

2011-11-16T14:25:00.000Z

Prints that I've made and mounted so far :) Getting some new ones in tomorrow so there will be a few other artworks available too. If anyone's interested in buying one, they will be available to buy at a stall in Coventry on the 28th Nov, or through my website. Small prints are £4 each, large are £15 each, and large square prints are £12 each.

Finished!

2011-11-14T22:20:00.000Z

Finally finished Rae's Portrait! It is an A3 coloured pencil drawing. Will be mounting it up soon then sending it off. Now onto the next!

New portrait

2011-11-07T09:28:00.002Z

Got another new portrait to work on as well as the previous one :)

Fine art prints!

2011-11-02T09:44:00.000Z

Finally got round to making some prints! These will be available through my website.

New commission

2011-10-25T21:19:00.000+01:00

Got quite a bit done on the latest A3 colour pet portrait tonight.

Snowy's Portrait

2011-10-18T17:47:00.000+01:00

Snowy's Portrait
original drawing, 2011
30 x 42 cm
coloured pencils on paper
unframed

Progress

2011-10-08T19:12:00.002+01:00

Nearly finished!

Added the eyes!

2011-10-07T20:00:00.000+01:00

More progress. The eyes were a pain as there was no detail whatsoever on the photo so I had to make them up from other reference photos which was difficult... the nose is the same so I am leaving that till a little later aha.

Update

2011-10-03T16:37:00.000+01:00

Progress on the coloured pencil pet portrait.

New portrait

2011-09-27T17:49:00.000+01:00

Starting on the A3 coloured pencil drawing of Snowy now.

Completed 'Snowy's Portrait'!

2011-09-18T13:55:00.000+01:00

It's not a pig! An update on 'Snowy's Portrait'.

2011-09-17T17:02:00.000+01:00

Another update on the portrait. Forgive the pig-like nose, its just because I haven't coloured it in black yet! :)

Update on pet portrait

2011-09-12T19:57:00.000+01:00

Just a little update on Snowy's portrait!

Beginnings of 'Snowy' the sketch

2011-09-11T14:38:00.000+01:00

Finished gridding up and done the basic outline of the pet portrait sketch.

Highland cow drawing

2011-09-08T21:22:00.000+01:00

So I finished the A3 coloured pencil drawing of a highland cow for my mom :)

2 new pet portrait commissions!

2011-09-07T10:18:00.000+01:00

So I now have 2 new pet portrait commissions in the pipeline. One will be an A3 coloured pencil drawing and the other will be an A3 sketch. Very excited to begin work :)

Work in progress

2011-09-04T21:55:00.002+01:00

A few hours into my latest drawing of a highland cow...

Look what arrived in the post!

2011-07-07T18:00:00.000+01:00

I designed some new business cards a week or so ago and they arrived in the post yesterday morning! Excited to start handing them out and get some more commissions going.

'The Observer'

2011-06-13T12:11:00.003+01:00

original painting, 2011
50 x 40 x 3.8 cm
acrylic on canvas
sides painted black
unframed

My website has also been updated with new pictures and a better navigation system.
www.stephaniesekula.co.uk

Nearly finished!

2011-06-01T16:50:00.002+01:00

19 and a 1/2 hours into the latest painting... should be completed within the next week or so! Check back for the final piece.

Another update!

2011-05-23T21:37:00.003+01:00

16 hours in...

Update on tiger painting!

2011-05-16T21:11:00.003+01:00

So here's a photo of the tiger commission in progress... this is after 13 hours of work. I'm pretty proud of it :)

Update on new commission!

2011-05-04T16:18:00.003+01:00

Three hours work done on the new tiger commission... Managed to grid it up, painted the base coat and now just beginning to work on filling in the background of rocks etc. I always hate starting off on new paintings as they always look so bad until the filling in the detail stage right at the end!

New painting | White Tiger

2011-01-27T14:07:00.001Z

White Tiger

original painting, 2011
20 x 20 x 1.8 cm
acrylic on canvas
sides painted black
unframed

A group of us are setting up an arts and culture magazine at the university. The first issue has been given a theme of white and so I thought this would be perfect for the art section.

This piece is AVAILABLE.

Work in progress

2011-01-13T17:31:00.002Z

I'm currently 1/3 of the way through my new painting of a white tiger, 20 x 20cm.

New look website under construction

2011-01-06T16:29:00.006Z

Working on a new-look website so that I can incorporate my graphic design and illustration work aswell. The aim is to make the site look a bit neater and more professional without losing certain elements. It should be up and live pretty soon!

Update on commission

2010-08-08T15:29:00.000+01:00

Update on latest pet portrait commission... 1/4 way done.

Pet portrait commission

2010-08-05T16:12:00.005+01:00

Starting on my newest pet portrait commission. This will be a black and white sketch on thick A4 paper.

Also finished another acrylic painting...

Photo at the gallery

2010-07-30T17:47:00.003+01:00

Here's a picture of me standing next to a selection of my paintings now on sale at Regent Galleries, Stourbridge, UK. Please come down and take a look!

Homepage feature!

2010-07-29T20:27:00.001+01:00

One of my paintings has been chosen to feature on the homepage of an artist magazine throughout the month of August. Check it out at www.painters-online.co.uk!

Current exhibition

2010-07-27T17:08:00.000+01:00

Breakthrough!! A selection of my acrylic paintings are now on display at Regent Galleries in Stourbridge, DY8 1QD. All works are for sale.

New painting: 'Twilight'

2010-07-23T22:43:00.003+01:00

Just finished another new painting... waiting on taking a proper photograph of it to upload to the website sometime soon!

New painting: 'The Outsider'

2010-07-18T14:21:00.002+01:00

The Outsider

original painting, 2010
30 x 30 x 3.2 cm
acrylic on canvas
sides painted black
unframed

This piece is AVAILABLE. Contact for price.

Starting a new acrylic painting

2010-07-16T18:58:00.002+01:00

Starting on a new painting! It’s going to be the biggest painting I’ve ever done at 100 x 80 cm… not sure how I’m going to go about doing this as my ‘studio’ is a tiny desk in my room… I think I may have to migrate downstairs. Anyways below is a mock-up I made in Photoshop to get a feel for what I want the painting to look like… the two zebras were photographed on a visit to the Safari Park in Bewdley two years ago.

Latest painting update

2010-07-11T17:49:00.003+01:00

Update on the latest painting, this is about 3/4 of the way done...

New Youtube channel

2010-07-10T15:23:00.001+01:00

Just set up a Youtube channel so I can start filming step by step drawing/painting demonstrations. No videos on there yet but subscribe if you want to see them in the future, thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/user/stephaniesekula

Skye's Portrait

2010-06-29T18:26:00.003+01:00

New A4 sketch!

Skye's Portrait
drawing, 2010
20 x 26 cm
paper
unframed

The art exhibition is on!

2010-06-24T20:23:00.001+01:00

Me and my painting 'Blue Mood' at the college art exhibition in Stourbridge (on from the 24th - 29th June).

Art and design exhibition

2010-06-17T10:09:00.001+01:00

There is an end of year art and design exhibition taking place from Thurs 24th June to Tuesday 29th June in the Crown Centre, Stourbridge! I will be exhibiting my colour theory project on Iceland along with my huge Icelandic glacial lake painting for Art and my fashion retailer design project for Graphics, amongst the work of all the other talented people in the college art department! Please come along and take a look :)

Illustration Friday: Ripple

2010-06-15T17:17:00.006+01:00

Found the website www.illustrationfriday.com today in the Digital Artist magazine. It's really inspiring and lists weekly topics to inspire people to keep on creating! I'm going to try and do a piece of artwork on the topic set each week. This week's topic is 'ripple' and so I thought I'd submit one of the illustrations from my book 'Lost: Adventures of Waddle the Penguin'.

54 page storybook is available from here: http://www.stephaniesekula.co.uk/Shop.htm

New drawing started

2010-05-14T12:00:00.002+01:00

Felt inspired to start on a coloured pencil drawing for myself today. I took this photo of a peacock at the zoo last year and thought it would be a good starting point for a new drawing. Check back here for it's progress!

New flyers!

2010-05-07T21:31:00.003+01:00

New flyers printed for my pet portrait business! Going to post them round the area soon. If anyone wants to help distribute flyers around their own area or donate printer credits I'd be very grateful :)

Seascape

2010-04-25T11:49:00.003+01:00

Been so busy lately as my Art and Graphics coursework deadlines are this upcoming Friday, and so I've had no time to do any personal artwork. But, here is a painting of the ocean which I painted on the theme of 'seascapes' for my final piece for Art this year. Should get it uploaded to my website within this next week!

Website Update

2010-03-21T12:34:00.001Z

My website (www.stephaniesekula.co.uk) has now been updated with a slightly better layout.

New book for sale

2010-02-25T22:34:00.002Z

NEW BOOK!

Lost: Adventures of Waddle the Penguin
written & illustrated by Stephanie Sekula

Lost

Adventures of Wadd...

By Stephanie Sekula

Book Preview

full colour illustrated childrens book
durable softcover
premium paper
25 x 20 cm
54 pages, 50+ illustrations

£15.95 (I make no profit)

Available from: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1204210

'Blue Mood' and 'Sadie's Portrait'

2010-01-30T19:37:00.003Z

Here are the photos taken of my most recent works. The first is a large acrylic painting titled 'Blue Mood (Jökulsárlón, Iceland)', and the second is an A4 sketch titled 'Sadie's Portrait'.

New pet portrait commission

2010-01-29T13:38:00.004Z

I will have to put off that painting till later, as I now have a new commission. It is going to be an A4 sized black-and-white sketch of a dog, here is what I've done so far of the drawing:

New landscape painting

2010-01-23T13:36:00.002Z

So I've nearly finished my large painting of the glacial lake in Iceland. I still have some background mountains to paint, the sky needs redoing and then some more details need to be added around the painting. Haven't taken another update photo of it yet though.

But already I have been inspired to paint another piece! Seeing as I have no commissions yet I will be able to start on it in February. The piece will be based on this photograph I took in Serbia two years ago, though I will be changing the colours drastically and also altering the composition slightly. Since working on my recent Iceland painting I've discovered I do actually like landscape painting!

Work in progress

2010-01-18T20:04:00.002Z

Here's an update on my Iceland painting, taken in college this morning :)

Starting a new painting!

2010-01-11T18:51:00.003Z

I managed to take some really great reference photos on my recent trip to Iceland last October, and tomorrow I will finally be starting on a new painting based on one of my photos taken at a glacial lake. I have a feeling this one will be good :)

2010 commissions!

2010-01-04T18:13:00.000Z

Just a little note to say I am now free to take on new commissions for this year. Prices have been updated and hopefully the information on ordering a commission is a little clearer on my website now; please follow this link to find out more:

http://www.stephaniesekula.co.uk/Commissions.htm

Happy New Year!

Flo's Portrait

2009-12-15T19:24:00.002Z

Finished my last portrait commission of 2009 this week! Will be taking new commissions in the start of the new year. Here is the finished A4 drawing below:

Website update

2009-12-01T17:12:00.001Z

Updated my website the other day, plus now a new portrait has been added, the one of the three cats.

Finished portrait and now on Facebook!

2009-11-22T09:41:00.001Z

I've finished the portrait of the three cats, though I haven't got a photo of the finished piece yet. It should be up on my website pretty soon though, most likely along with a step-by-step demonstration.

I also created a kind of fanpage on Facebook, so join if you're on Facebook and like my work :)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wildlife-Pet-Portrait-Artist-Stephanie-Sekula/212050295154?v=photos&ref=mf#/pages/Wildlife-Pet-Portrait-Artist-Stephanie-Sekula/212050295154?v=wall&ref=mf

IMPORTANT NOTICE and portrait update

2009-11-09T22:09:00.003Z

I've decided to put up a notice on here just to say that as I am extremely busy at the moment I am no longer taking on anymore pet portrait commissions for 2009.

I am still finishing the ones I have at the moment, obviously, but any future portraits will have to be for 2010 now so I can also finish off my college coursework.

Also, here is another update on the latest portrait:

Update on portrait

2009-11-07T22:20:00.003Z

Here's an update on how the portrait of three cats is going so far. The eye on this one looks a little weird as the cat had an operation on it's eye and so the customer wanted me to fix it, but still leave some black around the corner so you can tell that it is still the same cat.

Back from Iceland

2009-11-05T15:04:00.002Z

Got back from Iceland yesterday and it was amazing! I took 650 photos and filmed 300 video clips. Will start again on pet portraits tomorrow.

Bailey's Portrait & Iceland trip

2009-10-28T14:36:00.002Z

Below is the finished picture for 'Bailey's Portrait'. It should be up on my site within the next couple of days. I also want to mention that I will be going away to Iceland until Nov 4th, so there won't be any updates on current portraits. Sorry about that!

Another commission

2009-10-27T10:28:00.002Z

Got another commission on the go aswell the previous one! This one is of three cats and is going to be a bit more complicated as I've never drawn so many animals in one portrait before! Below is a rough mock-up I made on Photoshop to show what I'm aiming the portrait to look like.

And here's an update of what I've done so far (not much, I know):

Finished!

2009-10-24T16:41:00.002+01:00

Finally finished 'Bailey's Portrait' today. Will put it up on my website as soon as I've had a photo taken of it.

Also got a new commission to start on, this time a sketch of another Bedlington terrier. Below is the photo I will be working from:

Another update

2009-10-21T17:17:00.002+01:00

Here's another update on the portrait. As you can see I've completely finished the cat (apart from it's whiskers) and will now be moving onto the background...

Update

2009-10-17T14:55:00.001+01:00

Second update on 'Bailey's Portrait':

New pet portrait

2009-10-15T19:33:00.003+01:00

Got a new commission at the beginning of this week, and below is the first update on it.

Completed 'Poppy's Portrait'

2009-10-07T18:15:00.002+01:00

So I finished my latest commission this week and I'm quite pleased with it. Just got a photo taken of it for my website, which should be updated by the end of this week.

Update on 'Poppy's Portrait'

2009-10-03T16:07:00.000+01:00

A third update on the lastest portrait's progress:

Update on 'Poppy's Portrait'

2009-10-02T17:32:00.001+01:00

Here's a second update on 'Poppy's Portrait's' progress...

Another new commission

2009-10-01T17:02:00.002+01:00

So I've finished the previous portrait already and started on a new one! The cat's called Poppy and her photo is below. Also, look out for updates on here as I work on this commission.

New commission

2009-09-27T09:38:00.003+01:00

I recieved photos in the post yesterday from the person who won my gift voucher at the Cat Protection open day raffle. It is going to be a black-and-white sketch, and below is the photo that I will be working from. I haven't had a new commission is quite a long time now, so I'm excited about starting this one!

Competition

2009-09-20T13:45:00.002+01:00

Just entered a new competition for the art supplier Jackson Art. They're looking for a cover photograph for their catalogue and so I've just sent in 9 photos, below is one of them.

Would be good if I won, the prize is £200 to use on their art materials!

Update on illustrated book

2009-09-19T12:40:00.003+01:00

Seeing as I haven't had any commissions lately I've got back into working on my illustrated children's book, for my extended project at college. It follows the adventures of my character, Waddle the penguin, and her journey to try and reach Iceland. Below are some of my latest illustrations for it!

New flyers for my website!

2009-09-17T16:23:00.003+01:00

Well I think it's about time for an update! I haven't done any new work for a while now, just waiting around for photos to be sent in for commissions...

I have had some flyers printed out for my website though, they look really good! I handed out some at an open day for the Cat Protection charity last Sunday, to which I'd been invited as an official sponsor if I offered to draw a pet portrait as a prize in their raffle. Just waiting for the winner to get in contact with me now!

Update on wolf drawing

2009-08-10T13:11:00.003+01:00

Just a little update on the progress of my wolf drawing, after 9 hours of work:

On the website

2009-08-04T10:28:00.001+01:00

Just a quick note to say 'Daisy's Portrait' has now been added to my website.

New Drawing

2009-08-02T19:20:00.005+01:00

Whilst I'm waiting for some more photos to be sent for the latest pet portrait, I've had an urge to draw something, so I rooted through some old photos from the safari park and came across a photo of these wolves, which I'm going to do an A3 coloured pencil drawing of whilst I'm waiting.

Daisy's Portrait

2009-07-29T14:59:00.001+01:00

Finally finished Daisy's Portrait!

Update & new pet portrait commission!

2009-07-28T16:59:00.004+01:00

Here's another little update for Daisy's Portrait:

And I recieved a new pet portrait commission today, this time for these two dogs below, which I look forward to doing! This one will take me a lot longer to do than usual as it's going to be on A2 sized paper.

Update

2009-07-26T20:21:00.002+01:00

Did 3 hours of work on the latest pet portrait today...

New Portrait

2009-07-18T11:43:00.004+01:00

Started on the new pet portrait yesterday. This one's a black-and-white drawing. It was going to be on an A3 piece of paper, but after working out a grid I decided to trim it a bit and make it a bit smaller. Below you can see that I've drawn the outline of the dog:

Working on a new children's book

2009-07-16T14:11:00.004+01:00

So at college I've been put down to do something called an extended project, where I get to make up a project and create something. I've decided to pick Graphics and Art as my subject and I'm going to write and illustrate a children's book using my penguin character, Waddle. And try and publish it.

I'm not sure when the deadline is for this project or even if I'm supposed to start it yet, but I can't help myself and so I've already written a short story and done a few illustrations aswell. I'm thinking of calling it Lost: Adventures of Waddle the Penguin, but that might change.

Below is one of the pictures from my story:

Look out for more updates on the book's progress!

Mountain Goats

2009-07-09T18:13:00.003+01:00

Finished the small painting for my nan today. It's of a couple of mountain goats and here it is:

Finally finished!

2009-07-08T10:43:00.003+01:00

So I finally finished 'Amber's Portrait' the other day. Below is a picture of it:

Now I've finished college until September I'm going to be taking on lots more new work. I created and printed out some business cards for my site yesterday in Graphics which I am going to post around my area in the next week or so. I'm also about to start on a painting for my nan and another pet portrait for a teacher at college. I will be posting pictures of it's progress shortly.

Nearly done...

2009-07-05T10:27:00.003+01:00

Here's another update on my latest pet portrait, after 15 hours. Still got to put in the background and then it's done :)

Home sweet home!!

2009-07-01T18:28:00.006+01:00

So I just got home today from a camping trip with my walking for charity group. On Monday we took part in the Three Peaks Challenge in Yorkshire, where we did a walk of approx. 26 miles over 3 (huge!!) hills for Mary Stevens Hospice, and it took us a little under 14 hours. It was absolutely boiling hot on the day and now I've come back completely sunburnt and aching as I've never attempted anything like this before this week!! It was the hardest work I've ever done in my life!!!

But here are a few photos I took on the walk:

Progress...

2009-06-24T18:17:00.000+01:00

Here's what I've done after 9 and a half hours:

Progress

2009-06-22T18:20:00.002+01:00

Another update on what's going on with the latest pet portrait... here's what I've done after nearly 7 hours:

Work in progress

2009-06-19T19:56:00.001+01:00

So I've started on the latest pet portrait and here's what I've done so far:

New commissions

2009-06-16T17:49:00.006+01:00

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while but I've been a little busy. I've nearly finished a secret commission for my next door neighbour's birthday but I can't add the picture to my site yet incase she sees it.

Also received some photos for a new pet portrait commission which I will be starting on today. Below is the photo that I will be working from!

(And yes, the dog is missing an eye. Nasty cat got it)

Site Update

2009-05-17T09:23:00.004+01:00

Just a short message to say I gave my website a new enter page a couple of days ago, and changed the backgrounds on all the other pages to give it a better look.

Meg's Portrait

2009-05-02T09:55:00.002+01:00

I finished another pet portrait last weekend and it's now up on my website. It is titled 'Meg's Portrait' and is a 30 x 42 cm coloured pencil drawing. Here's the picture below:

Home again

2009-04-12T20:14:00.002+01:00

Got back from a holiday in Wales today. I'll be getting a proper picture taken of that elephant within the next few days and should have it up on my site before the end of the week!

Finally finished!

2009-03-31T18:17:00.003+01:00

So I finally finished my elephant drawing in college today. It's taken me about 19 hours to do and I'll be getting a proper photo taken of it soon so I can upload it to my site. I've also made a step by step demonstration for this piece aswell, which will go up when my site's updated.