‘Running boar’ Painting 170917

I have long wanted to depict a wild boar, as painting or print, as my computer desktop testifies, with a folder entitled ‘boar hogs ref’ that has sat there, bulky with digital visual reference of boars in many forms for a few months now. To be honest, I like the idea of hunting one too. Like game fishing, an honest way of earning your bacon. Boars, unlike many other game quarry however, are fearless. They would square up to you in defiance if they found you threatening them or if you had the cheek to be in their territory and I respect that. Visually, they also look great - the stuff of legend, dark, matted coarse hair, thick with mud and sweat and the male boar sports sharp, intimidating tusks. They are built like a bull, all forebody, full of muscle up front and brave as you can be. I’d like to do a relief print at a later stage, (the boar’s textured pelt is perfect for a grainy print) but for now, with an evening to spare, I thought a quick loose watercolour painting would do the job nicely. (Original for sale: £75.00): petergander@gmail.com (prints may be available at a later date).

Leaving my reference at arm’s length, I like to draw my own version (i.e no tracing photos) using or re-using old paper.

Tracing the old-fashioned and unbeaten way

Tracing down onto Bockingford paper

Starting with a warm yellow fill with my squirrel mop brush 

(it holds bathfuls of liquid)

Yellow complete

Timing is everything in watercolour and a barely-visible sheen awaits before adding a dark body colour

My roof-suspended hairdryer helps drying along in my messy studio

Adding my favourite ‘Payne’s Grey’ leaving the warm yellow to shine through

Achieving that ‘grubby pelt look’, scratching away the paper’s surface to reveal highlights

Here I make a paper aperture (in this case used tracing paper) which keeps the surround clear of spatter...

Flicking paint across the boar in the direction of its movement adds dynamism and a dose of appropriate grubbiness

The final ‘Running boar’ ref:170920: 170mm x 120mm watercolour on 300gsm Bockingford ‘Gran Fin’ paper. • ORIGINAL FOR SALE £75
© Peter Gander

New pig on the block

Pencil sketch ('scamp') stage for Ham Client  © Peter Gander

This pretty porcine pencil drawing was sketched recently for a client who supplies no less than the Royal Family with the most handsome of hams and grandest of gammons. Those familiar with our piggy portfolio will recognise that the inspiration here was our pink ‘Pig Cuts’ tea towel. The final design will adorn aprons, tea towels and signage and, like every product with a Royal Warrant, one will be shown to Her Majesty for a Royal seal of approval, literally!

Tea towel: Pig cuts

Pig cuts tea towel  © Peter Gander

Another in our range of Have a Gander tea towels featuring a slightly less orthodox-than-usual dividing of the pig’s meat including Sunday Roast and Bacon butties! Hand-painted with brush and ink and coloured digitally.

Sow, board print limited edition 1/10

Sow 1 of 10 board prints © Peter Gander

Following on from yesterday’s painting of the pigs at Snape in Suffolk, I wanted to explore a more gritty texture for the pig and an uncoated board print fits the bill nicely. Board prints (paper/card-based) are ideal for speedy but impressive printmaking. (The small print runs also make them more attractive for collectors). The pig here is cut out jigsaw-style from the background which is also kept for the second colour. The two pieces are then inked up seperately, printing the (pink) pig first ten times then running the printed pig through for the second (background/mud-brown) run. I did try other coloured papers for this, but only a black will reveal important lines, such as her mouth and the shadow under her ear. You have to think in negative values, which is quite tricky as the ‘holes’ become the black areas. You can see why I chose uncoated board for this, as it reveals some great textures you just don’t get with a smooth surface, such as line. The appearance is actually closer to woodgrain than lino. 2-colour oil-based ink on Raven black paper, 1 of a limited edition of 10.

Suffolk sow, Snape

Suffolk sow, Snape © Peter Gander

On the way back home from Orford we spotted this free-range pig farm at Snape, Suffolk. Their bright, chrome-like, corrugated tin huts resembled wartime Anderson shelters amidst a bleak landscape. There were many huge sows like this one snuffling out deep holes in the wet winter earth, looking pretty content. A large, dry brush dragged across the very rough surface of this paper ensures a lovely texture is obtained for the muck and dirt on the sow’s body. Sepia Conté pencil and watercolour on 300gsm Daler Rowney The Langton 100% cotton Forme Ronde (Mould-made) paper.