Seaside characters for Putterfingers.co.uk

1 of 9  © Peter Gander 2013

Commission for www.putterfingers.co.uk a Suffolk-based mini-golf company. 1 of 9. Original: Ink  and watercolour on 300gsm The Langton Grain Fin paper.

Washingborough Hall commission

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The pavilion in the morning sunshine

Straight into drawing out the Pavilion in permanent pen, so no room for any mistakes!

The fountain, known as ‘The lady in the park’

The lady and ‘Washy Hall’ as it’s affectionately known

‘Washy Hall’  © Peter Gander 2013

Pavilion  © Peter Gander 2013

‘Lady in the park’  © Peter Gander 2013

The dovecote  © Peter Gander 2013

Composite image of the day’s output  © Peter Gander 2013

I posted a painting of a French chateau I painted during a holiday recently and it was seen on Facebook by an owner of Washingborough Hall in Lincolnshire, UK. She asked me if I took commissions and last week I drove 200 miles north, and during a beautifully warm September day, I produced this set of paintings for her. Watercolour and permanent pen on Winsor & Newton 300gsm Grain Fin paper.

Inked ‘Cockerel’

The final illustration  © Peter Gander 2013

A new www.haveagander.biz addition to the ‘Menagerie’ series of hand-painted animals which we make into rubber stamps and hand-print onto greetings cards.

Blackboard for Rosie’s Wedding

Our client Rosie had a 'thing' about chalk on blackboards. But not so much the usual phobia of nails being scraped down a blackboard, but rather a distaste for chalk itself. But she wanted a blackboard for wedding guests nevertheless, so we suggested the very chalky-looking 'gouache-paint-on-black' approach. It worked a treat and here are the work-in-progress pics. The blackboard was seen just at the entrance to the church on the big day.

Conference pear

‘Conference pear’  © Peter Gander 2013

Before I ate this Conference pear I was taken by its textured skin and so took to painting it first! My piece of broken wax candle served to impart the texture via washes of watercolour over subsequent wax resist marks. Extra linear marks and white highlight were added with blue, sepia and white Conté sticks. Watercolour on The Langton 300gsm (rough) paper.

‘Alias Smith & Jones’ hand-lettered image for Photo Mosaic

Typical Photo Mosaic  © Fiona Howarth

‘Hand-lettering Western style’  © Peter Gander

The top pic is one of my wife Fiona’s ‘Photo Mosaics’. A tessellated square of many squares, they are given as gift to loved ones to celebrate birthdays and suchlike and are comprised of the tiniest detail to the big things in life. They are part photo, part scanned original art. Fiona does the photographic squares and I paint mini originals for the remaining ‘favourite TV programmes, brand of jeans/custard’, etc. Some come along that are really nice to do, such as the ‘Alias Smith & Jones’ panel, above. The original lettering was rendered in pencil and watercolour on paper as it the paint can have a lovely inconsistency when used in a ‘scrubbing’ fashion. This was later superimposed onto a scan of driftwood that I had, with transparency allowing the background through slightly. 

‘Thank You’ swallow gift tag art

Swallow Thank You’ tag  © Peter Gander 2013

Today I adapted the artwork of our ‘Swallow’ card www.notonthehighstreet.com/haveagander/product/hand-printed-swallow-card to customise it for a ‘Thank You’ gift tag & card. Original: The swallow image and new banner were hand-drawn in black ink with a brush and scratch (dip) pen.

Drawing the new banner with scratch pen  © Peter Gander 2013

© Peter Gander 2013

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!

Hand-painted Easter eggs

‘Freckly Ed’  © Peter Gander 2013

A trio of hen eggs  © Peter Gander 2013

The banner on the reverse of the middle egg  © Peter Gander 2013

The ‘Clarence Court’ crown emblem

The egg sits on a steadying ring made of BluTac

Resting my hand on a higher-than-the-egg surface for a steady and comfortable position

The BluTac ring is slightly stick as well as malleable, so holds the egg firmly

What could be more fitting than a handcrafted egg as a gift for Easter? The pastel-blue egg on the outer edges are ‘Clarence Court’ Old Cotswold Legbar eggs. The centre one has been painted with black ink, left to dry then painted again in white gouache, with letters added in the white banner with black ink.

Cheeseboard detail shots

© Peter Gander 2013

© Peter Gander 2013

© Peter Gander 2013

© Peter Gander 2013

© Peter Gander 2013

Close-up shots of our 'Cheese, glorious cheese' cheeseboard.

‘Cheese Glorious Cheese’ cheeseboard

‘Cheese Glorious Cheese’ melamine cheeseboard  © Peter Gander 2013

Perfect for proffering a slab of ‘Stinking Bishop’, or a Kentish blue cheese, or whatever strikes your cheese-loving fancy. This is our new ‘Have a Gander’ cheeseboard, hand-drawn in Kent by yours truly and printed in Great Britain on melamine in classic British pub ‘chalk and blackboard’ style. Available soon on Etsy (International) and Folksy (UK) under ‘Have a Gander’ and for sale from the artist himself this week at Country Living’s Spring Fair at The Business Design Centre, Islington, London, UK Wednesday 20th March to Sunday 24th March 2013.