Art - Clara van Staden

I have been drawing and painting since I was a little child. It is an interest that has stayed with me since then, save for some gaps (like during university and busy work projects). I have recently felt some affinity to triangles and have started bounding my drawings inside them.

The triangles you see below are quite small – 5cm X 4cm. I enjoy that I can create them with great detail, but also quite quickly. For me, Quickly = Finished Project, as artworks done in multiple sittings often don’t get completed…

I have finally gotten around to creating a dedicated art website! I’m selling some limited edition prints, if you are interested.

clara.create

Thank you for following in 2022! 🎉 Here’s the

Thank you for following in 2022! 🎉 Here’s the 20 drawings I made in the last year. Looking forward to a creative 2023. 🫶
#smallart #petportrait #colourpencilart #miniatureart #2022art

34/100 Benji Benji stole his mom's heart when she

34/100 Benji
Benji stole his mom's heart when she least expected it, as her first feline child. I whitened Benji's footsies since on the photo they were dirty from some shenanigans in the garden. 😂What lovely gray tones this little boy has.😍I say this everytime, but it's so good to get cat orders every now and then. Now when am I going to get the first horse or bird order... 😉
#petportrait #colourpencil #miniatureartist #detailedart #catartwork #illustragram

I'm so excited about sharing more progress photos

I'm so excited about sharing more progress photos with you. 🤩Thanks to a new checkbox on my website, I now know which orders I can safely share without annoying my clients. 😂This is what is on my table at the moment. I'm using my new Derwent Drawing set's Wheat colour for the base colour - it's lovely and soft! A new favourite for blonde animals. I am also using a Caran D'Ache Pablo Cream, although it's super light and a bit hard to see on the photo. Stay tuned for progress. 😉💛
#colourpencil #smallart #petportraiture #artprocess #artwip #dogartwork

I never thought I'd settle on colour pencils as a

I never thought I'd settle on colour pencils as a medium. When I think of colour pencils I think back to grade 1 where we coloured apples bright red until the pencil tips broke off. 😂
My prismacolor set of 150 pencils changed my mind. The quality and vibrancy is incredible. Pencil strokes for fur works really well and I am so happy I ventured into this direction.
1 & 2) This is how I select colours before I start a new artwork. I easily use 20+ colours in one drawing.
3) My current collection of coloured pencils: Prismacolour Premier, Faber-Castell Polychromos and Derwent Drawing sets.
3) Must see all the rainbow colours together! 🌈
#colourpencilartist #polychromos #prismacolors #derwent #artprocess

33/100 Zucchini 🤍 Zucchini makes the cutest ex

33/100 Zucchini 🤍
Zucchini makes the cutest expressions! This is a photo of her "sniffing air" pose. I don't often get orders for cats (come on guys, cat moms and dads! 😉) so I savoured this adorable kitty face. Thank you @sighmin for this double order. I was so sorry to hear that Zucchini passed away a few weeks ago. 💔May your hearts heal so that only the warm memories of Zucchini remains.
#petportraiture #colourpencil #smallsart #miniatureart #catartwork

Progress shots and videos of Pikachu. 🐶 #small

Progress shots and videos of Pikachu. 🐶
#smallart #arttimelapse #colorpencils #colourpencildrawing #miniatureartist #artprocess

32/100 Wiki Wiki is a fruitarian. She isn't inter

32/100 Wiki
Wiki is a fruitarian. She isn't interested in meat, but adores fruit, especially melon. In this portrait, Wiki is seen in her natural habitat, licking a pomegranate. When not licking a variety of fruits, Wiki can be found curled up on the couch, making a magnificent nap.
Drawing such a delightfully spunky picture was a treat, thank you @sighmin.

This is how I frame artworks. 🖼️ #smallart #

This is how I frame artworks. 🖼️
#smallart #miniatureartist #colorpencildrawing #framing #progress #arttimelapse

31/100 Basil @markforrester's second furbaby! I'm

31/100 Basil
@markforrester's second furbaby! I'm still finding curly fur challenging, but improving on every portrait. Basil's tongue sticking out was so fun to draw - so cute and playful. A rare opportunity to use red pencils too. A super fun portrait, thanks for your order Mark!

A tour of my workspace! 🖤 #artistworkspace #be

A tour of my workspace! 🖤
#artistworkspace #behindthescenes #howiwork #smallart #miniatureartist #petportraitsofinstagram

30/100 Jamie I often dream about clients that I w

30/100 Jamie
I often dream about clients that I would love to work with. On the top of my list is @timferriss, @lorraineloots, @kelseywells - all admired for their career but also for their beautiful pets. 😉 Not far behind is @markforrester, whose furchild Jamie can be seen here. I know Mark from my professional work as a software engineer through working at Over. Mark was an early investor in Over and co-founder of the incredibly successful WooCommerce WordPress plugin (which you have used if you've bought anything on my website, by the way). Mark is also a fantastic photographer and gave me stunning photos to work with. An absolute pleasure, thank you for your order Mark!

One year of Clara Create! 🎂One year of many bea

One year of Clara Create! 🎂One year of many beautiful animals, lots of pencils and many many hours of drawing.😊
Thank you for being here with me, your support has brought me to this point a year later. 🥰
#petportraitsofinstagram #colorpencilart #miniatureartist #smallart #petlovers

29/100 Lilly A rare cat portrait! 🐱🐈 What a

29/100 Lilly
A rare cat portrait! 🐱🐈 What a delightful photo to work from too. Thank you for your order @samtraut, I loved capturing your babies. 😘
Yoh! What a month so far. Our little family has been sick without a break this last two months, with the latest being me, finally catching covid after dodging it for 2 years. 😷 As soon as I am better I will complete the 4 orders I have left and then I can open my books again. 🤗

When I heard that @lorraineloots was finally exhib

When I heard that @lorraineloots was finally exhibiting her incredible work in South Africa, Fred and I decided to do an impulsive one night in Cape Town. You can't help but marvel at Lorraine's unparalleled precision and skill. And she is such a lovely person too (I mean, she endured my starstruck gawking 😂)!
It has been the highlight of my year so far, and I am encouraged to improve as a miniaturist and an artist. 🔍

28/100 Jamie The first Jamie of the month! Workin

28/100 Jamie
The first Jamie of the month! Working in grays is my favourite, there's so much subtle softness to be captured. 🤍 I've recently learnt that warm and cold grays complement each other beautifully. @bonnysnowdonacademy taught me this. 🤗
On a personal note, it's been a long week! Roland caught flu, and we've had to cancel going to Cape Town for a friend's wedding, missed his friend's 2nd birthday, and stayed at home over the long weekend. Roland has had great health so far and it's difficult to see him so sick. Hopefully he will be better soon and our routine can go back to normal. 🤗
I nearly threw away a competed portrait yesterday! 😲😬it just didn't look good enough and I felt I had to redo it. Luckily I waited, had another look, and then tweaked it a bit. Now it looks better! Sharing that one soon. ☺️

Sets! 🐈🐈‍⬛🐕🐩Multiple portraits for

Sets! 🐈🐈‍⬛🐕🐩Multiple portraits for one order are special opportunities to create a beautiful set of artworks.
A challenge that comes with drawing sets is that each drawing needs to be beautiful in its own right, while still completing each other and presenting a coherent look.
Here are some of the considerations I take into account while working on sets:
1. Size: The figures need to be more or less the same size and at the same height on the paper. I usually look at the bottom of the page as an achor, so for example, both figures should be 5cm from the bottom of the page.
2. Colour: There should be some consistent colour between the portraits, even if the animals are different colours. Raw umber and Bister are my go-to colours for some similar hues.
3. Lightning: the light should be more or less the same kind of light. For example, one artwork with hard, artifical light and the other portrait with soft, natural light will not work well together , even if it would be fine on a single portrait.
I hope this gives you an idea of the thinking that goes into sets! I'm happy to answer any questions, if you have any. 💛

27/100 Jada I naughtily squeezed this gift into m

27/100 Jada
I naughtily squeezed this gift into my drawing list. 😉 This one was sent all the way to the US, for my friend @picture.ilke. The warm, orangey hues were so lovely to work with. Ilke and her busband are talented photographers and naturally their beautiful photo gave a beautiful result. 💛

I love it when you place a framed order! It just f

I love it when you place a framed order! It just feels extra special to send a well-rounded artwork off to its new home. 🥰 These Kiaat frames complements the warm, earthy tones of fluffy coats. 🐈🐕
As a side note, you can tell more or less the timing of these works by looking at my nails. 😂💅
I would love to know your favorioute portrait out of these!
Ps. Scroll to the end for an Easter egg, a rare artwork of something other than a pet.

26/100 Emma Well... Mrs Emma Woodhouse, to be exa

26/100 Emma
Well... Mrs Emma Woodhouse, to be exact. 😉 Emma isn't much larger than her portrait, but she has a big heart and loves her mummy very much. Her outfit was particularly fun to draw. I played around with pink hues to my heart's content, a rare occurrence to use some purples too!
I've been a little lazy with my Instagram account. 😬 You can expect to see me about 3 times a week, and if you don't hear from me please prod me gently so I can keep at it. 😂 I have been following a course by @dinabrodsky - Insights for Artists. It has great tips for creating an engaging Instagram for Artists, can really recommend it. (Dina if you read this, I haven't gotten to the Hashtag section yet, so forgive my possibly bad use of hashtags 😂).
Anyhoo, see you soon! 👋
#a100furryfriends #petportrait #petportraitbyclara #art #drawing #prismacolor #illustration #artist #colorpencil #sketching #madeinsouthafrica #draw #instaart #fineart #artistoninstagram #artlovers #artoftheday #artreception #artshow #yesprismacolor #artgallery #artstudio #gift #creative #instaartist #instaartoftheday #artistsofinstagram #dog #dogsofinstagram #polychromospencils

Time-lapse of drawing a cat eye for a client order

Time-lapse of drawing a cat eye for a client order. 🐱👀 I love how it looks really weird and then comes together at the end. I usually keep the reference photo on my phone, but now i used my phone for the time-lapse, and put the reference photo on my external monitor - a bit of an adjustment.
#timelapse #timelapsevideo #workinprogress #art #drawing #eyedrawing #cat #catart #coloredpencilportrait #colorpencil #polychromos #petportrait

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