I'm Listening

I have definately gotten away from the habit of taking photos of my paintings as they take shape (and blogging about them) on a regular basis. I suppose it was because most of what I worked on leading up to Christmas were gifts and I didn't want anyone to happen upon their surprise before that special day!
But now that the holidays are a memory, I will do my best to get back in the "groove"! It will have to be on the next project though, because this one is very nearly finished!
While in OKC for the Reining in the Arts show and sale, I had the opportunity to photograph some of the competitors working their horses. It has given me a good selection of subjects to choose from. This painting I am calling "I'm Listening", the horse's ears are back listening intently to what the rider is asking, I had taken several photos of this horse and rider combo and chose this one because of the challenge it represented...as the horse is moving straight ahead the rider has lifted the left rein and asked for the horse to flex at the poll to the left, which puts the horse's head at an angle that allows me to paint the "underside" of the head, the space between the cheeks where the throatlatch ties in as well as the chin. Just a different view than your standard side or front!

The Layers of Lisel

I am gradually adding layers of color to Lisel's coat to get depth before I add any white hairs.

Meet Lisel!

I have been commissioned to paint a 24"x30" portrait of Lisel, she is a Deutsch-Drahthaar, a German hunting dog!

I started with a base of raw sienna mixed with white, I have gone over it several times with mixtures of Burnt Umber, Naphthol Red Light and Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue (the background, that is!). Lisel has had Burnt Umber painted on her darker shadows, a mixture of Raw Sienna and White on some of her lighter areas and I then covered a majority of her in a mixture of Burnt Umber and Naphthol Red Light. She'll have several layers of color to give her depth before I work on adding in the white "guard hairs". The blades of grass on the lower half of the painting will be added "here and there" throughout the process!! (Depends on my mood, I guess!)

Longhorn progress

I have been slacking a bit lately! I have been painting "bits and pieces", but not photographing the steps as often.

The longhorn is progressing nicely. Some days I think to myself "this is easier because it is not someone's special animal, I don't have to get the expression exactly"!! Then a day later I'm thinking "this is not as easy, I don't have a longhorn in my pasture to look at if I am not sure of something that is not real clear in the photograph"!

The Eyes

I have been working on this off and on the last few days. Spent an hour on the eyes Thursday! Will probably still tweak them a little more before it's all said and done.