Continuing on!

As I work my way around this painting (back to front, clockwise)! It kind of feels like a spiral. I have blocked in a base color on the rider's arms, will concentrate on that and her shirt over the next few days, with the occasional dab at the reins. As I move forward the horse's head, bridle, mane, forelock and tail will be last.

Shades of gray

As I work my way across the chest I realized I have only 4 colors of paint on my pallette! White, black, payne's gray and raw umber! That will change when I get to the rider's bare arms and the horse's pink nose...but the majority of this painting will be shades of gray!

Moving right along!

I am working from front to back and right to left on this one! I am pretty happy with how the rider's leg and stirrup look, though before it's all finished I am sure I will make subtle changes! Headed into the horse's chest and will then probably work on the rider before doing the neck, head and bridle.

Payne's Gray Background

I have used Payne's Gray for the background, not that there is going to be much background showing! Laying down some base coats in Payne's gray, Mars black, a little Raw umber and some white. I have started playing with the dappling on the horse's barrel behind the rider's leg. A long, long way to go!

One last little change

I made just a few minute corrections on the "Bailey" painting. She now has her 1st coat of varnish, 2 more to go then 3 days to dry and she will be ready to go to her new home.

Calling her "finished"

After many small touches and adding the whiskers, I am going to say this painting is pretty much finished. I will send a pic of it to the customer and if she approves, it will be varnished and headed to it's new home.

Getting closer!

She is starting to look like "Bailey"! Now I am at a point where I just add layers and layers in varying shades, and soften and blend and tweak and stare and stare and stare! Then walk away for awhile and come back and do it all over again!

Background

Playing around with more background to take up some of the expanse of blue to the left.

More layers

I have had some time to work on this painting...adding more layers to the horse's coat to darken it and give it depth. Put a thin coat of payne's gray on the bridle, glove and boot also.

Back to work

Well, this painting hasn't been moving very far very fast! But I will have more time to commit to it now that I have quit my mid-day stall mucking job, so stay tuned....I shall start making progress on it regularly!

A new one on the easel

Starting a new painting! Using a photo I had taken in OKC at the NRHA Futurity for reference, this was a yearling filly on the lunge line....she was a gorgeous blood bay and she was full of spit and vinegar! Bucking and playing, really fun to watch! I have her drawn onto a 48" tall by 24" wide canvas, am still trying to decide what color my background is going to be. With the temp outside pushing 70 today...I think I will tack my mare up and maybe get inspired!

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!

Medicine Hat Finished

I think I am pretty much finished with this painting! I entered it in the Oklahoma Art Guild's "Reining in the Arts", a juried show and sale that is taking place at the National Reining Horse Association Futurity in OKC, OK the 1st of December. Won't know until November 15th if it will be accepted.

Animal Tracks

I have kind of bounced all over this painting today! Worked on the chest, laid down some base colors for the mane, tweaked one of the eyes just a little bit, and played with the animal tracks!

Playing with Color

I just couldn't resist...I had to put some color on the border! I thought I would work on the border when I had the horse finished, but I just couldn't help myself!

My original plan was to have the animal prints in the "saddle tan" color, but my husband mentioned that it would be kind of neat if I could make them look like indentations. I played with the deer track a little, still needs some more work, but I think I can get that look.

Muzzle

I have been working on the muzzle and the eyes, more to do on both, but I am happy with how it is progressing.

I was asked today "why the animal tracks?". I wanted to give this painting a Native American "flavor" and all of God's creatures seem to hold special meanings to the Indians. I pulled a book out of my library the other day "Horse Color" ( a complete guide to horse coat colors ), and found it interesting that the Medicine Hat Paint and the War Bonnet Paint were thought by some tribes of American Indians to have supernatural powers, many believed that warriors on "medicine hat" paints could not be wounded in battle!

As I read about this particular coat pattern, I think that Doc would actually be considered a "war bonnet" paint. The medicine hat, though predominately white, does have some body patches called "war shields". The war bonnet paint has very little, if any, markings on the body.

Sheebee is Finished

She's finished...I am really happy with how it turned out, just love the muzzle!

Sheebee

I was going through my photos looking for something to catch my eye "on canvas"! Came across this one of Sheebee, an Arab cross mare, she had a sweet face and a kind eye that I thought would look good on blue.

This painting is 18" x 24" x 1" deep. Still has a ways to go, but I am happy with how it is progressing.

Lisel-Ready to be Varnished

She is officially finished! All that is left to do is to put on 2 coats of varnish and give it several days to dry.

The Longhorn is finished

Finally!