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.

drawing on canvas

Once I have chosen a photo to work from, I have it enlarged to an 8" x 10" and measure off 4" x 8", I then draw a grid on the photo of 1" squares, on my canvas I draw a grid of 6" squares. On such large works I find it much easier to draw each square, it keeps my drawing in proportion easier! My small works I just sketch looking at the photo without a grid. Once drawn in pencil, I then go over my drawing with a black permanent sharpie marker.

Layout

This could be totally boring to some, but I thought it might be fun to let you follow along as I paint!

I have been commissioned to do a 48" x 24" painting of a friend's dressage horse. His name is Mateo and he is an absolutely beautiful black horse! I have taken numerous photos of him and earlier this month was able to catch him on a sunny Oklahoma morning in an outdoor arena during a Sarah Martin clinic (she is a dressage trainer from Colorado that is wintering in Tennessee).

I chose this particular photo because I liked how his right hind leg was crossing over and the fact that he had his ears pricked forward. I had pictured him in my mind on a light blue background. When I talked with Jan, I asked her if she had a preference for background color...she said she really liked the color of the sky that day...YES!!