Good Intentions

Well, so much for good intentions.

Somehow, 2007 slipped by without my achieving what I had hoped, especially spending time in the studio. There were many reasons: the yard and garden took over much of my time over the summer, I had to return to physical therapy with a shoulder and neck problem in the Fall, and I finally HAD to spend time doing the income taxes for 2006.

The most aggravating delay, however, was caused by signing with a new licensing agent in September. She made big promises of success for my art in licensing but then failed to provide me with the information I needed to provide her with images. After three months of trying to pin her down, she cancelled the contract declaring that I'd failed to provide her with enough suitable images! So, there went three months of effort on my part and another lesson learned. Next time I'll ask more questions and make sure that the person actually knows something about the equine art market before I sign on the dotted line.

And now, here it is January again; the beginning of a new year, and I have made new resolutions to do much better this year. We'll see how it goes.

I did manage to get started on one of the two portraits I had on deck last Spring. This is only the preliminary drawing, but it took a lot to get to this point. The photo that the client sent me to work from was taken in shade so was very flat. It was also very small, but the pose was good. Over the summer I managed a photo shoot of Bard in sunlight, but the photos contained a lot of distortion. So, it turned out, did the photo from the client. After many revisions, I managed to get an accurate version that the client is happy with. So, here is Conclusive Bard, a very sweet Quarter Horse who loves to go for trail rides.



The next step is to do a value study before beginning the painting, which is very important since the reference photo is totally flat in values. I promise to have it for you to view by next weekend.