Deer Sketches and a Workshop

Sketches of Deer -  A doe and fawns

Tomorrow I begin a four day workshop in Traverse City with Kimberley Kelly Santini of the Painting A Dog A Day fame. The subject of the workshop is Color, and since she is an expert in that department, I’m really looking forward to it. 

Another reason I’m looking forward to this particular workshop is that Kim and I have been online friends for about ten years but have never met in person. When we first met, I did a bit of mentoring with her, and now I’m very proud to see that she has far surpassed me in her knowledge and skills and has been very successful with her Dog A Day endeavor and other art pursuits. Plus, she’s a mom to three kids with a very busy family life. I don’t know HOW she does it all!

Since last I posted, I did work on the background of that polo painting, lightening the sky and grass yet again, but the photo didn’t come out any better than my last one of it, so you’ll have to wait to see progress on that painting. 

Instead I’m sharing some sketches I did of deer a month ago. I had just encountered a doe and her twin fawns along the road to the barn, and the image was fresh in my memory. The deer on the left are done completely from memory, but it was obvious I wasn’t getting the anatomy correctly. So I dragged out my how to draw animals books and consulted with them. One had drawings of the skeleton of a deer along with a couple of photos of real deer, and they showed me where I had gone wrong. 

The deer on the right were done after consulting the books, and they turned out way better. Clearly, I have a ways to go to capture deer more accurately, but I was pleased with these drawings nevertheless. 

Okay, I must continue preparations for my workshop tomorrow and look forward to sharing with you some of the paintings I do in class next week. 

Wish me luck!

Appointment With Destiny

“Freehand Horse Sketch”

Sounds pretty dramatic, doesn’t it? It may not be earth shattering to the world at large, but it’s pretty dramatic in my little world. I now have the first appointment to meet with my new mentor, and I can’t wait to see where this will take me, artistically!

One of the things that’s been holding me back from art is the feeling that when I do get back into it seriously my art just won’t be the same as it was. I may not have created much in the past few years, but much has been going on in my brain which is bound to show up on the canvas or paper. The other thing is knowing that I don’t want to do what I WAS doing, but I don’t know what I DO want to do. And, I don’t know how to get there. Does that make any sense?

I DO know that realism will remain my focus, but I’d like to make design a much more conscious part of the process (otherwise known as composition). I KNOW that is one of my weaknesses. An awareness of design is probably the biggest thing I gained during those art school days in commercial art. It applies just as much to fine art painting as it does to good graphic design.

On the one hand is an admiration for the Classical Masters and their time-consuming methods of laying on multiple layers of paint to achieve a very luminous surface. On the other hand, I like creating something in a few hours and having something new to hang on the studio walls and to show to the world on a weekly basis, like those one hour paintings I did a month or so ago.

I love the clear, bright colors of the Impressionists but would like to learn to use more subtlety in selection of a palette. And I definitely don’t like dark, brooding sorts of paintings.

My new mentor was trained in the classical manner in Florence, but he also came of age during the time when abstract expressionism, pop art and op art were at the forefront of the art scene. My hope is that, with all of his varied experiences, he can help me explore and find my individual artistic voice while at the same time teaching me all those technical things about art that would take me years to learn on my own, if I ever did.

Probably most importantly I’m hoping to gain enough self confidence to be able to risk failure and enough discipline to get me into the studio on a regular, if not daily, basis.

Wish me luck!

Ginny Baker - March 1914-March 2009

I didn't really want to write a downer of a blog post, but how can one let the passing of the last parent, particularly a mother, go by without some acknowledgment?

As I mentioned in my last post, my 94 year old mother survived her surgery. Unfortunately, she developed pneumonia and went downhill fast from there. The wonderful doctors and nurses at University Hospitals in Ann Arbor managed to keep her alive until my two sisters arrived from out of state, and then we said our goodbyes and let her go.

I won't dwell on any of the sad stuff, partly because the reality of our loss has yet to really sink in. Instead, wonderful memories are resurfacing as I go through her photos and think back to my childhood and young adulthood. The strained relationship I had with my parents is now ancient history and best forgotten for there is much good to remember and celebrate about my parents.

My mother kept me in endless drawing paper as a kid by bringing home scrap paper from her office job. When I began to explore oil paints, she cut up old window shades for me to paint on and as I got older, I was allowed to buy some real art supplies: pastels, colored inks, real drawing paper, drawing pencils and pens and brushes and watercolors.

My dad took me for my first pony ride when I was about eight, and sometime after that, my mother took me to the old fairgrounds for my first ride on a real horse. The horse was black, and her name was Patsy, and she was VERY TALL! I was both terrified and thrilled at the same time!

When I was about ten, my parents paid for riding lessons every Saturday and did so for the next three years. My mother was even brave enough to go riding with me once although she really had no interest in horses.

When I was twelve, I was allowed to buy my first horse with my own money, and my parents paid the board bills and other expenses for the brief time that I owned Willie. Years later, when I bought my second horse, my parents offered to help with his expenses if I wasn't able to manage them myself. They knew just how much horses meant to me and how important it was to have them in my life again after a thirty year absence.

Without doubt, the most generous, loving thing they ever did for me came after the death of my first husband when I was just 23 years old. They were on sabbatical in Seoul Korea at the time and paid for me to join them during their final months abroad. On the way home, we travelled to many exotic countries, and although I was deep in mourning, it was a trip of a lifetime and one that probably changed my whole outlook on the world.

I'll never know how much it cost my parents for those riding lessons, the board bills and that trip around the world because they never brought it up. But, it had to be considerable.

Having raised two young daughters alone during the Depression, my mother had the very strong opinion that any young girl must prepare herself to earn a living if need be at some time in the future. Art school was discouraged when I graduated from high school as too impractical, so I studied English Literature in college instead. I'm not sure it was any more practical, but at least it met with parental approval.

When I went back to school to study art twenty years later, my parents couldn't have been more supportive or proud. My mother was proud to show off her daughter's paintings to every visitor after she moved into the retirement home, even after she lost her sight and could no longer see them herself.

Among the many gifts my mother gave me, the most important of them were strength of character, consideration for others, self sacrifice, silly humor and how to give parental love.

Thanks for Everything, Mom.

A Rare Day of Sunshine

Most of this winter, this is what we've seen from our kitchen window; dreary, endless whiteness. You can see how deep the snow is on our deck railing and deck in what is turning out to be a good old-fashioned snow filled winter; just like we used to have 10-20 years ago.

Two weeks ago the sun came out for the first time in ages, and I grabbed my camera as I headed out the door for the barn, hoping for a good photo shoot. The horses were too busy eating or dozing to do anything interesting, but I did manage to get some artsy shots anyway.

This is the barn where I board my horse. It's a small private farm that only accepts a few specially selected boarders. The barn sits up on a hill in very hilly country. The driveway can sometimes be a challenge.


Through the big door on the right is the indoor arena, a spacious 72x120 feet. Through the large sliding door on the left are the stalls and roomy tack room.

Here's my horse, Scottie, looking very pudgy and fuzzy in his winter coat.

This is Mellissa, a Hanoverian mare who is something like 17 hands. I liked the backlight in this shot and definitely plan to do something with it; white horse against snow, backlit with maroon blanket. Hmm, could be interesting.

Here's Mel peeking over Jack's back. There are some interesting things going on here and definite possibilities for something more abstract. I'm calling this one "Incognito" for now.

Finally, this is the run in shed in the front paddock. I like the play of shadows across the snow and may do something with this image, too.

I'm definitely ready to start painting again now that the record management chores have been finished for the new year. In fact, as soon as I send this off, I'll be selecting and printing out a snow image to begin work on tomorrow. I can't wait!

Barn Time and Happy Accidents

I spent last Friday afternoon at the barn because it was Spring Checkup day for the horses. It's always quite a social time, too, because usually we three boarders are there along with the barn owner, Shelley. As usual, Scottie was a gentleman for his shots and teeth floating, and I also had the vet do a chiropractic adjustment on him. This time there were no major issues found although his left hip was locked up and his ankles were stiff from a winter of bracing on the icy hillside which leads up to the barn in the winter turnout.

Afterward I rode for half an hour, and Scottie definitely had more spring in his step and was very responsive to my aids, clumsy as they are. I told the vet that my ride had been "cushy" compared to before. But now I'm the one who needs working on because I'm so out of shape for riding that I'll never be able to manage trail rides this summer if I don't do something about it. It's back to the exercise program that will also include more regular riding again. This past winter I basically hibernated and didn't go anywhere unless absolutely necessary. I guess I needed that time to regroup and recuperate after last year's unpleasant events.

And then there was the Happy Accident I discovered when going through the photos I took last week at the beach. We artists talk about Happy Accidents in our work which usually involves messing up what we intended to do but having it come out better but in an unexpected way. This time the accident was in my photos. I'd been aware of one lonely gull hanging around hoping for a handout, and in one photo (see above) he flew by leaving a lovely shadow of himself in the sand. You can't see him against the foam of the surf, but there's that shadow to betray his presence.

I probably won't use this in my Horse Gift painting, but it will have to go in some future painting for sure. Speaking of the Horse Gift painting, I'm coming along on that and have been designing my waves. With luck, by the end of the day I should have it all traced onto the panel and can at long last begin painting! With all this preliminary work done, I'm hoping it will practically paint itself.

Mother's Day and Springtime Rites

Things have gotten busy in the past few weeks, and it's been nearly impossible to get back into the studio. That doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking about art and making plans. I'm still pondering, for instance, what to do about the background for Bard's portrait and how to fix his muzzle area which is still bothering me. I did some experimenting in Photoshop and think I have a plan for the next time I sit down to paint him, though, so that's progress, even if it isn't visible.

Last weekend I drove down to Ann Arbor to visit my mother in her nursing home for Mother's Day. I got in a nice visit with my daughter as well who took me out to dinner on Saturday night. We went to an Italian restaurant on Main Street and had delicious Lasagna made from all fresh ingredients. I don't remember the name; Pinalo's or something like that. But I do remember that the building used to house the Quality Bakery when I was growing up; one of the best bakeries in Ann Arbor. They had absolutely yummy molasses cookies that my mother would buy occasionally.

Ann Arbor has changed a lot since we moved "up north" 37 years ago, but I'm glad that my daughter loves it there and that I can visit her periodically and take trips down Memory Lane. A2, as we natives call it, offers her a lot more opportunities for the things she's interested in than northern Michigan does. I just wish that she'd find a nice boy and get married. She's 32, by the way.

The drive home on Monday was a delight. Maybe thanks to high gas prices, the traffic was unusually light for a weekday, especially the truck traffic between Flint and A2 which is usually the worst section of the drive. And the road construction barely slowed anyone down now that MDOT has a new system for construction zones. We have a saying here; Michigan has two seasons; Winter and Road Construction. As soon as the snow is gone, out come the construction barrels and signs which remain until the snow flies again.

After leaving the flatlands around Saginaw/Bay City and south, I headed into the hill country and spent a lot of time observing the colors of the landscape made by the various species of trees and underbrush as they leafed out. There was a surprising variety ranging from the usual lime greens to beiges, soft oranges and muted reds, punctuated here and there by trees full of white blossoms. Cresting the tops of hills presented me with vistas of more hills receding into the distance and gave me more painting data to store away in my memory banks for future paintings.

Much as I would have liked to, I couldn't sit down and paint these scenes when I got home. As usual, I hit the ground running to catch up on laundry, bills, paperwork and other duties. And now there's the yard and flower beds to deal with. Most of one day was spent in raking the last of the leaves out of the beds, cutting back perennials that hadn't been cut in the fall, pruning broken or dead branches and various other Spring gardening chores. It's time to make plans for this year's projects and head for the nurseries for new shrubs and flowers! That's almost as exciting as visiting an art supply store.

Since I don't have any new art to share with you, today's first image is one from Mother Nature. These are my Chorus LIne daylilies from last summer; the ones that the deer didn't eat. If I paint these, I think I'll title it "Captive Beauty".

The second image is of the flower beds I built last summer with our fountain installed as the focal point. This makes a lovely spot to sit and look out onto the yard and flower beds while enjoying the cool shade of the large Beech tree on a hot, sunny day. It won't be long now before those days will be back, frost warnings not withstanding!

A Stormy Day in the Studio

Today was a perfect day to stay home and get something accomplished. We've been under a winter storm warning since last night when temperatures dropped from 44 degrees to a low of 7 this morning. The wind howled all night and continues to do so today although we aren't getting much snow. I love stormy days in winter and the cozy warmth of the house, knowing that my horse is safe and also warm in the barn where I board him.

So, today after washing some really grimy saddle pads in the laundry tub, I got back to work on the portrait of Bard. I thought it was going to be an easy portrait, but it hasn't turned out that way. After tracing the line drawing onto some drawing paper, I began the shading process and immediately things went south. Bard didn't look like Bard anymore! How could that be? So today I studied and studied all the reference photos, made a change here and another there and gradually Bard reappeared in the image. 

When you're doing a portrait and trying to get an exact likeness, a very small change can make a big difference. My challenge in doing this value study is to keep the light source consistent at the same time I remain faithful to Bard's facial features. He has a typical Quarter Horse head but it's also on the lean side. Getting the shadows and highlights in exactly the right places is very important to getting a good likeness. Since I don't have a reference photo in sunlight from exactly the same angle as the pose my client wanted me to use, this has been a real mental exercise.

Above you can see how far I've gotten up to today. The photo isn't very good because I neglected to check the camera settings and shot it at a slight angle, but it will have to do until the next update. Click on the thumbnail to see the larger image on my website (if I can figure out how to do that).