Another New Oil Painting

"Recumbent" 9x12 new oil painting

It’s been so cold and stormy this winter that none of us have been riding much in the past two months. In fact, I haven’t been going to the barn much at all, even to check on Scottie. However, last Saturday the farrier was coming, and I never miss that if I can help it. 

Not only did Scottie get a pedicure but also a thorough grooming and his stretches which he loves. Stretches means lots of treats and you’d better be quick with them, too! Afterward, I turned him loose in the arena without his blanket, and like any self-respecting horse, he had a good roll. It must have felt really good to roll in the sand without his blanket on, and he made the most of the opportunity. 

I had brought my camera and caught some good roll sequences as well as other pictures. The photo above is the start of a new painting from one of those photos. So far it’s only traced onto a canvas board, and this time I tried something new; I drew over the pencil lines with ink in hopes of preserving the lines better. 

The reference photo for the new oil painting of my horse, Scottie

My original intent was to do this as a quick painting and enter it into an online show at the end of this week, but time is just too short, so I’ve decided to wait and  take my time with it. I love the flow of lines in the image and think it could make a good painting if I do it right. The working title is “Recumbent” for now. I’m hoping that something more catchy will come to me later. 

A snowy day

The photo of Scottie coming into the barn shows how pretty the snowfall was that day, and I think this view will also make a good  painting. 

The other two paintings that I worked on a few weeks ago are waiting their turn on the studio wall.Each needs a long block of time for the next session, and I just haven’t had it or felt like it while battling a stubborn sinus infection for the past two weeks. 

Since it’s income tax prep time, I may not be able to get in the studio much for a while, but I certainly will try. 

Winter Storm Musings

Good morning, everyone! At least it's morning for the next two minutes.

We're under a winter storm watch today with roaring winds and snow going sideways and bitter cold temperatures. Just the kind of day when you're glad if you can stay inside where it's cozy and warm.

Today's image is a cloud study I did for my hunter pace painting a couple of years ago. It will have to do because I don't have anything new to show you. Besides, it turned out really well, and I really like it.

I've just about come to the inevitable conclusion that the dead of winter (January and February) are just not ever going to be productive months for artwork. Every year I think I'll get a lot done during this period, but it rarely happens. What with all the year end business stuff to take care of which is swiftly followed by preparing stuff to send to the accountants for income taxes, there's little time left. Between my husband's business, my art business and my mother's tax stuff, there is just a LOT to do during this time.

Yesterday I spent journaling about this and other issues which brought me to this realization. Frankly, it's a relief to admit this to myself and stop stressing over not creating and not having anything new to post to my blog and website. Besides, it saves me from wracking my brain trying to think of clever, witty things to say on the blog.

Another outcome of the journaling was that I reaffirmed in my mind what I've been feeling in my gut for months now. I need to become a hermit and just concentrate on rediscovering the joy of painting and drawing without the stresses of any kind of marketing or peer pressures. So, that's what I'm going to do and not worry about not entering any AAEA shows for yet another year or not placing any print ads for the third year in a row.

I'm now working with a long distance mentor, and I hope to begin working soon with a local mentor with classical training. That is a pretty exciting prospect! I have ideas for studies to do and for quick, one day works of art that I will share with you if they aren't too awful.

All that will probably have to wait until the tax stuff is taken care of, but I will allow some time each week for artwork regardless. After all, one has to address the spiritual side of oneself as well as the mundane and practical.

And, finally, a big congratulations to those equine artist bloggers who were awarded blog awards by their peers. Sadly, I wasn't among them which probably is an indication that I need to make some changes in what and how I post.

Winter Scotch - Finishing The Horse

I'm not a fan of getting older, but my body has other ideas. Since the beginning of the year, I've been exercising regularly which is something I haven't done for a long time. One day I do leg exercises and the next I do shoulder and neck exercises. These were all prescribed by the physical therapist for various injuries and the arthritis I have in my neck and shoulders. Unfortunately, this week I suffered a setback when my shoulders and neck pretty much seized up, and I could barely lift hand to mouth to feed myself. (that might be a good thing if it weren't so painful!) Lifting my saddle around to clean it was just too painful to even contemplate, so it still sits in the laundry room in pieces as does the bridle.

Clearly, a change in strategy is in order.

My horse is advancing in years also and has been lame in the hind end for over a month now. He had his second chiropractic adjustment on Friday and will soon be going on a joint supplement. I ordered a quarter sheet from Dover last week which I hope will help him to warm up safely when we ride which I should be doing more often, for his benefit and mine. He's now wearing his winter blanket since we've had so much sub and near zero weather of late, and I'm sure he appreciates that immensely, even though he gets it dirty by taking his morning roll in the arena after his breakfast grain. He'll be 24 on April 15.

Several years ago I decided that when Scottie can no longer be ridden, I will quit riding. At this point, I'm not sure which of us will give out first!

Yesterday, I was recovered enough to work on this painting again and managed to pretty much finish the horse last night. Although he could use some adjustments, I'm so happy with how he turned out that I'm debating whether or not to just finish up the background and call the painting finished. The horse looks just like Scottie, and this painting will remain in my collection no matter what.

It's time to start thinking of what to work on next.

Winter Scotch - The Horse

In today's painting session I tackled the horse and almost finished him.

You know how horses look like plush toys in winter with their long coats, especially when the fur stands on end on a cold day? Well, that's the look I'm aiming for with this horse. One problem I encountered was that in the reference the horse is dirty from rolling in the indoor arena, so that confuses his form, making it hard to tell what is highlight on the coat and what is dirt. So, I had to go with what I know.

There isn't much left to do on this painting, but I may not be able to paint tomorrow. That's frustrating. But, my saddle and bridle need cleaning before I go riding in the afternoon.

Winter Scotch - A Little Progress

I confess to getting side tracked from the studio over the weekend by setting up a business page on Facebook. From all that I hear, Facebook is the new place to be, even for businesses, and now I have my own presence there. Please take a look and maybe even become a "fan" to receive news every time the page is updated.

Today it was back to work on this one. I repainted the sky and then put in the distant hills and trees. The sky looks much better now that it is evened out, and it has more depth. The hills took some doing to get them just right. I wiped them off a couple of times before coming up with a design that works and discovered that less is more when it comes to the over all composition. Those faraway trees were done with a 10/0 brush and great care, and I'm pretty happy with them. I like painting trees.

It's amazing what a few touches can do. The landscape really came to life today, and now I'm ready to paint the horse and give him some life, too.

Horse In Winter - Day Two

Exciting is the best way to describe today's work session! I love to begin the color stage of any painting, so after dispatching the obligatory daily household chores, I headed into the studio and squeezed out a nice assortment of colors on the palette.

Too bad that you can't see them yet. It's too early in the process, and today I was mostly playing around with the background, keeping the paint very thinned down. First I brushed a layer of Cadmium Yellow Light over the whole surface, but it was so diluted with Gamsol that it showed up as only a whisper. After that, I painted some sky and then did the initial layer of white (tinted with a hint of blue) snow.

Now I was ready to get really wild with color and brushed some pink and lavender into the snow to see how they would look. YOU can't see them, but they ARE there, and will probably be added again at a later stage. If you take photos of snow, you'll quickly notice that it's not pure white. On a sunny day, it reflects the blue of the sky and yellow tones from the sun's rays. Like white horses, you can work a lot of colors into snow and still have it be believable.

Most of the session was spent on painting the first layer of color on the horse and making adjustments to him. I adjusted his top line quite a bit, moving the withers back slightly, moving the croup back slightly and giving it less slope. I also added just a bit to the hindquarters, giving the horse much more balance and making him look much more like my Scottie. As the painting progresses, there will be other tweaks to make, such as to the left front and hind legs, but he is good for now.

It feels SO good to be giving more priority to the artwork each day, and so rewarding to have a new painting in progress. If this painting isn't dry enough to work on tomorrow, I just may start another new painting. Hmmm, what shall it be?