Art and Horses: 2013

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Summer Pasture

"Summer Pasture", 16 x 20 oil on canvas
I thought I would post this summer scene to get our minds off the lingering effects of winter this year. Painted from some reference photos I shot over a year ago, I completed this landscape late last year, and only recently got it into a frame and added to the inventory. It depicts Spyder, a dappled grey quarterhorse that was boarded at our barn briefly, and my two mares are in the background. So many of my equine paintings are large, bold close-ups that are deliberately devoid of background elements. Sometimes I enjoy the practice of painting a landscape of trees. The looseness that is forced upon me having to render a complex dense stand of evergreens and deciduous trees is a refreshing change of pace from the controlled detailed work of the horses.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Winter Work

It's been a prolific month for painting. Cold weather, snow, freezing rain, all makes for long cozy days in the studio. Supplied with a brand new watercolor block, a ten-pack of 11 x 14 stretched canvases, and a few other odd-sized gallerywrap canvases around, I have been able to launch into new work, often with up to five or six pieces in progress at a time. I'll showcase the most recent oils in this post. At the top is an oil sketch of a warmblood mare. My goal here was to keep this piece loose and painterly, and to finish it in two painting sessions. Goal accomplished. It is a challenge to capture light and shadow on such a complex beast as a horse using a bare minimum of brush strokes. I loved the shot I had of this mare, the pose had so much movement, the shadows and reflected light were describing her form perfectly.
Next I completed two more in my flower series. I am enjoying the delicate forms of flowers as much as the living, moving musculature of horses. It is fun to work with colors in my palette that I rarely use in the horse paintings. Here we have two 12 x 12 gallerywrap canvases, of a crabapple blossom and a magnolia flower.

And then it was back to horses. "Arabian Light" is a more tightly finished study than the warmblood, but I wanted to really capture that crisp summer sunlight on this white horse. Seeing this image next to the magnolia makes me want to put together a display of white horses and white flowers.

Monday, January 07, 2013

Sleeping Buddies

"Sleeping Buddies", oil on canvas, 11 x 14 in. It's a new year, and I have started it off with a painting of Pixel and Maizy. These two aren't always so close and cuddly, but occasionally, they put differences aside and share the warmth. There are several new paintings in progress, nearly finished. Some works, like the cats, seem to come together quickly without much fuss. Others I can't stop fiddling with. I would like to start a new painting every day--starting a painting is the most exciting part. Finishing one can almost seem anti-climactic, since it is the process of conceiving and creating a painting that brings me the most joy.
I am not one to make New Year's resolutions, but it is the time of year to start planning the year's schedule of shows, and I must tear myself away from the easel to take care of that business.
Those almost finished equine paintings will be posted soon, but in the meantime, a recently completed panel painting:

Golden-Laced Wyadotte, oil on oval panel, 11 x 14 in.