SO FAR ... Works-in-Progress ...

Voodoo is getting some background - permanent rose and quin. burnt orange.

Right now, I am in the process of darkening it. I'm sure I'll have to intensify the shadows on his head as well.

I used this as a reference photo for the class yesterday.

Again, I masked what I wanted white, in this case the few balsam standing at the edge of the pond. I wet  the paper thoroughly, and applied aureolin, alizarin crimson and cobalt blue, then sprayed and let the colors blend on their own. I did a second similar wash, using quin. gold instead of aureolin. Then I covered the sky and water with scrap watercolor paper, and spattered gold, quin. burnt orange, alizarin crimson and cobalt blue, and then sprayed to let them flow together.

Here, I have removed the masking, and am working on the trees, and getting some strategic dark shadows around the focal area.

That's it for now. The sun is shining warmly and invitingly, and Bruno awaits! He is in serious shedding mode - hair flying everywhere.

Thank you so much for dropping by!

I Think This Will Work ...

This was a study only, to give me a chance to work out colors and background. I've decided to put in the part of his body showing beyond the head and neck; originally it looked rather awkward, but seems OK here. The shadows of the horse will be variations of lavenders and greys, using quin. red, quin. burnt orange and cobalt blue. For the more intensely colored areas, I will use indanthrone blue in the mix instead of cobalt blue. I like the background I did for Pat Elliott's Missy, and I am going to do something similar here, using quin. red, quin. burnt orange and cobalt blue again, pinker on the upper left and bluer on the lower right. I may take a bit of that into the body and lower neck, to give them a bit of a receding look. And yes, I did get a bit heavy-handed with the orange along his neck. :)
I have been sick thinking about this all day, and I hate to have to write it, but Desi is not doing well. Barring a miracle, and I'm all for those, she will have to be put to sleep when she becomes too uncomfortable. My sister is trying Floressence; it can't hurt, and might help. What else can I say???

As always, your comments are most welcome.