Bathtime, or Patience Is a Virtue

   I've been working on two commissions lately, and should be starting a third this week. This portrait is to be a gift [if it turns out well] His name , his "barn name" anyway, is Duke. Duke is about 11 years old, and has had a very successful career as a jumper. He's BIG [17 hh.] and extremely personable. I'm painting him for his owner, Barb, who has given me several tactful and much-needed kicks in the ass about my art. Thank you, Barb.

Initial sketch

Mask on, and aureolin wash

More yellow, some carmine [I've not used it before]

More carmine, some indanthrone

Too purple; here painting is, after bath

A glaze of aureolin again

Some burnt orange

More burnt orange, and indanthrone

Masking off; starting to thinly glaze greys

   Duke is a beautiful grey, so to show off the depth and variation of  greys, I needed a dark background. So I started by masking out his head and neck, and doing wash after wash. At one point, I realized I had gone too purple. What to do? That's where the bath came in. I took off as much color as I could, dried it, and started again. I think the background has turned out very well, despite the bath. And now I'm playing with the greys; right now I'm using three mixtures - a warmer yellowed grey, a neutral silver grey, and a cool purple one. Here's the Duke, so far ...

... and I've been painting, too

Original photo

Masked edges, and 1st glazes

Background intensified, masking removed

Colors started with rose and leaves

Finale

   I know lately it seems all I do is chase after chinchillas, and "play" with Bruno. But hey, I work, too [sometimes] I did this rose for the upcoming ShedRow Christmas Fair, to be held this coming Saturday. It's a small [9.5 x 7.5 in.] watercolor, unmatted and unframed. I will be putting the price at $80.00 Cdn. Another post coming tonight.

Chin Mystery Solved, or Bruno's Dilemma

   A the end of this day, it appears it has been one of learning more about the beasties with whom I live. First of all, one may assume from the photo, I have discovered the secret of Baby's  escape route.  He has managed to chew a chinchilla-sized hole through some very dense plastic. My aunt and sister, Barb, were visiting, and they were curious as to how the rascal escapes. So I put him in his "playpen", with cornstarch bath dust and toys. He very happily rolled in the dust for a few minutes, and then ... PRESTO, he was gone. Barb thought she saw a hole, and sure enough there it was, and the chin wasn't. He had a great time blitzing around the living room, then headed into the bedroom. All three of us followed, and closed the door. I wish I'd had a video of the "chase". There we were, three quite adult and supposedly mature women, crawling around on the floor , trying to catch the escapee. Somehow, Baby leapt in front of me, and I caught him. But they are SO fast. There was one point, where he was screaming from kitchen into bedroom, and had to do a 90 degree turn. His front end was scrabbling in the right direction, but his hind end was still going in the original direction - hardwood floors are not the best for sharp turns. Any way, back to the cage he went, and the three of us had a good laugh at Baby and ourselves!
   For the BrunZ, it was a reality check today. For the past several weeks, he's been acting a bit spooky, and he is NOT a spooky horse. Apparently, he's been acting this way to get a rise out of me. I had a lesson with Rhonda, my trainer, today. She is a very good, upbeat person, and always gives the horse all the consideration he/she deserves. While I was longeing the lad, he spooked, and leapt toward me, and in so doing, got the line caught between his left and right legs. I had to let the line go, or he would have dragged me. So he went tearing out of the ring and across the field. I retrieved him, Rhonda closed the gate to the field, and the fun started.
   In his previous life as a pacer at the track, he was taught to GO like a bat out of hell, and win. The civilized niceties of a pleasure horse are not yet quite clear to him. Add that to the fact that he's a bit stubborn and very big, and you could have a problem. "Whoa" does not always mean whoa to Bruno. His reply is "Could we try this in a few minutes?", or "Have your people talk with my people." If you want a safe horse, it MUST halt when you ask for a halt. Sometimes the training, to me, seems a bit extreme. But I've had enough accidents to realize that the training demands are necessary. So on to another lesson tomorrow. Either he will be more compliant, or he'll be loaded for bear.

Just to get an idea of his size

   So that's been my day with the beasties.

Another "Process", or what am I doing up at 2:00 in the morning?

    I've been playing with this for the past few days, between work-time and horse-time. Above is the finished painting. It will measure 11 x 5 inches when matted. Below is the process, from sketch to last fussy glazes.

Initial glazes of aureolin on iris, then mask perimeter, and slop on some very wet washes. Photo taken while still wet.

I have intensified the dark in the background a bit with same colors, and on the iris I've added more yellow, and started to shadow it . For that, I used a very dilute purple/blue glaze.

After 2 washes, I remove the masking fluid. The washes are aureolin, burnt orange and indanthrone blue. 

For the stem and bud, I use phthalo green, with burnt gold and burnt orange, and a purple/orange mix for the bud tip.

Just more depth of shadow and hue. I also lift the warmer shadow on the far right petal, and went to grey instead.

Escaped ... again!

The chin, Baby, eating Shakespeare.

Baby, hiding behind sweatshirt

I don't know what possessed me this morning. I suppose it was that they are so cute and playful early in the day. That, and my congenital belief that all living things have souls, and a desire to be happy. So, I set up their playpen, and let Baby inside. He ran, and rolled in his bath dust,and ... disappeared. I just caught a glimpse of  grey fluff streaking toward the bedroom. I'm doomed!!! He was there, making merry ... scampering around at close to light speed, stopping only for the occasional chew on books, paper, furniture, walls. I can't catch him in a large area; my only option is to let him in the bathroom, and shut the door behind me. Then he's easier to catch. I've read that one can train chins to come to you for a treat, but I think it must be an urban myth. Well, at least he got his dose of culture today!

Seriously contemplating chewing the wall

Playpen, with toys and cornstarch "bath"

Bungee cords and plank to keep the little bugger in

Halloween ... of course

Look ... it's the Travelocity Gnome!

Me, as the Rotten Tooth Fairy, pliers in hand

Showing off my wings

This robot turned and posed for me.

The adorable Magic Unicorn

   I fed Bruno early, and headed over to my sister Barb's new home. She lives in an area that is noted for its celebration of Halloween. I was not disappointed. Houses for several square blocks were decorated to the nines, and there were hundreds of people of all ages and manner of dress wandering the streets. I went out once with my nephew, to talk hockey, weird movies, and take photos. Then, I went out twice more with my niece, as official trick-or-treaters. I LOVE Halloween, and dressing up, but the best I mustered this year was my "Rotten Tooth Fairy" costume; I was surprised at how many people we passed who said,"Look, there's the tooth fairy"!!

A Commission

This is where I am right now.

   I'm working on a painting for a friend of mine. Mike had a hobby farm in Langley, and boarded one or two horses. The painting is of one of the boarders who became a close friend, with her horse. The photos from which I have to work are NOT painter-friendly, so we'll see what can be done.

This is the photo I am using for the pose.

This I'll use for color reference.

I was at this point a few days ago, and found the horse to have too much orange.

I am definitely at the point in a painting where I wonder what I'm doing - really an awkward stage. Let me know what you think of it , so far.