Once Again, with Feeling ...

You've met Maddy before

Better photo for neck

New sketch

Thin glaze of quin. burnt orange

Some quin, pink on her face, some blue-black on her muzzle, and a lot of scumbling on her neck

Still more scrumbling


Round 2 with Maddy. I'm using the same photo for her face; the eye is sweeter.  But I have a better view of her neck in the 2nd photo.  Also, I tried, in the 1st painting,  to get texture and the effect of dappling by applying thin paint with the tip of a bristle-type brush, but it looked too contrived. There is no short cut. I must use a relatively thin pigment mixture, apply it to a "controllable" area [that is, one that I can manipulate before it gets too dry], and scrumble it with a flat brush;  time-consuming, but gives the best look.
She is at the stage where she looks NOTHING like a horse. but I do like the areas on which I have worked.
Again, all comments are most welcome!

I Think I'll Call It ... "Where Did I Leave My Glasses This Time"

DONE


The bug theme was inspired by another blogging artist, my friend from afar, Suzanne Berry.  She paints divine bugs [and portraits, too]. Her blog is most definitely worth a look and read; she has a wonderfully warped sense of humor. I think I am done with slugs for now, but there are still bees and ladybugs in my photo file ...  

The Slug Saga ... or ... I Can't Believe I am Spending Time on This!

Reference photo - giant leopard slug visiting the back porch

1st start - w/w wash of aureolin, pink and coblat blue

Add shadow to step

Start slug - didn't like the colors

Start of round #2 - almost all w/w, to get softness of coloration

Color only on shadowed portion of step, dropped in very w/w

Bit of detail  on step

Some thin washes to suggest shadow and form, and spots are done


The slug is good, though I will have to darken him. I am just not sure how much more I must add to the background. I don't want it too dark, or he will get lost. but as it stands now, it just does not look right. So ... yes, any and all comments are most welcome. You could even ask me WHY I painted a slug.

A Quickie

Reference photo taken yesterday by the pond

Wild iris seed pods   9 x 6.5 in.

Fast for me ... start to finish in one day

First There was Lulu ...

     Lulu was my first commission. She was a lovely, and well-loved, Weimaraner. The photos I had for reference were miniscule - really. They were the size of photo booth pictures. And I had no computer at that time. The result was that I ended up painting her fourteen times!!! So A few more rounds with Maddy is nothing by comparison.

This is how she stands now, perhaps a bit darker and warmer.

Another sketch, same head. I have another photo of her with her neck extended, but the eye expression is not as pleasing.


So here I go for round #2!

I Don't Know ...

Photo

Painting

   The painting is just looking very weird to me.  I've edited both to black/white to see if I can see what's wrong, and to my eye, the painting is not that far off. But the colored painting looks strange. Maybe darkening the body some more, and a graded wash on the neck, and some more serious shadowing on the face ...? I still have the 1st one of Maddy, with only the background painted; with that, I was going to try to "melt" her body into a darker background. Sounds good, but the execution is definitely going to be a challenge. As always, all comments are welcome!!! 

It's Like Riding ... If I had Known How Difficult It Was Going to Be ...

Darkened & blended body & neck a bit [will need more]

Starting on THIN, softened glazes on face 

Fussy details


If I had known what riding had in store for me, I probably would have been frightened off from the endeavor.  I didn't start riding till I was 30, and oddly was inspired by a riding accident in Mexico. I had a horse rear up and fall over backwards with me still on. Thankfully,  I fell into a ditch, with the horse wedged on its back,  upside down at the top of the ditch. A most auspicious beginning!!! I got back to Vancouver, and thought to myself, " It would be good to know what to do correctly in a situation like that [rearing horse];  I'll take some riding lessons.  I've loved horses as long as I can remember, so when I started I was HOOKED! I bought my first horse within a few months, and have been broke, beaten up and happy ever since. I have been tossed off more times than I can count.  I've had concussions, broken bones, and numerous soft tissue injuries.  I have even been under the pounding hooves of a bucking horse; now, THAT'S an experience!!!  And I keep getting back in the saddle. Hmmm ... stupid? death wish? obsessive? or just truly passionate about horses?  Honestly though, I have learned more about life, and who I am, and have become a better person for it. But, how I digress! Back to Miss Maddy. I am at the thin wash stage, building up slowly, giving her face depth.  It will be long, patient work - something I learned from horses.