I decided I needed a new painting in my office - something warm, fun and inviting. Inspired by a photo from Gisele's latest horse photography book, I composed a painting of three young horses playing with one another in the pasture. I wasn't too crazy on the coloring so changed the colors of the horses and took out a couple from the photo to arrive at my composition.
This painting caused me a lot of stress, likely because it is on a large canvas and the faces needed to appear clear in order for it to have the right impact. I am a semi realism/impressionism artist so I struggled with the clarity needed on the face of the one in front - particularly because I didn't have a reference photo to work from. At many points I had to close my eyes and imagine where the sun would hit which contours on his face in order to have it come across okay. There are far too many photos in the progression of this one to show here - suffice to say it took a few more hours than I was expecting.
Then when adding the glaze, I ran into a problem I hadn't had before - I think the glaze went a bit dry before I put it on and I ended up having some big sticky sections which, when dried, really stood out from the others. No matter what I did, you could see the streaks. So I ended up redoing it all in a matte finish, which makes it appear a bit darker than I would like, but I am happy with the end product regardless. Learning with each one - some more than others.
Back at work now so feeling an energy drain in the evenings, hope the weather clears soon and we can get back to riding so I can take more source photos to keep inspired.
Enjoy.
This painting caused me a lot of stress, likely because it is on a large canvas and the faces needed to appear clear in order for it to have the right impact. I am a semi realism/impressionism artist so I struggled with the clarity needed on the face of the one in front - particularly because I didn't have a reference photo to work from. At many points I had to close my eyes and imagine where the sun would hit which contours on his face in order to have it come across okay. There are far too many photos in the progression of this one to show here - suffice to say it took a few more hours than I was expecting.
Then when adding the glaze, I ran into a problem I hadn't had before - I think the glaze went a bit dry before I put it on and I ended up having some big sticky sections which, when dried, really stood out from the others. No matter what I did, you could see the streaks. So I ended up redoing it all in a matte finish, which makes it appear a bit darker than I would like, but I am happy with the end product regardless. Learning with each one - some more than others.
Back at work now so feeling an energy drain in the evenings, hope the weather clears soon and we can get back to riding so I can take more source photos to keep inspired.
Enjoy.
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