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Palominos



FROM TOP: "Looking Back (Palomino)" and "Palomino Profile," both 4" x 5", acrylic palomino equine paintings in acrylic on canvasboard, $114 each. Because these pieces look exquisite together and I would love to see them stay that way, I'll bundle the purchase of both into $215. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .
BOTH SOLD.

I am thrilled with these paintings, as they summarize, even in their petite and intimate sizes, all that I've learned this last year.

EDGES: See how there are soft and hard edges? I've learned that even though my photo references contain all hard edges (well, ideally they do!), that I can manipulate the crispness of an edge to produce a variety of form and shape, and build a sense of depth inside the picture plane.

VALUE: Because I often work from photos, it's been a challenge for me to separate the sharp contrast of a photo reference from the reality of how my eye would see the horse. In reality the strongest contrast/difference in values is often right in the foreground. I controlled that nicely in these paintings, with the density of the eye and muzzle firmly anchoring the horses right in front of the viewer, while the background softly receeds.

COLOR: Even though the color is very soft in both paintings, there are tight punches of stronger color in the focal areas. I'm getting better at a controlled use of strong color, and supplementing that with a harmonious background. This was probably the hardest lesson for me to learn, as I am a sucker for bold and saturated color, and rarely used grays or neutrals in my paintings. Introducing those has made a big difference!

Thanks, as always, for looking.
And of course you may forward these paintings to your friends and family.
Take care,
Kim

PS I learned this morning that Hotmail has implemented a new delivery system for their emails, and somehow my domain name "TurtledoveDesigns" has gotton onto their list of junk email abusers. I am working to get that corrected asap, but wanted to give you a heads up that if you are expecting email correspondance from me and do not receive it, please shoot me an email note with alternative contact information (another email address or a phone number).

For that matter, if you have commissioned a dog-a-day portrait and your contact information has changed (like your email address), it would be great to give me a heads up as well. I had one client who did so earlier this week (THANK YOU!!), and her note opened my eyes - that could be why I've been unable to connect with a couple others who have been waiting 5 months+ for their portraits. Their turn is coming up, yet I have no materials to build their painting from, and my email inquiries have gotten no response to date!!

I am fairly certain that other groups will follow in the footsteps of Hotmail, so it would behoove us all to pay a little more attention to every aspect of our email correspondance (I know I rely on it for just about everything anymore!!). Thanks so much!!

Who'd'a thunk that I needed all these software and computer troubleshooting skills just to paint pretty pictures?!
Have a great day!! Kim

Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

http://www.paintingadogaday.com/
come. sit. stay.
enjoy the art.

Founding member of the Canine Art Guild
http://www.canineartguild.com/
the gateway to canine art on the web

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