For those of you who are just joining us, we have taken a quick break form the daily dogs to paint a few horses during Derby Week.
Today’s painting started out in the depths of the stacks of horse canvases I alluded to in yesterday’s post. This is a paint draft mare I’ve painted several times already. I invested about 10 hours into this canvas about 18 months ago, but realized I didn’t have the knowledge I needed to capture the sort of backlit image I wanted, and buried it.
It was a little ambitious to think that I might be able to salvage and finish this 16x30 canvas (a far cry from the 4x6 dogs I usually paint!!) in one day, but I wanted to push myself. I needed a nice distraction from the thunderstorms rolling in, so flipped on all the studio lighting, and got an early start.
Using all that I’ve learned about color this last year, I started out with a nice cool wash of ultramarine blue and naples yellow, to tone down and push back the sky that had already been painted. I ended up leaving a swath of naples yellow at the base of the painting – creating a horizon pushed the mare right into the forefront of the picture plane.
Then I set up my palette with an expanded range of color – alizarin crimson, cadmium red dark, naples yellow, cadmium yellow dark, pthalo blue and prussian blue – mixed a huge pool of my base orange, and started blocking and redrawing. My original drawing carried too thin of a neck, and her profile wasn’t well rendered. I corrected that, and threw some beautiful deep pink and melon glazes down into the depths of the windswept mane.
And I lost myself for the entire day, with the exception of a few power surges competing with the lightening. I’m not completely done with the painting, but I would guess I’m around 85-90% - just a few more careful hours after some study and thought.
I’ll hang the painting someplace where it will be in my peripheral vision, and I can subconsciously study it while all the glazes cure. I can see things that I need to change, but they are minor value and color temperature tweaks. I think I might solidify that horizon a little more, and create the feel of a beach and some water back there. Or maybe some windswept wheat would be more appropriate. We’ll see what my brain comes up with in the next few days.
As of yet, untitled (suggestions welcomed!), 16” x 30”, acrylic equine painting on gallery wrapped canvas (meaning the image is painted around the sides, and the canvas staples are on the back – no need to frame!), $959 (plus shipping). Inquiries and title suggestions can come to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .
Today’s painting started out in the depths of the stacks of horse canvases I alluded to in yesterday’s post. This is a paint draft mare I’ve painted several times already. I invested about 10 hours into this canvas about 18 months ago, but realized I didn’t have the knowledge I needed to capture the sort of backlit image I wanted, and buried it.
It was a little ambitious to think that I might be able to salvage and finish this 16x30 canvas (a far cry from the 4x6 dogs I usually paint!!) in one day, but I wanted to push myself. I needed a nice distraction from the thunderstorms rolling in, so flipped on all the studio lighting, and got an early start.
Using all that I’ve learned about color this last year, I started out with a nice cool wash of ultramarine blue and naples yellow, to tone down and push back the sky that had already been painted. I ended up leaving a swath of naples yellow at the base of the painting – creating a horizon pushed the mare right into the forefront of the picture plane.
Then I set up my palette with an expanded range of color – alizarin crimson, cadmium red dark, naples yellow, cadmium yellow dark, pthalo blue and prussian blue – mixed a huge pool of my base orange, and started blocking and redrawing. My original drawing carried too thin of a neck, and her profile wasn’t well rendered. I corrected that, and threw some beautiful deep pink and melon glazes down into the depths of the windswept mane.
And I lost myself for the entire day, with the exception of a few power surges competing with the lightening. I’m not completely done with the painting, but I would guess I’m around 85-90% - just a few more careful hours after some study and thought.
I’ll hang the painting someplace where it will be in my peripheral vision, and I can subconsciously study it while all the glazes cure. I can see things that I need to change, but they are minor value and color temperature tweaks. I think I might solidify that horizon a little more, and create the feel of a beach and some water back there. Or maybe some windswept wheat would be more appropriate. We’ll see what my brain comes up with in the next few days.
As of yet, untitled (suggestions welcomed!), 16” x 30”, acrylic equine painting on gallery wrapped canvas (meaning the image is painted around the sides, and the canvas staples are on the back – no need to frame!), $959 (plus shipping). Inquiries and title suggestions can come to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .
SOLD.
This piece has come a long way today, and is rounding out to be a solid painting. I’ll have to review my list of exhibitions, and see where it might do best.
Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family,
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
This piece has come a long way today, and is rounding out to be a solid painting. I’ll have to review my list of exhibitions, and see where it might do best.
Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family,
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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