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FROM TOP: "Soul," 4" x 5", bay horse painting in acrylic on canvasboard, $115, SOLD; "Mama's Boy," 6" x 8", mare and foal equine portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, $199, SOLD. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

With "Soul," my original intent was not to focus on the eye, but rather the white blaze between the planes of his face and the sky. I chose the wrong shaped board, though, which essentially forced my hand in designing the composition. I got distracted in the reflections and color around the eye, and it wormed it's way into becoming the focal point. I'll paint from this photo again, but use a taller board, and see if I can't get the effect I had wanted, of a white "outline" along the horse's profile. So yes, "Soul" is a little cliche in that it is a painting of a horse's eye, but I do like the piece - it has great planes of color.

"Mama's Boy" is a photo that I have wanted to paint for an eternity, in grand scale. I compromised scale drastically with this little board, but am so happy to have the painting out of my system after all these years!! The scan does little justice to the glow in the little foal's face. He has so much character, his nostrils all aflutter while batting those eyelashes. I found fascination with the pure geometry of this painting (really, both pieces), and again played with that 'no-no' rule of not placing your focal point in the center of the canvas. "Mama's Boy" can get away with it.

A big thank you to returning collector Andrea Melliadis for her purchase of both palomino paintings from yesterday.

And thank you also to all the dog-a-day readers for indulging me in my Derby Week equine fest of sorts. Painting horses is such a love of mine, and it's wonderful to get a little break and work on something entirely different every so often. From the comments I've gotten so far, you seem to be enjoying the break, too!

Please do share these paintings and stories with your friends and family.
Take care,
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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Comments

  1. Donnaallen5:03 PM

    I've totally enjoyed the Derby week paintings! Beautiful colors on these horses. Tell your son I really liked his photo. :) Donna

    ReplyDelete

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