Ready….Set…pARTy! March 2010


Here’s your image for the March pARTy. You have from midnight tonight until midnight March 20th to get your painting to us. Remember the idea is to complete your painting in a 24-hour span of time. Complete instructions are above. Email a low-res image (72 dpi, approx. 4 x 6 inches dimensionally) of your painting to us at thevirtualparty77@yahoo.ca – if you don’t get a reply acknowledging receipt, that means something went awry!

This handsome boy is Bellator, a young Warmblood gelding that lives at Inish’Or Farm in Puslinch, Ontario. Please remember to give credit to the photographer – in this case, Linda Shantz.

PS – if you’d like a high-res file from which to work, just send a request to the address above.

©Copyright 2010 by The Virtual pARTy and participating artists. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist challenge, visit The Virtual pARTy Blog.

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I’m my own worst enemy

More signs of spring this week: the bicycle racers that train on the highway to the barn have reappeared; saw my first dead skunk of the season on the side of the same road (although no gophers yet); horse turnout pens are a disgusting sea of mud; I had my winter tires switched out today for my summer ones. I’m sure there are more but that’s what comes to mind for now. We won’t be seeing anything in the line of plant growth, blossoms, or flowers for a month or so yet—or insects either, I hope. We usually only manage a few outdoor riding days around here that are “post mud” but “pre biting insect” and they are always days to be cherished. Maybe this year with spring being early we’ll have a few more of them to appreciate.
I managed to work myself into quite a (self-inflicted) tizzy for most of Saturday. My husband was tending a “Seeds of Diversity” display at a local food/gardening event, and I offered to make up a sign for the booth, which I was quite happily doing Saturday morning. I haven’t used my big printer for a while, but it is a steady performer and never gives me any concerns, which is more than I can say for my little 4 in 1 (both Epsons). I did the sign but, unusually, wasn’t really happy with the colours the big printer was producing.
In on-going and largely misguided attempts to tweak the system, I occasionally mess with the colour settings on the printer, and I thought that’s what I must have done the last time I printed a photo, so I fiddled a bit, then tried again. No luck. Looked just as bad as the first one.
OK, Jim was content with the sign the way it was, but I get very offended and take it personally when I can’t get visuals the way I think they should be. I decided that now was the time to delve into this and sort out my printer settings once and for all. I spent most of the rest of the day working on various combinations and permutations of settings, still getting very similar and uniformly bad outcomes. Determined not to quit until I had this resolved, I made more and more sweeping changes to the settings (Googling for tutorials and self-help information as I went and occasionally panicking over whether I would ever be able to get back to where I should be) but no matter how extreme the settings, my end results always looked strangely similar.
I at least had the sense to take a break and go ride my horse mid-afternoon, then returned to colour-setting hell for more hours than I care to recall. By my quite late bed-time that night, all I had to show for the day’s efforts was a really large pile of virtually identical-looking pinkish-purple prints of the test image I was working on. That and a whole pile of frustration and an attitude verging on despair. I recall at some point in the process thinking that it might be easier just to buy a new printer and try again, but even in the state I was in I could recognize that as a not entirely rational thought. Tempting, but not rational.
I slept surprisingly well, and when I awoke the next morning, the first thing that came to my mind was the odd fact that no matter how I changed the settings (and some of them should have made quite a difference to the print) the results always looked the same. Almost as if not all the colours were printing. Kind of like the first thing the “help” list suggested when I looked up the printer’s trouble-shooting FAQ at the beginning of this process, but dismissed out of hand as not being the problem. Now feeling hopeful enough to actually get up out of bed, I hied myself off to the studio to check out this hypothesis. The trouble-shooting diagnostics showed virtually no yellow ink being released. Running the cleaning utility then trying the diagnostic print again generated pretty well perfect results. Bingo. I guess the moral of the story here is when in doubt, check the basics first, and for gosh sakes pay attention to what the “help” pages suggest for the problem at hand!
Shot number one today features the disgusting sea of mud mentioned above, in this case being thoroughly enjoyed by Denzel, turned out last week for “a roll and a run”, since his regular pen is a lot smaller than this one and he appreciates the chance to get turned loose in the larger paddock every now and then. He got the “roll” part perfectly, but reconsidered the “run” once he noticed the nice hay on offer, which he opted for instead.


Shot two has as its base a photo I took at this time of year a couple of years ago. It’s a strongly back-lit shot with a lot of technical problems, but there’s something about it that I feel has potential, so every so often I drag it out and play with it in Photoshop to see what I can come up with. This is the current version, where I have layered it with a shot of cedar boughs and reworked some of the colouring. I’m quite pleased with this one. Eventually I’ll have a whole collection of variations on the theme just from this shot alone.

Shot three shows the nice new patio table I picked up at Costco on the weekend which we will use in our “sidewalk cafe” area at the front of the house. Our house is south facing and this area is a real heat trap. Perfect in early spring and late fall for sitting outside for coffee or lunch, too darn hot for summer use, when we retreat to the backyard deck which is almost always shady. This is a slate-topped table with copper accents, and good and heavy. I was going to christen it today when I had my afternoon coffee break, but it was a bit cool and breezy by then so I stayed indoors. Maybe tomorrow.

Shot four shows what I was doing while Jim and grandson Mark were assembling the patio table. Mark and I had a heck of a time unpacking the table due to the very strong cardboard and generally Fort Knox-like packaging. In the end we pretty well had to rend it apart by whatever means would work. At that point my artist’s eye kicked in and I became totally preoccupied by the visual interest of the patterns and shadows of the cardboard, so I spent a very absorbed interval photographing much of the torn cardboard while they (mostly Mark) wrestled with table assembly. I like to collect interesting patterns and textures for use in my photomontages, and look forward to seeing how I can incorporate these shots into new artwork.

Shot five features Mark “playing with fire” after he finished with the table assembly. Actually he is working with a flint fire-starter from Lee Valley which I hadn’t seen in use before and which is surprisingly effective. He’s working on a cement area and I don’t think there is any need for concern over this being a real fire hazard, although if you were lost in the woods with one of these on hand, and had dry mosses or leaves, you could get a nice fire underway for yourself if necessary. Simple, effective, and nothing to break down. If only everything in life was like that!

©Copyright 2010 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Taking The 20 Minute Challenge

I am taking the plunge and am devoting 20 minutes of each day to doing some pen and ink drawing. Pen and ink sketching has always been fun for me..and it is something I can do… and used to do…. while watching TV or in a doctor’s waiting room, etc. I don’t know what I am going to do with these quick works …but may find a place for them. Maybe I will add a page on this Cob Cottage Studio blog for them.

So be on the look out for them. They will not all be about horses or dogs……..but also just fun, illustration type works.

They might even be like this………..

self portrait pen and ink

Now back to the work at hand…moving my studio downstairs….it is not always about paint!

©Copyright 2010 by Kathi Peters. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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New Cameras…and Inspiration

There is very little in life as exciting to a photographer then falling in love with a new camera. Or stumbling across new inspiration.

Several weeks ago I was lucky enough to see a post on twitter by a fellow photographer announcing that he was selling one of his cameras. A Bronica 2 1/4 (medium format) body with two lenses, two film backs, a angled viewfinder and some extras. The price looked excellent and although I already had one med. format camera. This one had more accessories with it that I could find useful. I would give it a try and if i did not like it, I would sell it. Last Wed. was the first chance that I had to take it out and give it a try….and I am in love. This camera fits my hands so well. The lens choice I have between the two will give me a range that I need. It is easy to load the film in. The bright screen addition is super to help these old eye to see well enough to focus it. And the images it takes are crisp and beautiful. Now…bear with me….as it is going to take some time for me to get used to framing square images. I have been working in 35mm rectangles for so long it is hard to adjust to something this different. And to keep the square image for the final print, you need to crop exactly in the camera or will have to crop equally all around. So framing these images in the viewfinder is a slower more deliberate act. I like that. So wish me luck with my new tool…and expect that I may be selling my Hasselblad soon. Get on the list if you think you might be interested. I can’t wait to see where this new way of photographing takes me.

And speaking of things like that….some of you may know that I have been contemplating working on a series of still life shots this year. I have wanted to start some natural light work with bones, horns and antlers. Detail shots in B&W against simple backdrops. The day that I took my Bronica camera over to the barn last week to play with it….I also took my horse out into a field at the farm to ground drive him. Basically, for those that don’t know, that means I put him in a harness and walk behind him holding onto the driving reins. Like you would if you were plowing or doing farm work. I like to do this because it is great exercise for us both. While walking down the field…I spotted a wonderful collection of bleached deer bones. The best part was that the spine was still intact! So when I got done driving…I went back to the spot with the bronica and photographed those wonderful bones in situ. Collecting them after to bring home for later photographic use. Below it the best of those images. Note the extreme short focal area of the image. Nice, huh?
Days like that just can’t be beat. When they end,…you know that life is good. Enjoying the beginnings of Spring!Juliethttp://www.julietrharrisonphotography.com

©Copyright 2010 by Juliet Harrison. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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“Passionate kisses” Watercolor of girl and Palomino horse

“Passionate kisses” 10 x 10 square Watercolor. $800.00 Inquiries may come to my email at debflood@debfloodart.com thank you.

This is the image that was submitted to me from a follower on Twitter and Facebook. The photo she submitted actually had almost the whole girl in there and a lot of the horse and a grain silo in the background. I cropped the image, brought it in for an intimate feel and created more greenery in the background. The girl also had a pink shirt. I take liberty in changing a lot of things to make a good composition and use of colors for the emotions and feelings that I want to get across and where I want your eye to go. I don’t just ‘copy’ photos. I use them as guidance in the journey of creating a painting. If you have some photos of people with horses, even if your backgrounds are horrible with trash cans or other eye sores, and would like a work of art created from them, send them on to me, and I’ll see what I can do with them. I would love to create a painting that would be cherished by you and your family for years to come.

This painting will be included in my new Coffee Table book also. “The Equine Art of Debbie Flood”, A brush with emotions, spirits, & bonds of horses and man’

.

I hope your Monday is going great,Debbie

Debbie Flood, Artist. Equine, Wildlife, and the natural world.
http://www.debfloodart.com

©Copyright 2010 by Debbie Flood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Always in Style, Under Painting, Part 3

Original Oil Painting

Raphael Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

At this stage of the process, the under painting is beginning to look complete.

But this is my favorite part of the under painting stage – adding the details that bring the portrait to life.

I started the process of painting both the horse and the background, which allowed me to adjust edges, softening edges where necessary and reshaping Style’s head as needed.

Beginning with the off-side ear, I worked each area to as close to the finished look as it was possible to get. The ear on the right was painted, then the forelock, the ear on the left and down into the face. The standard procedure is to paint top to bottom, background to foreground and left to right, if possible. With this portrait, the left to right direction was the least feasible, so I had to be extra careful not to smear fresh paint.

Special attention was given to the eye. I worked that from a couple of different angles, to get the shape and angle as absolutely accurate as possible. By the time I finished for the session, I felt like Style was beginning to look back at me…always a good sign!

You will already have noticed that the halter has been completely painted out. Although I always draw in every part to be painted, halters, bridles and tack are quite often painted out during the middle stages of the painting so I can concentrate on the horse. Those items are then replaced after the horse is done or nearly done. I have found over the years that this method works the best of any when there is tack included in a portrait.

This is the final phase of the under painting process. At this point, the finer details are being added. The sheen on the coat, reflected light, the shape of the mouth and nostrils.

With Style’s portrait, I also decided to replace the halter. The portrait just didn’t look right without it.

So I began by building a halter around Style’s head, using the primary reference and another photo of another horse wearing a leather halter as resources.

As usually happens, I made corrections and adjustments on the areas around the halter as I worked each piece of leather or hardware. By the end of the session, I had not only repainted all of the halter, but most of Style, as well. I also found some areas that had been only lightly blocked in or hadn’t been worked on at all and worked on those.

To finish the under painting, I darkened some of the shadows, reworked the background around Style and reworked her mane and forelock, as well.

In every painting, there are surprises. Things that turn out much better than expected. One of those happened here. I hadn’t intended to work on Style’s face to the extent I did or to work on her eyes at all, but I did both. I have to say that she is now looking right back at me and it’s a thrill to see!

The painting will be allowed to dry undisturbed at for at least twenty-four hours. At that time, I will give it a quick review and make any changes that leap out at me. I don’t expect there to be very many. This under painting is just about complete.

The under painting was finished by dry brushing a few highlights onto the halter as needed. Everything else looked good, so I photographed the painting, then moved it upstairs to the drying room.

It remained there, out of sight, out of mind, for a week. Then I began checking the paint film on a weekly basis.

©Copyright 2010 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Delayed Grass-ification

One of the challenges of this time of year is managing the pasture so you can be assured of a healthy pasture that in turns feeds your horses for as much of the growing season as possible. My pastures are starting to have a slight green tinge to them as the temperatures rose and the wonderful warm sun shone down on us. It is SO tempting to turn the horses out in the big pasture to watch them run and frolic.One of the joys of horsekeeping is to be able to turn them out into a large expanse and watch them kick up their heels and romp (and fart!) to their hearts content!I have learned though in order to preserve my pasture I just can’t.Those thundering hooves wreck havoc on the soft ground this time of year. I have learned delayed grass-ification.

In order to have a lush, green pasture that holds up for the bulk of the growing season those hooves just can’t tromp on the pasture. The horses have to be turned out into mud paddocks unless the ground is firm or frozen. This time of the year they get a whiff of the spring air and they KNOW things have begun to grow.I can imagine how torturous it must be for them. They can look out on the other side of the fence and practically taste the grass in the air but that’s as far as they get.

To make matters worse when the grass IS in and the ground IS firm then they are restricted from being on the grass full time. They are eased into their time on the green pasture because spring grass is like high octane fuel.You wouldn’t think something so GREEN would be fatting and rich but it is for horses.

I have an ‘easy keeper’ mare. She gets fat just looking at grass! In fact I am at the point with her that I may need to start turning her out with a grazing muzzle. How torturous is that?? To be surrounded by this lush grass and be muzzled???But really its for her own good.I purposefully let her thin out over the winter so she is safer on the grass in the spring but that may not be enough. If that doesn’t work then she’ll need to be on a dry lot which isa small turn out area of just dirt so they don’t over eat.

So in the interest of good equine and pasture health we are practicing delayed grassification. Just ignore the horse slobber as they gaze longingly over the fence….

Happy Trails, Sue Steiner equine and animal art
Sue Steiner,

Animal and Equine artist
Pet Portraits in Oil
White Horse Studios
324 Cleveland Ave. NW
Canton, Ohio 44702

http://www.suesteiner.com

http;//www.secondapril.org
pet portraits, horses in art, studio or online sales, commissions

©Copyright 2010 by Sue Steiner. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Trying Something New

I’m an equine artist, but I sometimes want a change of pace and do something different. (“Tolte” isn’t finished, but will be worked on at Equine Affaire – I’m saving some of the work for then. More pictures after that!)

A friend of mine (Holly McCullough, www.momandmereborns.com) makes those baby dolls that look like real babies. The process of doing this – painting the delicate skin tones, the veins beneath the skin’s surface, rooting mohair for the baby’s hair, etc. – is what Holly does. She buys the sculpts to “reborn.” She asked me if I’d ever considered sculpting dolls. Well, no, but I am interested in figurative sculpting, so I decided to give it a try.

There are various ways to make the doll heads. You can buy a sculpting form from www.secristdolls.com to which you add full round eyes (as opposed to flat-back eyes) and polymer clay like Super Sculpy (which is what I used for this one). They have an instructional DVD which I found very helpful, but as I worked, I decided they must have left out some information. They say to put two layers of clay on the form and just push that around to get the features you want. But their form isn’t shaped like a baby’s head, IMO. The back is too flat and the forehead slopes too much. I had to add four layers of clay to bring the forehead up to the rounded look I love in babies. I also had to put four layers of clay on the cheeks to get them pudgy at all.

I think the chin is too far forward too – a baby’s face, as I recall and as my research so far shows me, kind of falls away there, with the chin being farther back than the nose more than my doll’s is here. The ear looks big, but it fits the size of what they had on the sculpt as the ear locator.


I’m not that happy with his face. Sculpting squinchy eyes is hard for me – I’m used to doing big, open, soft eyes but little babies eyes aren’t like that. I may have too much depth in his eye sockets, I’m not sure. He’s CLOSE to done, but even if he is and I bake him this way (well, after I finish smoothing him), I’m not satisfied with him. I think the sculpting form restricted me too much. The next doll I do will be done on a styrofoam form that has no details, just a kind of shelf where the eyes go and then a pudgy place below that. It’s small enough that I’ll have to add a lot of clay to it, I think, before it will be big enough. But in those layers of clay, I will have the freedom to build the face and head the way I see them. Hopefully then I’ll like the resulting baby better. When that kind of sculpting form is baked, it shrinks to a nugget inside the head. I got those from www.hunnybunsrebornsupply.com owned by Stephanie Sullivan. She has everything you need to make doll sculpts or do reborning, and she’s local, so I had a lovely time talking to her! If you get the Secrist DVD, you’ll see one of her sculpts near the very end. I’ll post pics of the new baby when I get it done.

I know these babies will look a LOT different after Holly “reborns” them – I’m looking forward to seeing how they turn out!

The best thing is – this has been quite a challenge for me and has tested my sculpting skills in ways they haven’t been in years. That’s FUN for me!!

©Copyright 2010 by Lynda Sappington. See original post here.

To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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‘Color of Two Painted Ponies’ Equine Abstract Art Horse Oil Daily Painting by Texas Artist Laurie Pace

‘Color of Two Painted Ponies’
24 x 30″ Oil on Canvas

Contact me to purchase by check or paypal. Laurie

�© Laurie Justus Pace � � Graphics One Design 2010
The Painting: I began layer on this last week. I saw flowers in pots and ladies dancing, but most of my buyers look for my equine art…so last night I began working to find the painted ponies… voila here they are. I truly enjoy the movement of colors in this new signature style and so far it has been exceedingly popular.
www.lauriepace.blogspot.com

©Copyright 2010 by Laurie Justus Pace. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Mar 12 – Still Near the Bridge, Plein Air Demo in Oils

With the basic structure in place with the brush sketch, I begin the laying in of the large darks and mid-tones using the Cool colors palette. If you’ll look at the bridge from yesterday’s view, you see the cement railings. See how I’ve laid them in while thinking, “large shapes” instead of “Omigosh! Look at all those vertical cement thingies!”?

So those nearby cement thingies are painted as shapes. However, as they recede in space, the shape blends together for one big brush mark. If you look at the right side of the bridge, you can see where I’ve already started to allude to those “thingies” in the large gray shape. Hey, makes it simple (and fast)!

As I paint the arches, with the darks and mid-tones, I’m still finding the correct arch shape. It looks pretty daft right now, but will improve. I’d rather find an edge later, than be restricted by a line demarking an edge early on.

Again, completely out of the Cool Box in the Color System, including that yellow green in the upper right. Cool yellow and some ultramarine make that mix, with perhaps some white.

Tomorrow more!

I’m off to Cypress Art League on Sunday for a demonstration in oils, and I’m working on a couple of commission paintings (one a book cover) so the brushes are flying! If you’re in the Los Angeles area, Cypress is south of the 91 freeway at Orange Street and Valley View–their community center, two p.m. I’ll have my Flash Cards, DVDs and one of my originals to offer as a raffle prize. Perhaps I’ll meet you in person!

Sure wish I could find the polo ponies painting–still looking for it. Darn it all.

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

©Copyright 2010 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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‘Trigger’ equine art Horse Oil Daily Painting by Texas Artist Laurie Pace

‘The Original Trigger’
24 x 36″ Oil on Canvas

Contact me to purchase by check or paypal. Laurie

�© Laurie Justus Pace � � Graphics One Design 2010
The Painting: THICK oil with the palette Knife.  This is a favorite in my home, but now available for purchase.  I will be sending it on to a gallery in the next few weeks…so if you like it, email me now.
www.lauriepace.blogspot.com

©Copyright 2009 by Laurie Justus Pace. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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A Crack in the Armor…..


When you take in a rescue its the little tiny changes you see in a positive direction that make this so rewarding. I am beginning to see a crack in the armor of my new horse Rhythm. She came to me off of a feedlot headed for slaughter on Monday March 9.

This photo is minutes after she was unloaded off the trailer. Her eyes tell her story. But I also see under the wariness from this whole experience a willing, kind horse. I got a welcoming whinny last night when I went to the barn on day 3. That warmed my heart!

I’ve been giving her space… and plenty of hay and water. I will add small amounts of grain now that she is more settled and hydrated. She was turned out in the big pasture (alone for now) and I got to watch her trot around and find a nice place to roll. My heart soared along with hers as she looked out over those open spaces. I know she enjoyed that. Its like horse therapy- for me and her!

We have rain the the forecast today so I may spend some time in her stall just grooming and hanging out. No demands, no pressure…. just hanging out and listen for the clink in the cracks of the armor to spread.

I took a couple days off from my studio so I could regroup here at home and catch up on house and barn chores. Tomorrow I will head back in and work on Joanne’s horse mural. I also am hoping to fit in an oil painting of this mare. I love her coloring. This horse reminds me of a bay arab in my past.When my kids were young I took riding lessons on an arab named Satire. He was a push button horse. He would do what you asked but only if you did it correctly. He was so expressive (as arabs often are!!) so he would let you know his satisfaction when you asked him incorrectly. But he was kind as well. One day I had asked for a canter and as we rounded a turn I began to lose my balance. Satire moved his body to scoop me up so I didn’t fall! You gotta love a horse who takes care of you like that!

To see my artwork please visit http://www.suesteiner.com/ I use my art money to help support my horses. I always like to tell people my art feeds my horses and my horses feed my art! Take care and feel free to pass this along. It is much appreciated!

Sue Steiner equine and animal artist Sue Steiner,

Animal and Equine artist
Pet Portraits in Oil
White Horse Studios
324 Cleveland Ave. NW
Canton, Ohio 44702

http://www.suesteiner.com

http;//www.secondapril.org
pet portraits, horses in art, studio or online sales, commissions

©Copyright 2009 by Sue Steiner. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Mar 10 – One from the Plein Air Event, Lesson in Oil!

On location with the Plein Air Artists of Riverside, and on Thursday I found myself in front of one of the many bridges that were the focus of this week-long paint out.

Now I don’t necessarily “do” bridges or other architectural renderings–I leave it for the designers to create beautiful structures, and I’ll just enjoy ‘em, not paint ‘em. But this event had us with a focus on local bridges, and who am I to complain? It’s just “stuff”….

So I start out with a toned canvas (12 x 9) and set up just as you see, with the bridge to my left. This way I’m not twisted as I paint, with my arm on the canvas and my head torqued around over that arm. Learned that in life drawing years ago–don’t let your painting arm block your view. Lot of artists don’t know that!

I’ve loosely blocked in the structure and design, knowing that I’m adding a figure later on in the upper left third (smudgy mark). I had a heck of a time with those receding arches. Talk about tough to “get”, but I leave some room for correction later. The day was overcast, and that’s a bummer, but as an artist, I can do a bit of artistic license and add a spot of sunshine if I wish. (And I do wish.) So for the first several images as this one develops, I’m going to stay completely in the cool box!

My workshops in Georgia and Florida are generating a great deal of interest–the excitement about the new recruits and the re-booters for the Color System is felt all the way over here in California! My flights are booked, Sparky has his space, and I’ll be doing the teaching for three weeks in April and May! If you’ve ever wanted the Color Boot Camp experience, please click below for workshop information for your area! Either Kathie or Judi will be happy to add you to the fun groups forming. I especially love it when “rebooters” come back for more “Yellin’ by Elin”.

On another note, I want to thank all of you who wrote in response to yesterday’s posting on Qso’s passing. So many of you have the hearts of animal lovers. It brought me great comfort. Although there’s a hole in my heart, I know that not too much time will pass before another snuggly fur-face will come to fill it. Sparky might need a playmate!

My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

©Copyright 2009 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Horse & head collar new drawing underway

Finally found time to say hi to my drawing board and coax my pencils into a serious work-out. After a week of marketing and organizing, I left them lying dormant! Definitely time to shake them back in to action.

Here the first steps in a new piece, non-commissioned and loaded with understated emotion.


Horse & head collar accurately describe the first scribbles done on Mellotex paper. I have used a 2B clutch and a little 6B in the dark areas.
Hoping to get another grand session in tomorrow (after sifting trough some paper work.)

Promise to post the result.

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Much too Beautiful to be Dog Food……

…or a hunk of meat on the dinner table of someone in Europe. Rhythm came to me 2 days ago after being rescued while she was on the brink of being sold as horse meat.

Before you get in your mind some old broken down horse ready for the glue factory let me dispel that myth. She is far from broken down and besides some needed weight and muscle she is a very beautiful animal-rideable, sound, easy to handle, mannerly. I suspect she may be an ‘alpha mare’ but that’s okay. Every herd needs one.As we speak Royal and Rhythm are working (and squealing) those issues out over the fence.

I received Rhythm thanks to some great networking on facebook and the efforts of the woman at Another Chance For Horses at http://wwwac4h.com/Rhythm was brought to the New Holland sale barn in PA. by a horse broker who receives money when the horses are sold at auction. Most of the time the horses are bought by a ‘kill buyer’ who hauls them eithr to Mexico or Canada for meat. I became familar with AC4H on facebook. Each week a new batch of nice horses were posted on facebook and passed around to all my horse friends. People can fill out an application to become an approved home and from there the rescue group begins to network and ask for donations. There are many people who would like to help but can’t take another horse so this gives them an opportunity to see their donations at work. I had a home and will have expenses for care etc. but did not want to risk paying all the expenses myself. People pitched in and helped post ‘bail’ for the horse and donate part of the transportation costs. She came to me without a hitch. And I was pleasantly surprised at what a NICE horse she was. What a shame it would of been if she ended up on someone dinner plate instead. :(

By the way I did learn that the horse meat that comes from these kinds of sales do not go to feed hungry, starving people. I could almost justify that since other animals are raised as food animals but doing this to a horse of this type is like sending your dog to be butchered.

Please stop by my blog at http://www.abstracthorseart.blogspot.com/ or http://www.suesteiner.com/ The income frommy artwork is what I use to support my horses. I have a painting in mind of this horse that I hope to do as a daily painting soon.

Thank you and take care!
Sue Steiner animal artist Sue Steiner,

Animal and Equine artist
Pet Portraits in Oil
White Horse Studios
324 Cleveland Ave. NW
Canton, Ohio 44702

http://www.suesteiner.com

http;//www.secondapril.org
pet portraits, horses in art, studio or online sales, commissions

©Copyright 2009 by Sue Steiner. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Ups and Downs


“Scruffy” my horse, Scottie, losing his winter coat

Last week was quite an exciting one for me. First off, I finished up the taxes and delivered all the papers to the accountant. That’s always a source of great relief!

Then the following day I met with a local artist whom I hope to work with for a while to help me with my artistic skills. I’ve been feeling rather lost for quite a while now with my art, knowing that I could be doing much better but not knowing where to start or what to do to move forward. It occured to me that working with a more advanced artist might be just the thing I needed; someone to point the way and help guide me along.

I brought several paintings to this first meeting, including the one hour ones, and he critiqued each one of them, pointing out how I could have improved them and what was done well. I was grateful to hear him say, “You obviously have a lot of talent” and “You don’t need ‘remedial’ lessons” and finally “I’m certain that I can help you to improve the quality of your work”. I left floating on Cloud Nine and look forward to meeting with him again. He studied in Florence as a young man and also spent several months at that time sketching horses at a nearby equestrian center. So, he “knows” horses probably better than the average artist who is not an equine artist.

This week didn’t start out so well. On Monday the vet came to adjust my horse, Scottie, and one of the other horses. I quickly discovered that my horse was very lame in the left front leg and was very reluctant to walk. Remembering how good he was with me when I hurt my knee two years ago, I let him take his time walking from the pasture to the barn and figuring out how to turn around in the barn aisle with the least amount of pain.

The vet couldn’t find anything obviously wrong, like a soul bruise or injured muscle, but he was very tight in the neck and shoulders. She concluded that most likely he was stiff from the icy footing outside and/or from the arthritis in his neck causing pain down his leg. We gave him some bute and put him back outside. On the good side, his back and pelvis were still in good alignment, so we’ve definitely made progress on that front at least.

Yesterday I went out to the barn to check on Scott and was very glad to see that he was in less pain but still limping. I led him around the indoor for a while to see if he would walk out of the limp. It got less but didn’t go away completely. Then I turned him loose to see what he would do. Instead of just standing still not wanting to move or standing by the door wanting to go out, he followed me around as I shot some photos. After some massage and stretches, I put him back out and headed home, my mind a little more at ease.

I haven’t made arrangements to meet with the artist again but will do that soon. I need to figure out what I want from these sessions and he needs to let me know how much he’s going to charge. I’ll keep you posted.

©Copyright 2009 by Karen Baker Thumm. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Always in Style, Under Painting, Part 2

Original Oil Painting

Rapheal Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

Work continued on the under painting for Always in Style.

Using the same colors and, for a good portion of the work, I painted the eyes again and finished the areas that had not been completed in the previous session.

At that point, the painting had to dry completely.  That took about three days, which also gave the painting time to ‘get fresh’ when I went back to work on it. While I much prefer to get each phase done as quickly as possible and as close to possible as one ‘unit’, it is helpful to be able to look at a painting in progress with a fresh eye once in a while. That’s why most paintings are kept out of sight while drying. By the time I got back to work on Style, the portrait had off the easel long enough that I was able to review it honestly. By that, I mean that I could more easily see what was on the canvas, not what should have been on the canvas! That is always helpful.

When work began again, I made adjustments and corrections to the areas previously painted and finished those that hadn’t been worked over before.

The only thing I didn’t paint was the halter. Since the halters and tack are generally paint opaquely in the final stages, I often leave them out of the under painting. Such is the case here. The halter placement is still visible, but I didn’t spend time painting it or even drawing in the edges. Instead, I painted the under painting of the horse, over lapping it generously with the halter.

At this point, the first stage of the under painting is complete.

But once work began, it went very well. I started with the same colors, Raw Umber and Titanium White, but switched from the small brushes I’d been using to a larger, flat bristle that allowed me to apply colors more rapidly and cover the remaining areas of unpainted canvas.

The small rounds and flats came in handy for the placement of more refined detail, especially in the mane. The shoulders were painted over and reshaped a little bit, the shadows and highlighs emphasized a little more and the entire area from the poll to the bottom of the canvas was completed with as much detail as I wanted for the time being.

There was also quite a bit of attention given to creating the look of a smooth, summer coat instead of the rough, winter coat shown in the primary reference photograph. For supporting references in the conformation of the chest and the way light falls over the shoulder, neck and face, I resorted to other photographs, focusing on Standardbreds, but also reviewing any head study photos that featured the proper pose and lighting situations.

There will undoubtedly be some adjustments later in the process, but for the moment, those areas were very satisfactory.

While the paint was wet, I used a couple of small round sables, one for lights and one for darks, to stroke in the mane through the flat color areas that had previously been added. The mane will require additional work, but since the brightest highlights are applied at the end of the process, that is most likely when those highlights will be added.

©Copyright 2009 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Mar 9 – Sadness and Acceptance

Many of you have noticed the sporadic emails in the last few weeks, and for that I sincerely apologize. I’d hoped to share with you the finished polo ponies, but in utter amazement, I cannot FIND the painting! In the chaos of doing a major studio cleanout, I put it “somewhere safe”. Have you ever done that?

But today I am very sad for having to put down my companion of eighteen years–Qso, the German Pinscher–shown here with Pesto the studio cat.

Pets connect us to our past, living lives of scant more than a decade, and linking us to events and people from earlier times. As they age, we see our own lives (compressed) of youth, prime and then, if we are lucky, and if the animal is as well, we carry them through their old age, giving them the gift of care and a final exit with dignity and sadness.

So today’s message is one of communication to all animal lovers out there, those of us who have lost a beloved pet, and to all who share with me the sharp pain of the memory of their last days.

Animals have a prescience and acceptance of death that we humans can only envy. She told me it was time, and her passing was peaceful. I have always said that if we lose a pet, we have a hole in our heart waiting to be filled by an eager newcomer, whose future may be uncertain if we stay within our pain of loss. I am not sure when that achy place will be filled, but fill it will.

So, beloved Qso, I sent you to the Rainbow Bridge today as my last gift to you, and buried you just outside the studio door where you’ll always be in my thoughts, and nearby. Safe journey, my companion. My heart is heavy tonight.

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

©Copyright 2009 by Elin Pendleton. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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