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May
5
Saturday at the barn
Filed Under Judy Wood | Leave a Comment
I spent much of Saturday at the barn, starting my annual client photo shots by shooting the cross country clinic that was being held for the Pony Club kids. As expected, there were some moments of excitement since in addition to jumping (which they have been doing regularly indoors all winter) there was the added novelty for the horses of being ridden and jumped outdoors for the first time since last fall, plus the added excitement of a portion of the lesson being done in the big sand ring which is normally used only for shows. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but for horses that have had very limited horizons over the winter, the first outdoors sessions can be more stimulation than they can contain. Surprisingly, the younger greener horses handled themselves very well overall, with some of the blow-ups being horses who have done this for a few years. No lasting harm done, though, to horses or riders, and a lot of good lessons were learned on both sides.
I’m always impressed with the progress these kids and their horses make over the course of a winter’s schooling. Since my ride times in the indoor ring virtually never overlap with theirs, I don’t really get a chance to see their progress from September until they head outdoors again in May. This being the case, once I apply my photographer’s eye to their rides, I can see that they have made big strides in confidence and capability over the past months. The kids that ride at Ebon take their training pretty seriously, and work hard to improve their knowledge and horsemanship, and once summer show season starts (only a month now til the first one at Ebon) they will start to reap the benefits, all else being equal.
The real excitement of the day on Saturday was almost a tragic event, since it could have ended much worse than it did. One of the horses in Alpac’s big turnout somehow managed to nick his right foreleg in the fetlock area, and tore open an artery. One of the girls who was just finished with her clinic ride noticed something amiss with him (luckily he was near the gate where he could be seen) and quickly called for help. I happened to be close at hand as well, and it was a sickening sight to see the blood pumping out of the wound with every beat of his heart. If he hadn’t been seen in a timely fashion, he would have bled out and been dead right there in the paddock.
As it was, we got him into the barn and with padding and compression onto the area as fast as possible until the vets could get out to assess him. They worked on him for about an hour, then it was decided that he should be trailered into the vet college to see if there was any joint damage as well. Luckily this proved not to be the case and he was back in his stall in the barn the next day when I went out to ride, apparently none the worse for his experience. That’s the first time I’ve witnessed an arterial bleed, in any species, and I hope it will be the last. The amount of blood coming out of that wound was truly astonishing.
The first shot today is one I took before I went over to the riding rings. The lessons hadn’t started yet when I got to the barn, so I went and lurked around the turnouts to see what I could find. This is in the mare’s pen, generally not so much of a water zone, but still with quite a bit of this year’s snow melt in evidence. In real life it’s not nearly as picturesque as in the photo, but that’s one of the wonders of photography.
Shot number two is of one of the young teens participating in the clinic. This is her new boy, purchased last year, and an Ebon home-bred warmblood. He’s going to be one I will enjoy following as he progesses, and is one of those horses that the camera likes. He’s got a lot of style and grace, is easy on the eyes, and is pretty sensible too. It’s a good combination.
©Copyright 2008 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
May
5
October Skies Part 1
Filed Under Carrie Lewis | Leave a Comment
This is my May project.
This is the second go-round on this painting.
The subject is October Skies, a Thoroughbred who passed across the river in 2007. Also known as Buddy, he was a beginner or novice eventing horse. He was also his person’s first horse, so will always have a special place in her heart.
The portrait is 24 inches wide by 20 inches tall and is being painted on Raphael Linen in a panel form. This is one of my two favorite surfaces to paint on.
The portrait as shown above has been transferred onto the toned surface. I used M. Graham Oils for the toning and will also be using them for the painting, so lots of time is required for drying. The toning was completed with Yellow Ochre and Titanium White on March 14.
On April 10, I painted the sky above with Titanium White and Cerulean Blue. The paint was mixed on the canvas and left partially unblended for a random pattern of lights and darks.
The second stage happened on April 14 and was basically a repainting of the skies. In addition to being a slower drying paint, M. Graham Oils are more transparent (at least the colors I have been using most are more transparent) than other brands. While that transparency allows for lots of interesting glazing affects, it also means I sometimes need two layers of color to get a good, opaque passage of color.
The first layer of color was a bit on the ’see through’ side, so I wanted to repaint the sky before going any further. So I used the same colors (Titanium White and Cerulean Blue) and repainted the sky, pulling color down a little further into the body of the composition. There are still a few warm areas showing through in the sky, but not many.
I also began to suggest the trees that will forest the background and the river that will flow across the foreground.
While this portrait is officially the May project, I began work on it during those times when I was waiting for the portrait of Duncan to dry. That has helped me get a major jump on work for May and has also allowed me to give the painting as much time to dry completely as it has wanted. With spring (and spring rains) in the Kansas air, that can sometimes be a week or two!
©Copyright 2008 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
May
5
Panama K - Near Completion
Filed Under Jennifer Pratt | Leave a Comment
This painting of Panama K - aka Blossom, has been a learning experience. I don’t think I brought this up in my posts before, haha!! I am relatively new to the media of oils. Sure I have tried, but soon gave up and went back to my pencils. They are a complex and challenging media. [...]
©Copyright 2008 by Jennifer Pratt. See original post here.
May
5
For once the rain was not the “one” keeping me indoors….
No, the day was glorious unusually bright and sunny. A real clichée of a spring day!
This, I am sure, is what brought on the urge, the incredible “not going to leave me alone” urge
to tidy-up, hoover, de-cluttered and refresh a studio still bogged down by the winter blues.
Don’t run away yet, no cleaning, dusting or polishing technics will be discussed or detailed in this post: promise.
Allthought, I did get many household tools out and ended up using them
(hoover, duster, glass cleaner, polish, rubbish bag…) and feel quite up on the subject.
Actually, I’d much preffer to show you what I found in my “organised” mess.
Apart from feeling on top of things again
(amazing how vanishing clutter can do that!),chuffed to bits for having conquered the pain of organising and knowing that no projects, commissions and tasks
had been forgotten (found loads of ticked “to-do-lists”), I unearthed some little hidden sketches.
Recovered from the under my pile of “must file” are a few of my naive attempts at colour….
Interesting how instead of destroying them I buried them…
Nice to be able today to revive them and give them a little light.
p.s: Now the studio is done…the house really could benefit from a wee bit of freshning up.
Good thing the urge has still not left me alone!
Cheers for now
©Copyright 2008 by Sheona Hamilton Grant. See original post here.
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