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.