Tag Archives: michigan standardbreds

Lockkeeper in Colored Pencil, Part 9

June 10th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Colored Pencil

Rising Stonehenge Paper, 90 lb. Natural, 16″ x 20″

Color Used: PS Light Umber, Dark Umber

This working session marks the tenth day for this colored pencil painting. That represents about fifteen hours worth of work.

I have a nearly finished under painting to show for all of that work. The horse still needs to be darkened, but I’m approaching that very fine line between ‘dark enough’ to ‘too dark’. I usually stop a little short of ‘dark enough’ to avoid getting the under painting too dark.

Today’s work began with a Light Umber pencil and the anchored front leg. It was previously the only leg to still be untouched, so I wanted to bring it up to at least the same level as the opposite front leg.

While working in that area, I also worked up through the chest into the shoulders and neck and backward into the body and rump.

With so much area to cover, I chose to use the side of the pencil to apply color and a piece of tissue paper (no lotion, thank you!) to blend the color layer. I observed the highlight areas, but also intend to emphasize them by picking them out of the color once the body value is correct.

I also did a little more work with the head, namely the eyes. For this work, I switched to a Dark Umber pencil to darken the value. Then I photographed the painting and set it aside.

At that point, I was beginning to think of the under painting as finished. Then I saw the image published with this post and realized the horse does need to be a little darker to stand out from the background. So it looks like at least one and possibly two or three more sessions before I can consider the under painting finished.

Color Used: PS Light Umber

My goal for this session was to finish the umber layer. Consequently, I worked throughout the horse, which is the only part remaining to be finished.

Work began with the back legs and moved up into the rump, then the body. The three legs that still needed work were darkened, with highlights and shadows emphasized a little more than in previous work.

The more subtle gradients between light and dark in the rump, body, shoulder and neck were also worked on. I had to lift color to reshape the rump but the end result was much nicer and much closer to the reference photo.

The session ended with some work on the cast shadow.

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

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Lockkeeper in Colored Pencil, Part 8

June 5th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Colored Pencil

Rising Stonehenge Paper, 90 lb. Natural, 16″ x 20″

Color Used: PS Light Umber

I engaged in ‘fix-up’ work today.

The front hoof had been bothering me for some time, so the first thing I did when I got to work on this was to review the hoof and pastern as drawn, compare it to an enlarged digital reference image, then make the necessary corrections.

The first step in that process was removing as much color as possible from that area. A little bit of sticky stuff warmed and worked in my hand, then shaped into a small tip and the job was done.

Then I redrew the hoof and pastern until it was correct. That required a couple of cycles of lift and apply, but I did get it more correct. I also did a little bit of ‘farrier’ work by reshaping and resizing the hoof, which I’d drawn much too large.

After that, I used the same color to begin shading up into the rest of that leg and into the chest. Just for a break, I also did a little additional shading in the body, attempting to bring those two areas into completion at a uniform rate.

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

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Lockkeeper in Colored Pencil, Part 7

June 2nd, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Colored Pencil

Rising Stonehenge Paper, 90 lb. Natural, 16″ x 20″

Color Used: PS Light Umber

It’s been a little over a week since the last work was done on this painting. A number of things got in the way, not the least of which was a back injury this past Monday. It’s now Friday and this is the first artwork I’ve done for myself. I still haven’t stood at an easel mostly because standing is painful, but also because the twisting and movement required by the painting process have also been painful.

But today, this painting began whispering my name. After lunch, I yielded.

It was uncomfortable to sit at the computer with the drawing panel propped my lap, though, so I retreated to a more comfortable arrangement and worked from a printed photograph.

What that meant was that I didn’t have the access to the details that helped me figure out the head in the last previous session, so work was limited to values and general color layers.

I started with the head and the shadows on the neck under the head, but worked throughout the horse. I don’t think any area was completely missed today!

But most of the work involved laying in color with the broad side of my pencil to lay down a broad, even ‘wash’ of color. To smooth out the roughness, I then used a folded piece of tissue (the kind without lotion) to blend and smooth the area. That also allowed me to drag color out of the darker areas and into the surrounding areas. There’s nothing like a piece of tissue for creating those exquisitely subtle gradations. (One of these days, I’d like to try an entire under painting with the tissue application technique.)

Work happened in fits and starts today. I can only sit in one position or location for long without suffering the consequences. I’d just as soon not due muscle spasms again, thank you very much, so I got up and walked around a little bit every now again.

It didn’t seem like I put much time into the painting, but progress was made and I could see it when I finished for the day .

I did find some problems, namely with the muzzle and the lifted front hoof, but didn’t do anything with them. That work and the detailed work is going to have to wait until I feel better.

With this work session, I engaged in ‘fix-up’ work.

The front hoof had been bothering me for some time, so the first thing I did when I got to work on this was to review the hoof and pastern as drawn, compare it to an enlarged digital reference image, then make the necessary corrections.

The first step in that process was removing as much color as possible from that area. A little bit of sticky stuff warmed and worked in my hand, then shaped into a small tip and the job was done.

Then I redrew the hoof and pastern until it was correct. That required a couple of cycles of lift and apply, but I did get it more correct. I also did a little bit of ‘farrier’ work by reshaping and resizing the hoof, which I’d drawn much too large.

After that, I used the same color to begin shading up into the rest of that leg and into the chest. Just for a break, I also did a little additional shading in the body, attempting to bring those two areas into completion at a uniform rate.

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

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Lockkeeper in Colored Pencil, Part 5

May 17th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Colored Pencil

Rising Stonehenge Paper, 90 lb. Natural, 16″ x 20″

Color Used: Dark Umber, Verithin

Beginning with the grounded hind leg, I started shading the horse, working from the top to the bottom of that leg, then working out the other hind leg and up into the body. I used the point of the pencil and very light pressure to establish the shadow areas, then to darken them. I wasn’t able to get the darkest values I need, but I’ll have to switch back to Prismacolor thick lead pencils for that. Those values will be placed after the entire horse has been finished at this stage.

For the broader areas like the rump, barrel and neck, I used the side of the pencil, making long, sweeping strokes or shorter strokes that follow the contours of the horse’s body, neck or whatever area I was working on. For the tail, mane and forelock, I used heavier pressure and the point of the pencil.

Here’s a look at the horse’s head and neck. Not much was done here, but this is the area that will most identify this unmarked horse, so it has to be right.

I began with the eye. The shape, angle and location are all vital to getting an accurate representation of the horse, so I forced myself to slow down and take a little more time with the eye before moving on to other parts of the head.

The horse still has a long way to go, but he is beginning to appear out of the composition. I worked for nearly an hour and a half in this session and finished up for the day with some easy work. I laid the t-square on the painting and shaded a single line at the bottom of each rail to establish a shadow. I used the edge of the pencil for this because I wanted a softer edge between the shadow and highlight on each plank and because I also wanted an edge that wasn’t ramrod straight an mechanical.

Color Used: Dark Umber, Verithin

I worked on the head again with Verithin Dark Umber, beginning with the muzzle. I used the pencil point for detail areas and the pencil side for broader applications.

I also worked a little Prismacolor Light Umber into those same areas to darken them up a little further. The forelock, mane and tail and the ears were also darkened and are now finished at least until the rest of the under painting is completed.

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

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Lockkeeper in Colored Pencil, Part 4

May 13th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Colored Pencil

Rising Stonehenge Paper, 90 lb. Natural, 16″ x 20″

Color Used: PS Light Umber

I worked on the foliage and grass this afternoon, still using Light Umber, but focused more on smoothing the color layers and shaping the values than anything else. When I stopped work for the first session, it looked like this part of the background might be done. The fence still needs to be done and I haven’t done anything with the horse, but I can’t think of anything else to do with the foliage or grass that wouldn’t risk making those areas much darker than I want them.

The painting is on an easel near the telephone, so while I was talking with Mom on the telephone tonight, I worked on the drawing as it set on the easel. At first, I added color in horizontal strokes in an effort to even up the two sides. The left side is light and airy with lots of tree trunks and gradated values. The right side is dark, with few trees and more stark values.

That didn’t work, so I tried lifting color with the click eraser. That didn’t work, either, so after the call ended, I got out the sticky stuff and dabbled around with that. That lifted color very well if I kept it carefully kneaded. I was able to lift out some of the heavy darks just above the top rail in the background on the right and I liked that so well that I repeated the process on the left side. The result was very nice, so I think the first thing I’ll do tomorrow is lift additional color and see if I can create some tree trunks on the right with this method.

Later, I realized my background had gotten too dark, so I lifted color with sticky stuff (Handi-Tack, Blue-Tack, Poster Tack or whatever other brand names may apply.) To get a nicer, more even color layer, I rolled the sticky stuff into a roll the width of my palm (as though rolling out bread dough), then rolled it over the entire upper portion of the background. The result was very pleasing!

©Copyright 2010 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
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Lockkeeper in Colored Pencil, Part 3

May 11th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Colored Pencil

Rising Stonehenge Paper, 90 lb. Natural, 16″ x 20″

Color Used: PS Light Umber

It was a perfect day to sit on the couch and ply colored pencils. The weather was gray and cool, down to the mid-fifties, after three or four days in the sixties. Just after noon, it began to rain and it rained slowly but steadily for most of the afternoon.

Work continues with the under painting. I’m still using only Light Umber in the Prismacolor line, but I have three or four pencils on the drawing table so I can have a couple with needle sharp points for detail work and one with a more blunt point for broad passages of shading. I like having multiples of the same color because I can sharpen them all the beginning of a session and thereby reduce the amount of time necessary for sharpening while painting.

The first thing I did was fix Lockkeeper’s ears. As suspected, the off side ear was too large, so I trimmed and reshaped it, then shaded the background around it to re-establish the proper shape and position.

Then I darkened the entire background, using primarily broad, vertical strokes applied with medium pressure and a slow, steady stroke. This is not easy! If I’m not careful, it’s all too easy to let strokes get quick and lazy, so every few minutes, I have to rein myself in and take back control.

In this session, which lasted about seventy minutes, I also checked the fence, which looked ‘bowed’. It wasn’t correct, so I started to fix it. Then I decided to get out a t-square and make the fence horizontal, instead of receding slightly. I set the t-square on the top edge of the fence, then used the side of a pencil to shade color up against the straight-edge, using the tool as a ‘bumper’ and establish the fence line without actually drawing a line.

After working all along the top edge, I moved the t-square and did the same thing with the bottom edge of the top rail. When that was finished, I moved it down again and shaded down to the top edge of the second rail.

For this last bit of work, I used lighter pressure and a looser stroke. This is the grassy verge between the paddock and the tree line, so it will be a light value than the heavily shadowed trees. I also wanted to create the look and feel of tall grass as quickly as possibly and a loose, vertical stroke serves that purpose very well.

Then, while I had the t-square out, I laid it against the bottom edge of the picture plane and shaded the grass at the bottom of the composition. When I finished with that, the painting had essentially been ‘framed’ by value, with the center portion and the horse still untouched. That’s where the lightest values will appear anything, so it was a good way to establish that pattern early.

At that point, it was time for a break and a cup of coffee!

Another session of nearly two hours this evening and I’d nearly finished the background. At least it looks close to completion at this stage.

I also roughed in the tail and the front hoof to bring those two areas forward out of the background. In addition, I used a dead pen to impress a few highlights into the tail and my signature into the lower left hand corner. Those touches will gradually appear as color builds throughout the painting process.

©Copyright 2010 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
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Lockkeeper In Colored Pencil, Part 1

May 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Colored Pencil

Rising Stonehenge Paper, 90 lb. Natural, 16″ x 20″

Those who follow this blog are already familiar with this guy. He has been been the subject of multiple ACEO horse paintings and is currently the subject of an ongoing oil portrait.

His name is Lockkeeper and he’s one of four or five Michigan Standardbred stallions standing at Starwin Farms in Coleman, Michgan.

I met and photographed Lockkeeper way back in May, 2008. A great horse, he also proved a great subject for photographs and paintings alike. He made an appearance in two or three ACEO horse paintings and is now making another appearance in a traditional colored pencil painting.

The goals for this painting are multiple. Because it’s a colored pencil, I will be using it as a demonstration piece for my colored pencil class.

I chose the same image of Lockkeeper that is being used for the portrait so I can use this as a study for that painting.

It is the first traditional, non-small format artwork I’ve created in colored pencil in several years.

Finally, it will be one of the images to be considered for the 2010 Kansas Christian Home Christmas Bazaar this coming November.

There is, in other words, a lot of incentive to get this done!

The photograph I’m using was taken by photographer Mark Adair. Thanks, Mark, for your generous permission to use your work!

Color Used: PS Light Umber

The primary difference between this painting and the portrait – other than the medium – is my treatment of the background. A new background has been created for the oil painting. This time around, I’m using the background that appears in the reference photo.

Some changes were made. For example, I included the fence around the paddock in which Lockkeeper cavorts, but I eliminated the other fence beyond this one. The mesh of fences was too distracting and didn’t contribute to the sense of distance in the painting. Had the illusion of distance been created by that fence, I would have used it to break up the background a little bit more.

In the oil painting, all of Lockkeeper’s hooves appear. For this painting, I decided to deepen the paddock grass and conceal those two hooves on the ground. There isn’t a lot of movement in this image, so disguising those two feet in tall grass disguises those two ‘anchors’.

Even though a drawing already existed for the horse, I took two days to rework the drawing. On the first day, I used mechanical drawing methods to place the fence, then reduced the original drawing and taped it over the fence.

On the second day, I reviewed the drawing, moved the horse a little bit forward in the composition and refined problem areas like the face and feet.

On the third day, I selected the paper to be used (Rising Stonehenge 90 pound paper in Natural) and mounted it to a 20�24 panel with masking tape. I did that toward the end of a busy day, so rather than begin the transfer process immediately, I waited for the next day.

On the fourth day, the area of the painting was marked off on the drawing paper, I shaded the back of the drawing with Light Umber, then taped the drawing over the fresh paper and carefully transferred it onto the Stonehenge.

The finished drawing is shown above. I apologize for its condition, but I forgot to shoot the drawing until after I’d already shaded the back! The darker values you see is where the transfer shading was applied to the back of the paper. You will note that I didn’t shade the entire paper, just behind the actual drawing.

I should mention that the drawing is on tracing paper.

Color Used: PS Light Umber

The first mark on a fresh sheet of paper is always the most difficult, so I started with an area that could be easily fixed if I messed up. The fence!

Beginning behind the horse, I used Light Umber to shade faint values in the top rail. Color was applied in a horizontal pattern that mimics wood grain so that even though the values aren’t very dark, the area is already beginning to look like a wood rail fence.

To further define the fence without darkening it too quickly, I then worked in the background behind the fence. A couple of tree trunks were lightly sketched in to break up the area beyond and above the fence, then light value was applied with a sweeping, vertical hatch stroke in Light Umber with very light pressure. The goal was to create as light and broad a value layer as possible without paying much attention to detail. I worked around the tree trunks, which will be darkened after the foliage is dark enough for the trees to become visible through the forest.

Here is a detail image of the section I worked on. In this photo, you get a better look at the darks and lights in the foliage. These areas were created with hatching, cross hatching and brillo (circular) strokes applied at random.

I am more concerned with the pattern of light and dark and how it relates to the horse and fence at this stage, than with getting the lights and darks in exactly the same place on the painting as they appear in the photograph. I love detail but that level of detail would drive even me crazy! In this case, a reasonable facsimile is all that’s required. It’s the prop against which the actor (Lockkeeper) appears in the painting.

There is about an hour’s worth of work in this section and the only color I used was Light Umber. Light Umber will be one of only two colors I use for the under painting. The other color is Dark Umber and I will use that only in the darkest areas. Most likely in the horse.

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

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Always in Style Finished

April 19th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Oil Painting

Raphael Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

Always in Style is now officially complete! The final touch was brushing up the background with Titanium White and Manganese Blue. That was all it needed.

The portrait was photographed and a digital image sent to the client the same morning and approval has since been received.

The finished portrait went to the drying room for two weeks, then was be framed and presented to the clients at the 2009 Michigan Harness Horseman’s Association Annual Art Auction.

It also served as a display portrait for the two other custom portraits being offered at that auction.

This portrait was purchased at the 2007 MHHA auction and I was able to meet and photograph Always in Style a year ago this month. It is a delight to be able to now present the finished portrait as a sample of my work for those who will be bidding on the current donations.

Many thanks to the owners of Always in Style and of this portrait for allowing this use of their painting.

More information on horse portraits and frequently asked questions about horse portraits.

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

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Always in Style, Color, Part 7

April 15th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Oil Painting

Raphael Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

The painting entered the final detail phase by this point. Most of it is finished, but there are details to scatter throughout the portrait that will bring it to life.

My goal for the day was to get this portrait finished or to get as close to completion as possible.

I painted the mane and forelock to as close to finish as possible working wet-into-wet. I think the forelock looks great, but the mane is a little too black, so I will want to glaze some dark earth tones over that when the paint dries. Probably in a couple of days.

I also darkened the darks in the eyes, ears and nostrils and around the mouth and began painting in the halter.

What remains to be done is finishing the halter, dry brushing highlights into the lower face, the glaze I mentioned over the mane and touching up any areas in the background that need work. Most of those things can probably be done in an hour or less, but will need to wait for paint to dry.

It took a week to get back to the portrait, but when I did, I was able to finish it. I glazed Burnt Umber over the mane, forelock and the insides of the ears to warm up those dark, dark shadows, then stroked in highlights with a mixture of Titanium White and Manganese Blue with either Burnt Umber or Raw Sienna mixed in depending on where the highlight was.

I also enhanced the highlights on the muzzle and the face below the nose band, rubbed Burnt Umber into the darks above the nose band and dry brushed the blue tint around the highlight in the eye. That pretty much finished the horse.

The next thing on the list was the halter, which I built strap by strap, buckle by buckle. The leather was painted with a combination of Titanium White, Burnt Umber and Manganese Blue, with the addition of Raw Sienna in reflected light areas. The hardware is Titanium White, Raw Sienna and a little bit of Manganese Blue and Burnt Umber.

The halter was complete when I finished for the day, but I wasn’t confident enough that the painting was done to touch up the background. One more look tomorrow or the next day and that should do it.

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

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Always in Style, Color, Part 6

April 13th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Oil Painting

Raphael Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

This time around, I started with Style’s eye and worked around it, color by color, until I’d worked over the entire face and blocked in the forelock, as well. I used almost every color on the palette.

The cool highlights such as those under the eye are mixtures of Manganese Blue, Titanium White and the earth tones that surround those highlights. The warm highlights are a mixture of Titanium White and Raw Sienna with a little bit of the blue mixed in.

Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber are the earth tones used and, in the very darkest areas, I added a bit of Manganese Blue.

Several different brushes were used, as well; larger brushes to apply color, smaller ones to move it around and blend it.

It was a fun session and when I finished, I could see that major steps forward had been taken. It will take a fresh eye in the morning to know if adjustments will need to be made, but for the moment, I am very pleased!

©Copyright 2010 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
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Always in Style, Color, Part 5

April 2nd, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Oil Painting

Raphael Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

By the time the portrait reached this stage, Thanksgiving was upon us. The paint and the artist both got a little bit of time off!

Even though no painting was done, I did take a look at my reference photos looking for a good, secondary image to provide some of the details missing in the primary reference. In the course of doing so, I discovered that the overall color is much too red.

So when I started to work the next painting session, my goal was to adjust the color overall and to work detail in as many areas as possible.

The first thing I did was rub Raw Sienna over all of Style’s head, face and neck. That provided a good base for the rest of the work.

Using Titanium White, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber, I began painting again with the shoulder and worked my way up to the neck, then to the head, blocking in highlights and mid-tones, then blending the edges where necessary and adding shadow where necessary. The mane was also re-established as a shadow of the finished mane to help create the proper shape and mass of Style’s neck.

By the time I finished that work, her jowl and jaw were finished and the off side ear was also finished. I worked around her eye and made much improvement on that area. The face needed to be finished and I needed to work on the eye, as well. Then the halter will be all that remains and the portrait will be complete.

©Copyright 2010 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
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Always in Style, Color, Part 4

March 29th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Oil Painting

Raphael Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

The painting is getting to what I usually refer to as the ‘nit-picky stage’. That is, I’m working at finishing each section I work on in a single painting session.

For example, today’s work was centered on the part of the face below the nose band. From light to dark, I used Titanium White, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber. Each color was applied dry brush, with no additional walnut oil or medium, but was brushed as thin as possible to allow all the layers of color to influence the final result.

The goal at this stage is to finish each area before moving to the next one, then finish with the halter, any touch ups and/or adjustments that need to be made, then a signature. Since earth tones dry quickly, often over night, work should be able to progress as quickly as my schedule will allow.

I worked on the portrait periodically throughout the next two weeks and managed to do a glaze over the rest of the horse that included work with Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber, then adding some highlights with Raw Sienna mixed with Titanium White. The work of adding details continued section by section.

By the time I finished for the day on the last day of that period, the portrait was looking pretty good. The face needed a lot more work and the mane and halter needed to be painted, but after that, it was a matter of touching up as needed, then dry time.

©Copyright 2010 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
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Always in Style, Color, Part 3

March 25th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Oil Painting

Raphael Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

One week later….

Glazing work continues, blended with a little  wet-into-wet work.

I began with Burnt Sienna (a rusty, red-brown color that works great with almost all sorrels, chestnuts and bays) applied dry brush and with a rag to the mid-tones and shadows throughout Style.

That was followed with Burnt Umber, a darker, bluer brown brushed directly into wet paint, but only in the shadow areas, over the chin and muzzle and into the mane, forelock and eyes.

The shadows were darkened a little bit more with Ultramarine Blue inside the ears and nostrils, around the mouth, muzzle and chin, over the forehead and under the jaw.

Finally, I used Ivory Black in the mane and forelock to deepen the darks in those two areas. Both the mane and the forelock were thickened up a little bit more than they previously had been. They are still not finished, but a lot of the details will be placed in the final two or three working sessions.

That work dried for a week, then I continued glazing at a more careful pace. I continued to use sable brushes, but smaller sizes and shorter bristles for improved control.

The colors I used were Burnt Sienna as the base color. It was coupled with Raw Sienna, a more golden shade of the same color. The two colors were applied side-by-side and blended as necessary, with Burnt Sienna everywhere except in the darkest shadows and in the brightest highlights. Raw Sienna was used in the highlights. I worked my way throughout Style’s head, neck and shoulders with those two colors, working slowly and carefully to prevent the appearance of brushstrokes in this very transparent layer of color.

Alas! I forgot to photograph it before the next painting session, even though it had the prerequisite week to dry. Sometimes, the brush is quicker than the camera.

©Copyright 2010 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
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Always in Style, Color, Part 2

March 23rd, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Oil Painting

Raphael Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

This round of  work began with a ‘rubbing’ of Yellow Ochre, applied with a clean rag over the majority of Style’s head, neck and shoulders.

The next color was Raw Sienna, then Burnt Sienna. Those colors, too, were rubbed onto the surface of the canvas and directly into the Yellow Ochre, but only in the mid-value areas.

The eye was also worked on, beginning with a glaze of Burnt Umber in and around the eye. Ultramarine Blue was then painted into the same areas and blended wet-into-wet everywhere except in the highlight.

The highlight was painted with the same colors used in the background (Manganese Blue and Viridian mixed with lots of Titanium White), with the brightest area being almost completely white and fading into a bluer mixture toward the back edge of the eye.

There was also a good deal of tweaking and fine-tuning around the eye and in some of the areas that could easily be completed in this painting session, such as the ears. The forelock and mane were also worked on throughout the painting session, especially in the areas where they are adjacent to other working areas.

When a painting enters this phase of the process, I either paint rapidly and wet-int0-wet or painted is applied in glazes and the painting has to dry thoroughly between each layer. That usually means a painting in the color phase gets work one day a week and dries for a week between glazes.

That is the way Style’s portrait is being painted. So after this work was completed, the painting was set aside to dry for the required week.

©Copyright 2010 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
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Always in Style, Under Painting, Part 2

March 11th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

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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Always in Style, Under Painting, Part 1

March 9th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

Original Oil Painting

Rapheal Belgian Linen Panel, 16″ x 20″

This fine mare is Always in Style, a retired Standardbred now living at Bonley Farms in Sunfield, Michigan.

Style, as she is fondly known, is the dam of several good harness racing horses, including Another Mile, by the great Keystone Raider.

Style’s portrait was purchased at the 2007 Michigan Harness Horseman’s Association auction and I had the opportunity to meet, photograph and observe her in her natural habitat during my 2007 Christmas trip to Michigan. As you can see in her photo, it was unseasonably warm that week and there was very little snow on the ground. It wasn’t warm enough to make her shed her winter coat, though, but she was still gorgeous.

Of all of the photographs I took (three rolls worth!), this is the one chosen by Style’s owners. There were some adjustments, but they were minor. For instance, the background in another photograph was preferred, so I combined that background with this head study for the final portrait.

Style will also be wearing a leather halter for her portrait and I’m going to give her a shave, too. No winter coats in the final portrait.

Once the primary reference was chosen, it was a simple matter to do the drawing, then enlarge it to full size and prepare it for client approval. Once approval was received, I transferred the drawing to the Raphael panel.

The panel, which is oil primed Raphael linen mounted to a lightweight, archival wood foundation, had previously been prepared with a layer of solvent-thinned paint. To begin work, I used a fine grit sandpaper to even out the surface texture, then transferred the drawing using carbonless transfer paper.

The resulting image was so light that I subsequently had to redraw it with paint, which I did using a small round sable and Raw Umber straight out of the tube. Once that was complete, I began painting with the eyes, which are the most important parts of any portrait, then continued with the darker shadows.

Unfortunately, after letting the painting sit for a couple of hours on the easel, then catching a sidelong look at it in a pass through the studio, I realized the placement was wrong.

Then I realized the drawing was slightly off kilter. Style was tipped a little clockwise, which changed her attitude.

So I wiped the canvas completely, then set it aside to dry. And here you thought artists made paintings effortlessly. Not so in this studio!

I used a variation of the classical painting technique of under painting and color glazes for this painting. It’s not the Flemish technique, but is a personal adaptation to that technique. In this adaptation, paintings go directly to the dead layer phase, skipping the imprimatura and umber layers. The time saving isn’t significant, since neither the imprimatura or the umber layer require lengthy drying times. But it does allow me to get more quickly into the detail painting phases and provides a little bit faster results.

When I choose to paint with this ‘twist on the Flemish technique’, I often pair it with a complimentary under painting. In that case, the under painting is painted in the colors opposite the final colors on the color wheel. A red horse in a green background appears as a green horse in a red background at the under painting phase. While this does work for oil paintings, it works better for colored pencil paintings.

For this portrait, the under painting is a mix of Raw Umber and Titanium White.

Back to the painting!

Once the first attempt was dry, I  repositioned the drawing and transferred it again.

This time, however, I had to start with the background. That is not typical, but the previous paint on the canvas made it necessary to establish the shapes quickly and while the drawing was still fresh.

Since the background is to be a light blue, I mixed a little bit of Raw Umber with a lot of Titanium White on the palette to get a nice, flat color. I added a little bit of solvent to make the paint easier to apply in a ’stroke-less’ texture, then used a sable flat brush to carefully paint the background around Style.

After that was in place, I used various shades of the same mixture to begin blocking in Style herself, beginning with the off shoulder and working forward and upward. The focus of work at this stage was creating the basic lights and darks, so I continued to use the same, medium-sized flat brush. Broad areas of color were applied with the flat edge. Lines and smaller areas were applied with the narrow edge or, in some cases, just a corner.

I wasn’t able to complete the first round of under painting because of so much wet paint, but good progress was made. What is left will be picked up in the next session.

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

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Lockkeeper: Work Begins on the Horse

February 24th, 2010 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

After a few weeks for drying the landscape portion of the painting, I put Lockkeeper back on the working easel this week.

Work began yesterday with an umber under painting on the horse.

The idea, when I started work, was to begin with the head and eye and to finish each area before moving on to the next area. I did start with the head and with the eye, but the rest of the plan fell apart within a few brush strokes.

I love working on Baltic Birch panels and I love the methods of the Flemish technique, but combining the two has proven to be more of a challenge than anticipated.

The method used to prep the panel involved a couple of layers of acrylic gesso on a lightly sanded wood surface. When those were dry, I mixed gesso and acrylic modeling paste 1 to 1 and used that mixture for the final surface prep. When it was dry, I scraped it and sanded it lightly to create an ultra smooth working surface perfect for detail.

Unfortunately, that working surface also means that until a sufficient amount of paint is in place, there are only one or two workable brush strokes before paint begins to ’slide’. So after the first couple of brush strokes, I was moving paint around more with each brush stroke than I was applying fresh paint.

So I changed tactics and used that characteristic to block in lights and darks for the entire horse, painting as much detail as possible, but not finishing any area. After ninety minutes, the horse was completely blocked in. Not what I expected to accomplish, but still a good day’s work.

Another quality of this hyper smooth painting surface is that paint layers require more time to dry enough to work on. Getting in too much of a hurry has resulted in previous work being ‘lifted’ by new work.

So even though the colors I used yesterday are almost completely dry to the touch this afternoon, the painting will be allowed to dry for another few days before I touch it again. When I do get ready to paint again, I’ll test yesterday’s work with a razor blade and will paint the next layer only when it passes that ’scratch test’.

Part of doing any job well is learning what you can and can’t do with the materials in use, then learning how to push those usable qualities as much as possible.

That applies to new paints, new supports and new techniques. I would have much preferred to have this portrait proceed without difficulty, but nothing is gained by playing things safe. The lessons I’m learning with Lockkeeper will advance every portrait I do in the future. I consider it on-the-job training. That training will not end until I stop painting.

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

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Guienne Hanover; Finished but for the Tweaking!

June 30th, 2009 | Posted in Carrie Lewis

The portrait of Gueinne Hanover is now complete except for the tweaking! Praise the Lord!

I worked on the painting on Monday in spite of the fact that some of the previous work was still a little bit tacky. There wasn’t much to do, but it was about the most difficult part of the entire painting: those nasty straight lines and curved lines of the bike!

But it was put in place in the first session, then tweaked a little bit in the next.

I also did some tweaking to the driver, including the rather complicated looking design on the helmet, touched up the race track, and began the lettering at the bottom.

After that, a day or two to dry and I’ll look it over to see if I’ve missed anything and it will be D-O-N-E!

Once that happens, I’ll have to take it to the gallery, where I can place it on an easel and get sufficient light and distance to take a good photograph. It will probably stay there until it’s ready for framing or for delivery, whichever the client chooses.

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

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