Tag Archives: Morgan

Sleigh Bells

December 1st, 2008 | By Heather Anderson

December is upon us, and this year, we have snow already. When we first moved to the village we live in, there were a lot of horse people living here, and sometimes in winter, you could see people driving past in their sleighs. It was lovely to hear the sound of sleigh bells approaching. One winter, with a borrowed driving horse and sleigh, I tried my hand at driving, and it was wonderful. This Colored Pencil painting, “Sleighbells” with a willing Morgan and delighted Shelties brings back happy memories of that winter.
Heather Anderson

©Copyright 2008 by Heather Anderson. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Heather Anderson’s website.

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Starting Week Three!

November 17th, 2008 | By Linda Shantz

I have to admit, today was the first day I found myself wishing I didn’t have a painting to do - not because of my subject, but because I was dragging a bit! No good reason - it’s just difficult some days to fit it all in. I had an appointment with the chiropractor, and some arrangements to make for a horse, as well as the usual barn duties. We’re in that transitional state, weather-wise, I don’t particularly like: rain last week turning to snow over the weekend (though no accumulation to speak of), and dropping temperatures not yet cold enough to freeze the ground. That means mud. And muddy horses. Bottom line - lots of extra work!

Today’s subject is a friend’s pretty little Morgan-cross mare. I had a bit of fun with the colour - such a flashy girl deserved a bit of brightness! It’s fun to see where this limited palette can go. This one is 6 x 8 oil on Raymar triple-primed cotton canvas panel.

The “novel” (I use that term very loosely!) is progressing, of a fashion, though I’m feeling more like I’m just accumulating words than telling a story. While I’ve learned to paint in fits and starts if need be, I can’t do that when I write, and it’s certainly showing! Ah well…tomorrow’s schedule is a bit simpler, so perhaps I’ll be able to devote a bit more concentration to it!

Oh, just one more thing - the grey filly I painted Friday, Pleasant Mix? She was running *yesterday* and she won. Ha! Take that, superstitions!

©Copyright 2008 by Linda Shantz. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Linda Shantz’s website.

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Black Morgan, Part 4

August 20th, 2008 | By Carrie Lewis

WIP (work in progress) painting of a black Morgan horse copyright Carrie Lewis, all rights reserved.Today was sort of a “two steps backward and one step forward” day for this piece.

It was the third Wednesday of the month, which meant it was the regular day for the Colored Pencil Circle at the Carriage Factory Gallery.

That meant it was time to pull out this black Morgan mare and put in another hour. As a reminder, this is a colored pencil on black Rising Stonehenge paper.

To begin with, I used a Prismacolor Clear blender to blend the greens because I thought they were competing a little bit too much with the horse. That smoothed and blurred some of the sharper edges and was supposed to create a smoother color layer. That part didn’t work and I discovered the blender was so old it was starting to dry out.

After I was finished with the blender, I used Limepeel applied in close horizontal strokes to further smooth out the color fields in both the trees and the grass. That was followed with Yellow Chartreuse applied in vertical strokes over all of the greens.

I did use a little bit of Dark Umber and Dark Green, as well, but the greens are too dark, so I want to continue to focus on lightening those areas more.

The little bit of work I did on the horse revolved around the head and the tail, both of which I lightened with Cloud Blue in the cool areas and Yellow Ochre in the warm areas.

I will probably need to bring the painting home and work on it from the reference photo on my computer so that I can enlarge it enough to see details. Hopefully that will happen before the next Colored Pencil circle, but with my schedule looking the way it currently looks, that may be more than I can manage.

It is somewhat frustrating to work on the same piece month after month and for only an hour at a time. It does seem to be a process that works, though. Each time I take out the painting for the next work session, it looks better than I expected it to.

I fully expect to take it out one of these months and realize it’s done!

©Copyright 2008 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Carrie Lewis’s website.

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Black Morgan, Part 3

July 18th, 2008 | By Carrie Lewis

Black Morgan horse oil painting in progress by Carrie Lewis.Another third Wednesday, another colored pencil circle at the Carriage Factory Gallery, another working session on this colored pencil of a black Morgan mare.

This is roughly 8×10 on black Rising Stonehenge paper.

Progress certainly is slow when a painting gets attention only once a month, but the painting is progressing.

I spent most of my time working the trees in the background, but the same colors were also layered into the grass so that both areas were built up at about the same rate and the colors are cohesive.

Work began with Olive Green, which was layered into the trees primarily to cover some of the remaining black areas. I wanted a more dull green to enhance the shadows and Olive Green was exactly the right thing.

That was followed with Limepeel lightly layered over both trees and grass and, finally, Yellow Chartreuse over the lighter areas of trees and grass.

Because I am working around the horse, I also wanted to be especially careful to preserve the edges of legs, back, head and body. The mane and tail can be treated a little less carefully because some of those shapes were impressed into the paper on the first day.

At present, the background is coming along very nicely. At some point, I will have to begin working on the horse, though. Once both subject and background are at about the same level of completion, I can make any adjustments that need to be made.

©Copyright 2008 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Carrie Lewis’s website.

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Black Morgan, Part 2

June 19th, 2008 | By Carrie Lewis

Black Morgan colored pencil drawing in progress by Carrie LewisColored Pencil Circle is a Carriage Factory Gallery event we hold once a month. Every third Wednesday, those members and non-members alike who work in colored pencil gather for fellowship, to work on colored pencil projects, to share new techniques and materials and to have fun. It has been a small group to begin with, but with a core of artists that meets almost without fail every month.

Yesterday was Colored Pencil Circle day and I continued work on RWR Jasper. I am still working on the greens, but this session focused on the upper portions of the background.

The original photograph shows open field. I had decided early on in the project that I wanted to place Jasper against a background of green, so I needed to begin blocking in the trees in the background.

That process got a good start with a smattering of greens applied in a broad pattern of greens that became more specific with each layer of color.Colors used were:

  • Yellow Chartreuse
  • Chartreause
  • Jade Green
  • Apple Green
  • Olive Green
  • Cream

Before the background goes much further, I will have to look up one of the reference photographs that shows a fuller background so that I have an actual pattern of lights and darks to refer to. So far, the trees are all from memory and imagination, which isn’t a bad way to do things. But I have noticed my landscapes are quite a bit flatter when I paint them from imagination or memory than when I paint actual scenes.

©Copyright 2008 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Carrie Lewis’s website.

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