Loose Ends

Zippy, Lounging ~ 5 x 7 oil on panel.

I've been spending a lot of time glaring at my easel of late - knowing there is work to be done, but feeling as if I'm just going to make a mess of anything I touch...kind of a reverse-Midas thing, where everything turns to muck.  The oil pastel commission I've been working on is in a good place (by which I mean more than not in my studio, haha), and just getting a rest from my eyes before I put the final touches on it, so I felt I needed to at least be making an attempt with the paints.

My solution has been to finish up some studies that were abandoned somewhere along the road. Some of them were just done during one of my daily painting projects, so they got a day's work but I always wanted to go back to them.  One I actually started from scratch (how brave, haha).  One just involved cutting down and stretching over new stretcher bars.  All I figured I could play with, and if I turned them to muck, nothing much would be lost except a bit more of my self-esteem!  ;-)

At the top is Zippy as a baby - he still has that look of owning the world!  Another study from the same time frame has found a new home, with artist friend Elizabeth McCrindle – it's always an extra honour when another artist likes my work enough to want it!  I have one of Elizabeth's paintings hanging on my studio wall. You can see the paintings in a blog post she wrote when she received them - thanks again, Elizabeth!

Einstein ~ 10 x 8 oil on canvas.

Milwaukee Brew ~ 8 x 10 oil on canvas.

Two of the paintings I was playing with a palette I haven't used much, favoured by artist Anders Zorn.  It's a limited palette of ivory black, cad red, yellow ochre and titanium white.  Admittedly I didn't push it much, but it was interesting just the same.  Both are studies of Thoroughbred stallions – Einstein (BRZ), sire of Sheldon, and Milwaukee Brew.

The last one is the restretch - I did this one as part of my daily painting projects, from a photo taken at Saratoga.  Now, I need to get these up on my website, in hopes that they, too, will find new homes!

Ready ~ 10 x 8 oil on linen.

 Oh, wait - one more!  This is Victor, a little study I started last year and finished up while I still had the Zorn palette open.  Catching a breeze on a warm spring day - which I hope we will see again, eventually!

Victor, Catching a Breeze  ~ 6 x 4 oil on canvas.

Just a PS - it's interesting to note the difference between my usual limited palette, which was used on the racehorse painting, compared with the stallion and Victor studies.  Which do you like better? I'm a time and place kind of person - I have to shake things up now and again, and studies are a great way to try out new things.

Growing, or Growing Up?

So many horses, so little time...that's kind of how I'm feeling, as I head into my next 30Horses, 30Days. This time around there will be a bit of a twist, because of that time factor - each Monday I'm going to have a guest artist/blogger, and I'm also reserving the right to be a little creative with fufiling my horse-a-day obligation for one other day. As much as I'd like to complete 3o new paintings this coming month, I have to be realistic. It's breeding season, and I'm still waiting on Clever, so my schedule is ruled by the broodmares right now. Add to that one little thing I forgot when I made the decision to do this again - that being it's tax season - and I'm going to have to keep hopping to get everything done that needs doing. And I thought it was going to be simpler this time around, as I'm not attempting to write 50,000 words of fiction! Right...

While I've not officially signed up for NaBloPoMo this time around, I will be making daily blog posts, and the NaBlo theme for April fits quite nicely with my project. It's "Growing(Up)." Fundamentally, this temporarily dive into daily painting is for me about trying to grow as an artist...and growing up, well, with all the horses I have around at various life stages, I can find lots of inspiration to fit.

Tonight I guess I was psyching myself up. I'd considered trying out a new palette this time around, so I did a a bit of homework tonight. The credit for this palette is given to Anders Zorn - after looking at his paintings I wanted to try it for myself. Well, after tonight, I'm not so sure it's a good idea! I'll need some work if I'm going to find those colours! I did a quick colour chart, and a very quick little 4 x 4 painting...maybe it was a bit too much to ask, deviating from both my palette and preferred subject matter. Oh well! It's all part of the experience, I guess.


(No, you're not seeing things....that is supposed to be a human being! But I promise I'm back to horses tomorrow!)