The One that Almost Wasn't

Tonight, as I sat eating some particularly uninspiring 'cooked from frozen' tortellini, I had to remind myself that any day that starts out with someone else cooking breakfast can't really be all that bad, overall.

Before you let your imaginations get away with you, I'll explain! This morning after feeding and turning out horses (or some of them, thanks to intermittent rain), I hopped in the truck and battled infamous Toronto morning traffic to head into the Queen's Plate breakfast at Woodbine. The food at Woodbine (that would more accurately be, the non-concession stand food!) is always incredible, and this was definitely no exception. The occasion at hand was the post position draw for the big race. When I was there I was reminded that the last time I was at a draw, it was in a little place called Dubai, for the World Cup!

There ended up being thirteen entries for the Plate - the horse I painted on Sunday, Costalivin, was not entered. Today I painted the morning line favourite, and the other filly in the field, Milwaukee Appeal, winner of the Canadian Oaks. This is 5 x 7 oil on panel.

And now...the rest of the story. It was noon by the time I left Woodbine, and I followed through on my plan to take care of a less-than-favourite task, finding something to wear on Sunday. Wonder of wonders, first store I went into, first dress I tried on...I bought! I should get a prize for that, I'm sure. From there I took care of a couple of other errands, then headed home. There was a message from the vet asking to switch tomorrow morning's appointment for Jubie to this afternoon, so I confirmed that was okay before going to the barn and starting to play catch-up!

Turns out it was probably good to check Jubie today - I'd planned to take her up and leave her for a few days so that they had some time to work with her before breeding her, and after talking to the breeding manager, I agreed to take her out in the morning. That put the pressure on the timing of the rest of my day. There was a point I seriously didn't think I was going to manage to finish a painting today. I did stalls, brought in and fed...and finally got back in the house around 7:30pm. Made something to eat (that disapointing meal I mentioned earlier) and I guess it was after 9pm that I actually started painting. Got a bit of a drawing down before dashing off to go fill up the truck and hitch up the trailer, then came back to finish the painting. All told, painting, truck and trailer took two hours. Not bad. I thought I might be in bed by midnight, except for needing to do this blog thing and clean my brushes...oh well!

On that note...time to go. Brushes...back to the barn...then maybe I'll make it to bed!

A Year for the Fillies?

There may be two fillies in this year's Plate - Oaks winner Milwaukee Appeal, and the runner-up, Tasty Temptation. Last time I saw Tasty Temptation she was just a few days old, romping around her mother at nearby Persley Den Farm. Her mother is a very beautiful grey mare named Parisia, and dad is none other than Medaglia d'Or, sire of Preakness heroine Rachel Alexandra.

The painting is 8 x 10 oil on panel.

Six Months Till Saratoga!

It's not really that unusal for me to be thinking of Saratoga this time of year. Let's face it, anything that distracts from the Canadian winter is a good thing. I think this time last year I was working on another painting taken from photos I shot on this same trip. Today I sat (and alternatingly stood) in front of Medaglia D'Oro again.

First thing I have to say about this painting is, I'm loving the Artfix linen. I've had my struggles with this surface in the past, but I think adhering it to masonite is making a big difference for me. I'll certainly be preparing more of these linen panels. It was so simple, now I'm wondering why it took me so long to try. I really didn't expect it to work as well, and as easily, as it did. This one is just 8 x 10, so I'll have to look at trying some larger panels.


Today I started with the horse, working up some of the shape with Burnt Umber a bit so he was reasonably established before I started blocking in some colour. I started loosely with the background, blocked in the groom, and then worked up the horse a bit further. I stopped where you see it in the second progress image. While I probably could have worked on it a little more, I was just feeling like I'd like to let it dry a bit before continuing. Because the horse is a little further along than some of the other elements, I'd like to bring some of the rest of it up to speed and that will go a lot better when things are dry.

The weather hinted kindly of spring today - though rain is predicted for tomorrow. It's almost March - the end to winter is in sight!

Taking Chances...or, "Because You Can!"

That's probably something only folks and Ontario will get - it's the tag line for an advertising campaign for the Super 7 Lottery. On the one hand I guess it works to some extent, because that line sticks in my head, well, kind of like this cold right now, but on the other, it hasn't enticed me to start buying Super 7 tickets!

Now to get back to where I was going with that! I had plenty of time to paint tonight, even though I didn't start until after 6pm. After all, it's not even 9pm as I write this. As I worked through drawing this one on the panel however, I was liking the looseness, and started hitting the point quite early where the little voice was saying, "Stop...okay, stop!!" Trust me, when you start hearing voices when you're painting it's best to listen! (And no, I'm *not* taking any medication for this cold!) So this is where I actually stopped, though you may have no idea how hard that was (and perhaps be questioning why??).

Anyway...this is Kimchi, a daughter of Langfuhr, in the paddock before winning the 2006 Labatt Woodbine Oaks (which I still tend to call the Canadian Oaks) . Langfuhr sure stamps his offspring - I'm not sure one would guess this was a filly just by looking at this shot.

The details - 7 x 5 oil on Raymar triple-primed cotton canvas, limited palette. I'm always curious to hear what people think of some of these paintings, so please feel free to comment! Yea or...(forgive me)....neigh? :-D

Just In Case!

Well, this is officially a pre-post! I was a little worried when a couple of hours ago, our internet dropped out again. It's back, apparently, but I'm going to start this post though I'm still working on today's painting. So stay tuned! If things fall apart on me again, I've at least checked in. I don't yet know if Friday's fiasco has already eliminated me from NaBloPoMo or not.

I'll be back!

8:26pm So, here I am! Today I painted Ginger Brew, Canadian Oaks winner and likely winner of the Sovereign Award for three-year old filly in Canada this year. This is 6 x 8 oil on Raymar panel, again with the limited palette. I felt like I fiddled with this one forever! I did feel a bit better about working with the Raymar surface than I have in the past. This is their triple-primed cotton canvas.

I have some writing to catch up on, so after I clean my brushes, that will be my next task. The net target is 30,000 by Wednesday night, so I'd better get a move on!

Oaks Day!

This must be some kind of record for me - today was the first time this year that I got to the races. It was hot and humid today for the Canadian Oaks, with favoured Ginger Brew coming through to win it.


And now, the Queen's Plate is just two weeks away. Before I know it, it'll be time for Saratoga!

The 40D did all the work today, so all I'm going to do is post a few photos. At the top is my artsy shot for the day. Next we have the winning filly at the wire, and below is the first time past the grandstand. I just love the late afternoon light in this one. Guess tomorrow it's time to get back to painting!

Seriously...Where's the Chocolate?

It's perhaps a sad thing that one of my greatest motivators to get to the grocery store is needing to replenish my supply of chocolate. Yes, even out here in Boonieville we have a couple of corner stores of a fashion (all gas stations seem to have convenience stores now) but when I talk about chocolate, what I'm usually looking for is "real" chocolate, the higher the cocoa percent, the better! When I go away (in a geographical sense) I look for new chocolate. Have you read my profile? That degree and minor I have? I figure that gives me the authority to remind everyone that chocolate is GOOD for you! Has to be the high cocoa content stuff though. More antioxidants than that red wine everyone goes on about. And you don't get drunk on it!

Okay...painting, right? My next task is to finish the other piece that was abandoned mid-underpainting last October. When I originally edited the photo for this, I flipped it, and I was going to call it "Backstretch Banter" because the riders were making me laugh. When it came down to it, though, I decided to leave the orientation as it was - the field in a route race going past the grandstand for the first time. The race in question was actually the '06 Canadian Oaks. Maybe my reasons for not changing the photo too much were directly related to that!

This is one of those "count the legs" paintings. I'm still doing that. I'm also testing my memory, painting those legs. My photo ref doesn't show as much as the painting does. I still have some work to do there. Too bad this race was over the old dirt surface at Woodbine, or I would just throw in some Polytrack kickback!

As I'm sure no one but me remembers, this is the first painting I've done on Artfix Linen. The surface is so smooth, it's been giving me some real challenges. Just when I think I have the hang of it, I lose it! I've got the sketch for another painting blocked out on another, smaller piece of this. Haven't touched it with paint yet. I think I've come to the conclusion I like a bit of texture!