"Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful..."

We're getting our first winter storm of the season today. We've had snow, of course, but this is the real thing, the kind of day you're grateful you don't have to go anywhere. The two broodmares were ready to come in by 10am, but the others had to wait until I was done the rest of the stalls, and they wear blankets so they weren't looking quite as put out! By the time I brought them in, it was truly nasty out. The wind is very cold, and coming from the "wrong" direction. I have no doubt that frostbite would be a risk. Anyway, everyone is snug in their stalls now...and I was quite happy to come in myself! The birds amaze me though - they're still out there! I don't know how they can stay on the feeders with that wind!


I don't know if we'll see the local paper today, but there is an article in there about my participation in the Mural Mosaic. The Milton Canadian Champion is so good about representing the arts in this area, and Stephanie Hounsell did a wonderful job of pulling together the story. I actually saw it first on Jen's Thorough-blog. I've always joked to my friends in the racing world that you know you've made it, when you make the Thorough-blog! Guess today was my day!


I started a new painting last night, so I'll probably do a little more work on it a bit later. I've had the sketch for this in my sketchbook for years. I'm hoping I can pull it off. You'll hear more about it as I go! For now, I think some baking is in order! Though I do kind of like Finn's plan!

Queen's Plate '08

I want to be sure everyone knows that little Billy called it, and Gracie wasn't far off! Not Bourbon held off Ginger Brew to win the 2008 Queen's Plate in an exciting finish. Unfortunately, thanks to what I'll call a two-minute rule, I didn't get very great shots of the race itself. Apparently, for the duration of the Queen's Plate, and the Plate only...and this year's Plate only, for that matter...standing at the base of the stairs to the second floor seating is a fire hazard. I'm not sure why it wasn't for the race before the Plate, or last year's Plate, or the year before. What can I say!


The LongRun fundraiser auctioning off the saddle cloths of the Plate field is happening now on eBay. By pure coincidence I ended up with some pretty cool shots of the horses in the walking ring. Be sure to check out the auction. A couple of the cloths still have no bids, including the winner's! His connections better step up!


Here in the studio, the painting goes on. The purple panel is on its way to Edmonton to rejoin its other mosaic pieces for a grand reunion. Stay posted for information on the unveiling! And keep track of the progress on the Mural Mosaic website!

Rainy Days and Purple Panels

I think the last posting I did of my Mural Mosaic panel was officially what we artists like to call "the ugly stage." It's been leering at me since. As soon as it was dry, I could barely stand to look at it! I found I had to work on it tonight to try and push it past that point. I'd like to say I'm happy with how things went, but I seem to recall being reasonably content while it was still wet the last time, so I'll reserve judgment for now!

Sorry for the blow by blow on this. I was considering not posting again until it was complete. From a progression standpoint, what I did tonight was put another layer on the background to tie it together better, and then started working on tightening up the detail on the horse. I can see a few things I need to adjust while it's still wet, before I clean my brushes. Then it's back out into the rain to take care of the ponies one last time for the day!

When You're On A Roll...

Okay, so it took till 8pm tonight before I laid out some paint and picked up the brushes, what can I say. Once I got going though, I made some progress on the infamous panel. I've started with the colour. This is all wet in wet, so very loose...and in some places mud! I was laying down paint a little more thickly than I normally would, so I'm curious to see how long it takes to dry. Fortunately there's very little white in tonight's work, so that won't be a factor!

There are some areas that I could work on yet, but right now I'm thinking it's safest to let it dry first, lest I really mess things up! As we all know, I have plenty of other stuff to work on in the meantime!

There are some new panels up on the Mural Mosaic site now - be sure to check it out! Remember, the name of this project is Le Cadeau du Cheval ~ The Horse Gift.

Happy trails! (It must be time for bed!)

Purple Panel Painters, Unite!

I was just browsing the Equine Artists' feed - this is kind of a group blog that collects blog posts from various members. I've been enjoying watching the progress on many of the Mural Mosaic panels on our Equine Art Guild forum, but it was fun to see the more public postings too. At the EAG some of us have jokingly formed the "Purple Panel Support Group" to help ourselves deal with the particular challenge of these purple panels! Seeing so many of them completed or nearing completion is putting the pressure on, though!

So, for some progress! I'm not going to explain my subject now - but I'll post pictures so you can see where I'm at. The EAGers know who this is, as I've shared over there, so no letting it leak! Not that it's a big deal, but I'll post my little blurb to go along with the panel once I'm done. If you can figure it out, let me know.

The first step was to transfer my drawing to the panel. I dug up old photos, and new photos, and played around a bit in Photoshop as well as my sketchbook to come up with what I wanted. The darkness of the panel meant using a white china marker for the drawing, which actually worked out quite well when I started adding paint. The solvent will dissolve the marker with some persuasion, but "stuck" enough to give me the guidelines I needed once I started working in the paint.


On the advice of a few EAGers I put a light coat of a 50/50 mixture of mineral spirits and linseed oil over the panel to help the paint flow. While it did allow me to cover the panel quickly, and with a nice looseness, it also increased the drying time of this layer significantly! I managed a rough tonal, then had to leave it. The paint on this layer is very thin, so I'll be doing a better job of covering the panel with the next one. I'm keeping my colours in line with the panel at this point - French Ultramarine Blue, Venetian Red and Unbleached Titanium, which, mixed together to the blue side, gave a nice bluish-purple. Maybe a little cooler than the orignal panel tone, but working for what I wanted for this underpainting. I've actually used these colours for an underpainting before, so I did have basis for my decision!

When that initial layer was finally dry, I was back at the easel with the same palette. Now I worked to cover the panel more fully, still keeping it monochromatic, and getting my detail more solid without really losing the looseness. So I'm at that stage now where I could very happily leave this as is - who needs full colour anyway? It's that fear of messing up a satisfactory underpainting!


Good or bad, this needed time to dry. As it turned out, I didn't have time to work on it this week, thanks to a small bout of horse stress. No more excuses now though! The panel is dry, and I have a day to paint. Add to that, there's a bit of a deadline on this, so no time to dwell on my insecurities! Boldly go! ;)

Mike Fox, Step One!

Wow, I actually managed to get what I wanted done on this painting, ahead of schedule! I completed the first layer of the underpainting on Mike Fox. This layer is very thin, the tone of the panel still showing through, so I will more completely cover the surface one this stage is dry. Sometimes I will go back after a second drying period to establish the details more firmly before I move on to colour. Remember how long it took me to finish the underpainting of my "First Time Past" painting? Um...do you even remember the painting? (Yeah, yeah, I need to get back to that one!).

In case I haven't mentioned, this one of Mike Fox is a 16 x 20 oil on masonite panel. The panel was toned with Raw Sienna, and so far all I'm working with is Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber and Titanium White.

Getting to this point on this painting meant I was free to start my Mural Mosaic panel tonight! I've just started blocking in the underpainting, but you'll have to wait to see it. Maybe tomorrow!

But It's Not My Birthday!

A couple of weeks ago, I got a package in the mail. I was expecting something of this shape - flat, about 15 x 15 inches - but just to be safe, I had my bomb-sniffing dog check it out. Finn quickly became disinterested, so I took it inside and opened it up.


What did I find? A very purple panel!



Okay, enough joking around! Earlier this year, thanks to fellow EAGer Michelle Grant, I became aware of a project organized by the Mural Mosaic. Be sure to take the time to look at their site to see the scope of what they've developed. This particular project is called Le Cadeau du Cheval, or "The Horse Gift." Panels have been distributed to equine artists all over the world, and many Equine Art Guild members are taking part. We're having a lot of fun on our forum, seeing what everyone is coming up with. After seeing some of the "shape" panels some of my fellow artists are dealing with, I'm getting over some of my "panel envy" at having been given a plain jane surface to work with!

The "mother image" has not been revealed, so the artists will be watching it pieced together with the rest of you! Well, except maybe for those over-achievers with too much time on their hands on the project, who have puzzled the panels together like a kid at Christmas who just can't wait till the big day! Personally, I don't want to spoil the fun!

I've decided what I'm going to do, but I'm not going to tell you just yet. I've done a quick drawing on the panel, and I'm just waiting until I get the first layer of underpainting on the Mike Fox painting before I let myself get to work on this!

Stay tuned!