Thirty Horses, Thirty Days!

I still had about 3500 words to write today to meet that NaNoWriMo deadline, and that was my first task of the day. It takes a little more attentiveness to write something reasonable than it does to paint at this point. While my story is really just a framework - and for me, 50K words is just a short story :-) - I wrote an ending and at least finished off the scenes I'd left hanging. It needs some fleshing out, for sure. But I met the goal, which is a little mind-boggling to me, with everything else I got done.

I wasn't sure what I was going to paint today. I kind of wanted something with some significance, as it was the last one of the challenge, and I was a bit worried about not ending on a good note! I was getting ready to look through the photos stored on my external drive when the photo I have hanging behind my easel looked at me. It's a mounted enlargement of Sass, Monster's mom. I took the photo when Sass was quite young, probably two or three, and it's my favourite picture of her. I can see a lot of Monster in her at this age, and it's nice to remember her back then, before she started to run into such problems with her knees.

I always liked the composition of the photo - it was off-centre, and that really appealed to me. This is another 8 x 6 oil on Raymar triple-primed cotton canvas panel, limited palette. It will fit nicely with the theme I have planned for the little show I'll put together of these 30 paintings. Stay tuned!

Imagine, it's only 8:45pm! Finished more than three hours before the deadline! Huh!

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

Wear and Tear

I didn't think I was going to make that 40K NaNo target last night, but the pep talk over there noted it was "before bedtime" not midnight...so I made the push. Of course now I'm trying to keep a cold at bay. I'm hoping it remains a "psuedo-cold" - just a sore throat, aches and chills. That's plenty to deal with, thanks! I've written a bit today, so the 50K is in sight. We just won't mention that it's really pathetic writing!

I decided to revisit Gladys today at the easel. The photo I worked from was taken in the same shoot as the one I used for Monster the other day. Gladzilla and Monster; a match made in heaven! This one is 5 x 7 oil on Raymar triple-primed cotton canvas panel. I'm kind of getting the hang of this surface. Once again I used the limited palette.

Hopefully I'll get to bed at a decent hour tonight!

Two-Thirds of the Way: Day 20!

I write in my head a lot - I'll think about what I might want to say in my blog post, then of course by the time I get to this point, where I'm actually posting, I'm completely at a loss for anything interesting to say! Of course when I went to bed at 1:30am last night, I was pretty sure I'd be dragging by now, so perhaps it's understandable I'm not all that coherent! After making the 30K target for Nano before midnight, I ended up writing another few pages freehand before I went to bed...which was when I glanced at the clock to see the time.

I started today's painting a little earlier than last night's - by an hour or so! This is 6 x 8 oil on Raymar cotton canvas on panel (triple primed again). An guess what? The same limited palette. I've been painting mostly Thoroughbreds in this project, just because I have so many models around here, so if my draught horse looks a bit like a TB, you'll have to forgive me! This Belgian I photographed at the Kentucky Horse Park last summer. I have to admit I like the looseness of these ultra-quickies. I'm usually such a blending freak that I often don't end up with visible brushstrokes, and it's really nice to get away from that.

The next NaNo target is 40K by the end of Monday. As I guess last night's after-midnight stint gave me a bit of a leg up, I think I can afford to get to bed early tonight! Or, well...earliER!

Pushing it

I think this was the latest in the day yet that I've started my painting - it was after 8pm when I started laying out the paint! I had a weird post office day - my dad helped me out by picking up a package for me, but as it turned out I needed to go there myself to mail off some Christmas card orders. Add to that our mail lady came with a package to the door - you'd think some of this could be coordinated, on both sides. Oh well. I will spare you my rant on Canada Customs, and move on to what I did today with a dozen or so paintbrushes!

This is a 5 x 7 oil on Raymar panel - the triple primed cotton canvas, once again, with the same limited palette I've been using. I figured with the lateness of my start on this one, I'd either mess it up royally, or maybe pull off something nice and loose. This horse is Gambler, a Thoroughbred gelding a friend of mine used to own. I have an oil pastel painting of this guy that has been in progress for a while, so this was kind of a way of breaking away from that and finishing something, if not the oil pastel piece! I've always loved the photos I took of this guy. This is one of my favourite portrait poses.

Now, I have 1500 words to write tonight, if I'm going to meet the suggested 30K target. Better get at it!

A Visitor from the West

Today's horse comes to us courtesy of my friend, artist/photographer Donna Ridgway. Donna takes phenomenal photos that make me want to move to Montana every time I see them. Of course, she keeps telling me she and her husband Robert should move here to help me out with my farm! Maybe the farm could move to Montana? Really, what better place could there be for horses? My only question is, what's the closest racetrack? :-D Take the time to check out Donna's photos on her blog. She also sells reference photos for artists, and is ridiculously affordable.

This is another 6 x 8 oil on Raymar triple-primed cotton canvas, using the limited palette. I decided to put a little bit of a landscape behind this one, though I took out the foothills that were in the reference photos, only because of the way it affected the composition. When Donna sent me this photo, I told her I thought this guy would fit right in! I would love to see the rest of his face - he's got some pretty cool facial markings!

Starting Week Three!

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!

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!