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!

Not Much to Say

I've got Dave Matthews' music in my head today, and while the title to one of his songs - "So Much to Say" - might make a good one for a blog post, it wouldn't be true tonight! I'm tired after a long day, but I managed to convince myself to paint anyway. I decided to start a new one from a sketch I did last night while watching 24. This one is from some photos I took on my first trip to Saratoga in 2003. The horse is Medaglia D'Oro, and I've had these shots set aside for some time. Not only do I love the horse, the lighting in the photos is great and wants to be painted! I transferred my sketch from last night to an 8 x 10 linen panel I made last week. This is the first time I've tried to make one of my own, and I used some of that wonderful Artfix linen. I'm really happy how well the panel worked out. So far all I've done is started to block in some tones on this one. I kind of ran out of gas after that!


Thought I'd better supplement this post with a couple of photos I took today. Naturally I have to show off Leo, stretching his legs. The other one I just thought was funny. Since Twine's baby was born, I've been at a bit of a loss as to what to do with Clever, the other broodmare. Clever isn't due till the end of March, but I don't really want to try her out with a new turnout buddy, and she's not very happy about being away from Twine. The current arrangement seems to be working well - Twine and Leo are in the side paddock, and Clever is behind the barn. Her baby from last year is Billy, now a yearling, and he's out in the larger back paddock right now. Billy is very curious about the new baby, so he'll come right up to his gate to investigate, but Clever is very protective of Twine, even though they're not in the same paddock. So I caught Clever telling off her son. The thing that strikes me most about this photo is just how big Billy is! Clever is not a small mare.


Well, I have some brushes to clean, then I need to go out for my last barn visit of the day. After that I think I'll try to get to bed! Maybe I'll get there before midnight!

Making the Best of It

No snow today, just more cold. It's getting kind of repetitious, I know. My days are an ongoing cycle of go out to the barn, freeze, come in, thaw, go out to the barn...and so on. I noted begrudgingly today that it seems as soon as my hands warm up enough that I can actually use them, my feet freeze and I need to come in again!

I started this new painting in one of the "thaw" phases of my day. This is the one I meant to start last Saturday. I had a title for this one before I even took the photo, though I'm not going to reveal it yet. The boys had me laughing and I was glad I caught them with the camera – unlike today, when a very bold/friendly/stupid(?) bird was keeping Gracie and Jubie company. First I saw Gracie following it as it hopped around on the ground, then a bit later it was perched on Jubie's back! By the time I grabbed the camera, of course it had disappeared!


This painting is 11 x 14 oil on Fredrix linen panel. Step one was just starting to work out the drawing with Burnt Umber. Tonight I worked on it some more, still just with Burnt Umber. There are still things that need to be resolved, but I've got the most important stuff worked out. Burnt Umber dries quickly, so I should be able to continue working on it tomorrow.

Now I'm trying to convince myself to take advantage of a bit of an early night! It's only quarter to twelve...that's early for me!

Death of a Scanner

Um...yeah...that doesn't sound good!

I was going to scan one of my smaller, recently completed paintings to show you, but I think my scanner is giving it up. Never fear, I will take a photo of it, but for smaller works I usually scan them for the best print results. Guess I've got some shopping to do...

So now what? My landscape entry for last week is from a photo of a cottage sunset - something it looks like I won't get to see first-hand this summer. This is 8 x 10 oil on Fredrix linen panel. There are still some touches to be done, but as part of my goal with this project is to see how close I can get to a completed painting in a single session, I will dare to post it even though I'm not completely happy with it yet. I guess technically I'm not behind again yet - I do need to get on this week's entry!


I have to admit I've slacked off in the painting department the last couple of nights. Okay, so I bought the second season of Dexter and have been watching that. At least I've only been watching a couple of episodes a day - though to be honest it was probably the broadcast of the Olympic Individual Show Jumping final that kept it to that! If I had any photos of Hickstead you can be sure I'd be posting about that tremendous GOLD he and rider Eric Lamaze captured yesterday.

All right...this could possibly rate as my most boring post ever! Rather than babble on, I'll leave it at this, and catch up with you all when I have a photo of the painting I intended to show you!

The Tuesday Report

Remember when the Mercer Report used to be called The Monday Report? Or was it the Tuesday Report? And I think it's really now called the Rick Mercer Report. Anyway, if you don't know who Rick Mercer is, none of this means anything to you!

Today was a big day! I actually finished the Mural Mosaic panel. I need to write up my blurb that goes along with the painting, and then it will be placed in the grid on the official site. When I have the blurb written, I'll post the panel here as well. It still needs to be signed and photographed before I send it on its way. I was looking at flights to Calgary for the first week of September today. Not sure yet if that's going to happen!

I also more or less finished one of the smaller paintings that has been kicking around. This little oil is 6 x 8, on Raymar linen panel. I have a couple of touch-ups to do before I sign it, but nothing major. The name took a lot of thought: "Dark Bay on the Curragh." How's that for brilliance? I reserve the right to change that!


I'm running out of time on my self-imposed deadline for Mike Fox. Tonight I continued to work on the colour. At this stage I'm only using a limited palette; I'll juice it up a bit with the next layer. The white of the riders' breeches and silks is still wet, so I'm not going to go back and work on them until those areas are dry.

Till next time!

Big Red Machine?

I know that's what they used to call Secretariat, and I'm not trying to make a comparison, but those are the words that came to mind today as I watched Curlin toy with his rivals to win the Dubai World Cup. I don't usually paint the "horse of the hour" so to speak - if I'm going to paint a "name" horse it will typically be a Canadian-bred, Woodbine-based runner. Watching Curlin's performance today, however, I gave in. I had photos of him winning the Breeders' Cup Classic, so with a few adaptations I will be taking him to Dubai! Well...taking my photos of him to Dubai...okay, I wish. I was there this time last year!

Just a note - this horse does have a Canadian tie-in. He's by Canadian-bred Smart Strike, and out of a Deputy Minister mare - Deputy Minister was also Canadian-bred!

This is just a small painting, 5 x 7 oil on oil-primed Raymar panel, and the work so far has taken about an hour. So yes, another work in progress. About time I started wrapping some of these up, don't you think?

Working small like this can be fun. I find it useful for staying motivated, because in most cases these pieces are completed faster than a larger one, for obvious reasons - it doesn't take as long to cover the support! They give a sense of accomplishment that helps carry me through the larger work.

I have completed one of the recent postings in the last week. All I need to do is sign it, so you will see it sometime soon!

The Curragh Beats Out Mini Eggs

I got the barn done quite quickly today, which left me with some extra time – well, when I decided I did not need to go out to the grocery store in hopes of finding a 1 kilo bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs, half-price after Easter. Painting would be much more productive…and probably healthier, at least in the short term!

My painting of the fillies in the snow is currently wet after the work I did on it yesterday. Ghost Groom needs a couple of little touch-ups before I call it done. Monster needs some methodical work, and the underpainting of the racehorses is ready for colour. I decided I wanted to start something new this afternoon, though; something to make use of one of the sample package of Raymar panels that arrived last week. I flipped through a pile of photographs and pulled out one I’ve had set aside for ages (yes, there are lots of those). It depicts a dark bay racehorse circling at the start of one of the gallops on the Curragh in Ireland, and fit the bill for what I was looking for.

Outside, despite the supposed arrival of Spring last Thursday, Winter has returned like Ben Folds Five’s Steven:

“We thought he was gone, but he’s come back again.
Last week it was funny, now the joke’s wearing thin….”

The horses came in early as a result, which worked out well. I just started with a brush, sketching out the drawing on the panel I’d toned this morning and the resulting progress was wet. Now that the horses are taken care of, it’s dry and ready for some more work. We’ll see how far I get tonight!

The forecast predicted a combination of rain and snow, but what’s going on out there is big, fluffy flakes. I’m sure the roads are slippery, and I’m glad I don’t have to drive anywhere tonight. A good reason to stay in front of the easel! Maybe I’ll have an update at the end of the evening.