With Time to Spare!

Well, okay, so I settled for just a quick study in oil on canvas, using a very limited palette of Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue and Unbleached Titanium, but I got *something* done for the pARTy, and well, I painted for the first time in a week in a half, which was good. Also put 180 bales of hay in the barn, got straw, did my usual quota of stalls...and so on, and so on...

I had to come back to edit this post to add, thanks to Kim Santini for the reference image this time around! Here we make sure all the pARTy participants acknowledge our photographer, and I go and forget!! :-P

I also took some pics of the 'kids.' Just one for now - remember little Leo? Well our boy is almost five months old now. Vroooom! I'll try and post some more in the next few days. For now, I'm off to carry on with the rest of what I need to get done before I sleep!!

Coming Up Short

Well, it didn't quite happen today. I didn't quite get today's painting finished, because the mare and foal that have been away for a couple of days returned tonight, and the foal is a little under the weather. I know it's just 9:40pm, but suffice to say my head isn't quite there!

Technically this wasn't a daily painting anyway. This was one I started a couple of weeks ago when I was still waiting for my oils to get back from SK. I didn't do much - I was trying to see if I could do something remotely close to what Val Hinz does (hahahaha...right!). I'll show you what I did in that session. I was pleased with the progress today, just trying to keep it simple, loose, with lots of colour. It was headed in the right direction, at least! The 'stretch run' will have to wait!

The details: 8 x 10 oil on panel; purple underpainting (if I can call it that!) in acrylic.

Just an interesting, albeit useless, fact about this scene, and my reference photo. The horse on the right is the same chestnut Kim Santini and I painted for our Preakness pARTy. I laughed when I realised that. Of course Juliet Harrison took our pARTy photo. This was a shot I took of the race at Saratoga, as the horses entered the straightaway.

My apologies again. Off to the barn to check on the kid.

Preakness pARTy!

Well, we're at it again. Kim Santini and I did another 'paint-off' today to commemorate tomorrow's Preakness Stakes. The photo was supplied by our mutual friend, photographer Juliet Harrison. Thanks, Juliet! To see the image we worked from visit the Virtual pARTy blog. That's where you'll also be able to see both our paintings.

My motto for today was "work smarter, not harder!" The breeding season has been throwing me curve balls this year, and so far 'the team' is striking out! Today was another vet visit to check the status of a couple of the mares - my vet comes often enough these days that my dogs don't bother to announce his arrival anymore! Anyway, all that meant I knew my time to paint might be limited , as I called making the latest round of arrangements after I had the necessary information regarding the girls...on top of the usual barn chores. I decided to go with a pretty extreme crop of the reference image, and then chose a piece of precious Artfix linen on which to work, as I know paintings all but paint themselves on this surface (now that I seem to have figured it out!).

The result: 10 x 16, oil on linen, tentatively titled 'Eye on the Prize.' As much as I love to see fillies beat the boys, I have to maintain my loyalty to Mine That Bird tomorrow, and join in on the rain dance headed by my friends at Pine Valley! I saw Gemini Caine last weekend when I was in at the track....yes, I was the one yelling through the tunnel to the main track, "How's the person that BROKE THE DERBY WINNER?" So...first things first, wishing everybody a safe trip tomorrow...and looking forward to seeing how the drama plays out!