Thursday, May 28, 2009

Oh Yeah, Right


Mom reminded me about this one when I showed her the blog:
I saw this picture as the cover of Equus and I absolutely fell in love with it, so I decided to recreate it. And to make matters worse, I thought I'd try my hand at acrylics. I've never really done painting, but figured it couldn't be that hard... Well, that heinous idea was soon set aright when I finished the preliminary sketch and started to paint. It was a great experience though, and I will certainly do more painting when I find the time. I'm calling this Snow-swept, and it's a 16"x20"? acrylic on canvas board. I had a very tough time mixing the colors on the horse's coat to get the right mix, as well as shading with paint to fill out the figure and give it depth and muscle. I don't think I really succeeded, as I'm particularly not thrilled with the colors on the horse, but I love the way the snowflakes came out--because the original was a photograph taken in the snow, the snowflakes in the foreground were blurry, which was a quality of the picture I loved, so I was determined to get that same quality with my rendition. I mixed water to varying degrees to the white paint in order to get the right transparent effect. Pretty cool. 

Something Different


So I can do things other than horses, so long as they're horse-related;)
Gathering Rust is a piece I started over Spring Break when I was at Mom's watercolor class and needed something to keep me busy. It's a 14"x17" graphite sketch that I took from an example in Mom's watercolor How-To book. When I saw the picture I knew that it was going to be a challenge, especially without color, because of the myriad of textures from the foreground to the background. I was concerned that the viewer wouldn't be able to appreciate the rust on the horse shoe and chain as it's hard to convey that texture with pencils. Overall I'm not thrilled with the piece, but I think I did an admirable job with the peeling, chipped paint and the textures on the horse shoe itself. And that's all I have backed up, so now onto some new things. Until then...

While at School

These two I did this past semester at school. Although I didn't make as much time as I'd have liked to do more art, I was happy that I managed to get these two completed, and expect that I'll try a little harder next year to make more time to draw.
I finished Companions relatively quickly and was pleased with the results. It's an 11"x14" sketch with graphite pencils from a picture out of a calendar. I had a hard time making the darker horse's mane lo
ok realistic and am not terribly thrilled with the results I had. However, I am content with the other horse, as I feel it came out very expressive and animated. 
Soul View is a picture I found in one of my horse magazines and I've always wanted to do a picture like this--a very modern look at the horse through the horse's soul. This too is an 11"x14" sketch with graphite pencils but I also have prints of both this and Companions in 10"x8" because they're a bit easier to frame. I'm happy with the way this picture tu
rned out, although I feel that I could have done a greater contrast with the darker areas to make the picture more vivid, but I didn't have the appropriate pencils. I've learned from that mistake however. 

Backlogged Items


Here are a few pieces that I've completed over the years that I haven't sold or misplaced. 
The first is a portrait I did of my horse Nick, who I just sold this past fall. It's on 8"x10" sketch paper and done with Prismacolor colored pencils (the only way to go with colored pencils, I swear) and I completed it in late 2005. The original photo was taken by my mom, so Thanks to her for taking such a great pic. My only regret with this piece is the heavy Sharpie outline I thought would make it look better (what was I thinking?) and also the crooked frame I put on it. Otherwise I'm
 super happy with the way it came out and I love how accurate the colors look.
This was the family Christmas card for the longest time, as Mom took this piece and had it printed on blank note cards. It didn't take me long to complete this, and it was done by fall of '06 on 8"x10" sketch paper in graphite pencils. I got the original picture from a calendar photo, but messed around with th
e horses' coat colors so they don't look exactly like the originals. I love how the dapples came out on the one horse--I was 
experimenting there and was pleasantly surprised how that came out. 

Welcome to My Blog

Hello There!
For those of you who know me already, as well as those of you I haven't met yet, welcome to my blog and thanks for visiting! This blog is meant as a stepping-stone for broadcasting my work and getting myself out there so that others can view and consider my work. I'll post a new blog for each piece completed and tell you a little about each work so that you can get a better understanding for what I'm doing and why I do it. 
If you have any questions about a particular piece, would like to order a print or commission a piece of your own, please email me. For those wishing to commission something, include in the email a photograph or picture you'd like re-created with details and comments (including size) that you'd like me to consider while completing the work. I'll then give you an estimate for how long it will take me to finish and price for the completed work. Prices will range depending on size and complexity of the piece, as well as the medium. *Please keep in mind that art takes time! Therefore, you cannot reasonably expect me to whip something up in hours--a decent piece takes anywhere from days to months to produce, and I work on a first-come, first-serve basis.*
So, I hope you enjoy previewing my work and perusing the blog. Of course, feel free to leave me comments and notes as I love to hear feedback from everyone. Thanks for all your support and love!