Fur In The Paint

This is my drawing thus far, for my new horse piece, tentatively called The Gladiators. I am not completely happy with it so I’ll be making some changes to it yet before I begin to lay in the color. I plan to show this painting through it’s various stages of creation. This is something I do quite a bit actually. If you would like to see the stages of creation for some of my other paintings, visit my artist journal on my website.

What I have so far.
I always start out with a completed drawing. I work primarily in oil pastels which have staining properties. What that means to me is that if a put a glaringly wrong color in. I most likely will not be able to lift enough of it off to make corrections. So all major decisions need to be made before I begin with the color.

The inspiration for this piece came from a couple of different sources. First, the Minnesota Horse Expo last year had a chariot pulled by four Friesians. (Enough to make a horse painters heart go pitter pat.) That had been simmering around in my head when I attended the Albert City Threshermens event this year. There, they always have people movers pulled by four drafts. This year they had a particularly handsome foursome of Percherons. (again, with the pitter pat.) So this is a creative hybrid. I have not really decide whether they will look like Friesians or Percherons or just be big dark horses. I am leaning towards not making them too much one or the other. I am also pondering medieval tack. (That may be just a little bit too much.)

Where I’ll go from here.
I am reasonably happy with the two horses on the left. But I think the two right hand horses are too small. Whats really bothering me though, is the negative space. (Essentially the background area) I just don’t like the shape of it. Some of this issue will be helped by enlarging the two horses. But something more has to be done. I’ll rest on it and see what brilliant insight comes tomorrow.

My flamingo painting was a failure. I didn’t even finish it. It seems the past few pieces that I have tried to do have ended up mediocre at best. Probably because I just do something to do something. And therefore I lack any real passion for it. I hate to keep bringing up my dead cat. But I think his loss has definitely affected my creative mojo.

So today, first thing I did was take a good look at what I had accomplished so far on my flamingo. I did learn something valuable when it comes to painting water and will use this information in the future. I pondered the possibility of saving the painting by trying to do this or that. And then I promptly snapped it in half and tossed it. Yep, thats right. After which I got to work completely cleaning house. I put away all the oil pastels that I had out. Washed off my drafting table, dusted, vacuumed and in general gave my space a thorough once over. I have now provided a place for the next great painting idea to be born.

I have come to realize it is best to just remove the offending image in order to move on effectively. Occasionally I save a painting that has potential but is being problematic. I may set it aside for as long as a year. But if a painting is crap then destroy it, don’t just hide it away somewhere. The act of destruction also has a bit of a catharsis to it. When I worked on watercolor paper I would tear the painting up into little pieces. I know artists who put a big red X through the painting and others who burn them (There’s no coming back from ashes.) I also know some artists who utilize their less than wonderful creations. They either make collages with them and one actually prints her business cards on them. Both of these ideas are unique and creative but both rely on destruction for their rebirth.

If you try to hold onto your creation with the thought… well maybe I can save it in the future. Make sure the piece is worth it. Otherwise, having them sit around just drains your creativity and positive attitude needed to move forward and start another project. How can you feel capable of creating the next great work of art when you sit, surrounded by failures. Accept failure as part of the learning curve. Be thankful for whatever lesson you may have garnered. Then promptly trash them and move on.

So here it is as promised. I had to rush to complete it in time to actually use for this Christmas, and not the next one or perhaps the one after that. And to top it off, I actually got most of my cards written and mailed off, with a whole 7 days to go before the big day.

I had a dream last night about a flamingo. Not being one to often ignore my muse. I think I may give it a try. I have yet to do a bird in oil pastel so it may prove interesting. Plus I am in need of painting some insane colors like pink and turquoise. (They apparently aren’t found all that often in horses.)

So … umm… it is Sunday. And today, no matter what, My 2007 Christmas card design will be called complete. At least as far as using it for a card. I settled the red thing by adding purple and removing both the pink and the orange. I fell back to using my old mantra which is, when in doubt…add purple. And it worked. Well it worked sufficiently. I will post a picture as soon as I scan it for the cards.

I am sitting here, occasionally blowing on my fingers. I just came into the gallery and the place is still quite chilly. I’ve got Oliver the gallery cat draped over my left shoulder for moral support and proof reading. My warm and purring fur muff.

Speaking of frostbite in the gallery. Yesterday I had my art group over for our get together. I had the heat cranked way up and yet everyone had their hands clasped tightly in their armpits as they hunched over in the fetal position, swearing repeatedly that the room temperature was just fine. (Sigh) The problem with a big brick building plopped on a large cement slab in the middle of winter, is that it just doesn’t warm up. I can have the thermostat at 80 and the room temp in the front room will be 65. Now, I have been in this building for almost 8 years, so I just take it in stride. Sorry girls. I should have provided thermal undies or something.

Anywho, back to group. It is officially called 20/21 which has to do with women artists creating in both the 20 and 21st century. We are around 10 artists (some come and go) of all very diverse backgrounds and artistic styles. I am the only self taught amongst them. This can occasionally become uncomfortable for me. But that is only because of my issues, not anything anyone else does. We try to get together every month but lately it is closer to every 2-3 months. Most of the time it is a real joy. We bounce ideas off each other, show our latest work and talk art in general. It not only gets me in the mood to create, but to create better art.

Well I am getting closer. I am two days in and with any luck (silent plea to the painting gods)I will complete it tomorrow. Definitely the next day. And absolutely positively by the day after that. Guaranteed no later than this weekend.(Fingers crossed)

I am putting in the red tassels and the red coloring looks so strong and vibrant against my somewhat muted color palette. I started making it more pink and that just didn’t look right. (my husband concurred) So then I started making the highlights orange. Yikes! Not right either. So at the moment I have a strange (slightly revolting)little mixture of pink and orange going on. Not pretty, but it will have to wait until morning for better lightening before I try to fix it.

Every year I try to come up with a new image for our business Christmas card. This year I have fallen behind and it is early December already. Which means I have to complete the painting, profile it for cards, print the cards and then of course write them out and mail them. Sigh. I better get cracking. I have an idea in mind. Nothing too original really. A pair of gray drafts in winter coat with red padding and decorations. Actually it is just a current version of The Greys from several years ago. This means I have to set aside my latest paint horse study for a few days.

After rummaging through my draft photos, (no small feat there) I find exactly what I want. Well, not quite exactly. I find basically what I want. I mean they are two draft horses with heads about where I want them. The only things that I am going to change is their tack. And the horses color and markings … and …oh yea, their hair coat from summer to winter, and lastly I will add red decorations and padding … and … ummm … crop the image. I think thats about it.

I projected this image because of my time constraints. I am a lousy tracer. I really suck at it. (really, really) And have since spent around 6 hours drawing it out more fully. Since there were so many changes it took me awhile to finish the drawing despite the projecting. But, I am sure it still saved me another 6 hours of draw time. I have always drawn out all of my paintings. I think it makes them have or more me kind of feel to them. Plus it helps me to better see. But I really needed to get going on this, so I did it.

Here is a snapshot of the work so far, complete with a couple dozen reference photos and smeared oil pastel all over. (I am not terribly neat). It is kinda washed out but you get the idea. The photo that is almost touching the left side of the painting is my primary reference photo. Hard to make it out here. I will try to get it scanned and posted by the time I complete the painting.

Well I was able to put in a few more hours on my latest study of the paint mares and foals. I am liking this composition so far. I got it past the ugly stage. That is where I can barely tolerate to look at it and want to tear the painting up into little pieces and set it on fire. This happens with nearly every painting. So knowing this, I just have to push through until I feel better about it.

I have been experimenting with this herd of horses for some time and I am pretty sure I will paint them many times more. I found this group of about 30 paint mares and nearly all had foals at their sides on a trip with a friend. Since both of us were horse painters we pulled over and hopped out camera in hand. I find the interactions and herd dynamics fascinating. I think what attracts me most is the way that the spots kinda make them all blend into one another. Hard to tell who is who. Anyway, I am doing several small studies and may (or may not,) redo the studies I like into paintings of size. Or who knows I may just burn out on doing this idea and move on.

My only uncertainty on this painting is the foreground horse. I think this piece might be considerably stronger if I put her at the same 45 degree angle as most of the others. I’ll wait until I’m done to make that call. I’ll try to get an image posted of this soon.