Horse Paintings by Carrie L. Lewis

Posted By Carrie L. Lewis on July 14, 2010

6×8 Original Oil on Gessoed Panel

Colors Used: Titanium White, Manganese Blue, dark Palette Gray, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber
Medium Used: Walnut Oil

When I sat down to paint this session, I didn’t intend to do a lot of work or spend a lot of time. It was already eight o’clock in the evening and I’d put in a busy day creatively, working on writing for over three hours and starting a new painting. But I wanted to do something with this painting, so….

I ended up working for half an hour and making very good progress around the eye.

Using a medium size sable round and a ‘drawing style’ stroke, I added lights and medium tones as needed to create the shifting color behind and below the horse’s eye. Strokes went in the same direction as hair growth unless I was applying broad washes of color. In those instances, I sued a larger brush and didn’t pay much attention to stroke direction, then pulled the colors together using the sable round and the directional strokes.

Shadows were painted around the halter and bridle and under the eye, then I worked on the eye lid and the highlights and mid-tones over the eye.

The lower part is nearly done. The upper part needs a lot more work. Both areas are going to have dry before more work is done.

Colors Used: Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Transparent Yellow Oxide, Transparent Red Oxide, Burnt Umber
Medium Used: None

The second session for the week was short. I put in half an hour of work between the spate of Saturday chores and fun things. Tonight is the annual concert at the Carriage Factory Art Gallery, so our evening was already booked. That meant everything else I wanted to do had to be done in the afternoon.

Buckles & Belts was one of those things.

I concentrated on the area above the eye in this session. Beginning with the lightest color, I used a couple of sable rounds to place the highlights, then placed darker colors where and how necessary. Titanium White, Yellow Ochre and Transparent Yellow Oxide were used in the brightest areas that tended toward yellow. In the red areas, I used Titanium White and Transparent Red Oxide. Those two areas were blended together where they met in an effort to create the variations of color that appear in this horse’s coat.

Burnt Umber was used in the browner area and in the deeper shadows.

In a couple of places, I used a finger to blend color or to pull color from painted areas into unpainted areas. Moving forward over the brow, for example.

I also worked behind and below the eye using the same colors and techniques.

Some of the areas I worked on in this session are finished or very close to it, but I still need to work on the area over the eye. Overall, the painting is coming along very well and looks better and better every time I look at it.

See Buckles & Belts, the Demonstration for a complete step-by-step demonstration for this painting.

Category: Classical Painting, Color Work, Oils, Small Format Paintings, The Painting Process
Tags: Classical Painting Techniques, Flemish Technique, Horse Paintings, The Painting Process