On The Easel - Aeropostale
14" x 11" Colored Pencil on Light Brown Mat Board
May 13, 2007
This is Aeropostale. Aeropostale is a Michigan Standardbred. I first met Aeropostale in 2000 as a result of having sold a custom portrait to his owner at the Michigan Harness Horseman's Association Auction. He and I were both at the Midland County Fair that year, so I was able to photograph him in the stables and on the track. It was a great day and the only way it could have been better would have been for him to win his race, instead of finishing a strong third.
From the photographic trip, references were chosen and the portrait was completed in oils and delivered later that year.
But there were several other photographs with potential, so I decided to do a second portrait for myself. I chose the second of my favorite photographs (shown here) and set to work on it.
I had time to work on it for a few weeks before paid portraits took precedence and this one was set aside. Within the year, I met Neal and began to correspond with him and over the course of that year of courtship, this colored pencil portrait of Aeropostale was completely forgotten.
That was sometime in late 2000 or 2001. The summer of 2006, I found it again and was quite surprised to discover that it had survived the move to Kansas and at last five years of storage.
I even more surprised at how good it was. It was stunning! Better and more detailed even at that stage, than any colored pencil painting I had done recently. I cleaned it up and put it up on an easel in the living room so I could look at it for a while and decide what to do with it.
The support is mat board, but it's been so long that I don't even know what color it is beyond saying it's a light color. Probably bone or light tan. The size is roughly 11x14.
When I found this painting again, the horse was pretty much as you see here. Enough color had been placed to begin to establish the basic coat color and the lights and darks.
There had also been the basic establishment of details, especially in the muzzle and the eye. It was, in fact, the area around the mouth that so impressed me when I first saw the painting again after six or seven years.
Nothing had been done with the background. It was the same color as the original mat board and I had no memory at all of what I had been intending to do. A lot of horse portraits from that time were done on plain or very simple backgrounds and it seems likely that had been my intent in choosing a colored support for the painting.
But when I went back to work on the piece, the first thing I did was decide to add a background. In looking back at what I did, I would have to say that was probably a mistake. The appeal of the painting dropped immediately with the first wash of color, but it was too late to take it back.
I layered color into the background, using blues to make a sky and greens for trees and grass. Then I decided I didn't like that, so I lifted and erased as much color as I could. Then I decided to try some thinner to smooth out and weaken the remaining color. I used clean thinner first, applying it with a cotton ball. Then I used some purple-tinted thinner and ended up making a rather nice purple wash throughout the background.
Painting portraits is as much about problem solving as it is about painting, so I set about finding ways to solve this particular problem. I applied broad blocks of color over the wash of purple using Prismacolor thick lead pencils. The top part of the painting was done with Indigo Blue, Ultramarine Blue and possibly a Violet Blue, mixed with a little bit of green.
In the lower portions, the mixture was reversed, with the predominant colors being Grass Green, Peacock Green and Dark Green toned with a little bit of blue.
Strokes were kept broad and loose. The purpose at this point was to lay down as much color as quickly as possible, then to blend it with Bestine (also known as rubber cement thinner). This is a technique used by artists such as Cecile Baird and it was in reading one of her books that I first realized the use of solvent of some kind might help solve the problem I'd created in the background.
To be quite honest, my attitude at this point was that I would experiment and if it worked out great. If I ruined the painting, no great loss, since it had languished so long anyway!
When the color was a deep as I wanted it or thought I could make it without scuffing up the surface of the mat board, I took everything outside and proceeded to blend and work the color layers with rubber cement thinner and a good, stiff bristle brush.
The first round of blending wasn't very impressive, so I blended again, scrubbing lightly (and sometimes not so lightly) to produce a very even, even saturated color layer. My understanding from reading was that additional color could be added and blended later and as many times as necessary to get the desired results. So I blended for all I was worth and almost dared it not to work.
Once again, the end results were not at all what I was looking for. Brushstrokes everywhere and no way to smooth them out.
Chunky blocks of color with edges that were too well-defined.
Nice colors, but not a very nice overall color layer.
Disappointed, I set the painting up to dry thoroughly, telling myself I would get back to it when I got back to it. I wasn't convinced it was ruined, but I didn't have a lot of hope for it, either.
September 23, 2008
Sixteen months later....
The formation of a colored pencil circle at the Carriage Factory Gallery and the need to have a project to work on during those once-a-month meetings finally led me back to this painting.
But I decided once again to give a try at finishing this painting...one way or the other.
Here is what the painting looked like after the first rounds of color. I've layered Indigo Blue, Dark Green, Grass Green, Chartreuse and Yellow Chartreuse over the background. Wide, sweeping strokes; multiple directions; repeated layering of most of the colors.
I used a facial tissue to blend color twice.
The next step is to try the alcohol rub, but I have to admit that I'm not sure I want to mess with the background now. It's looking pretty good. September 27, 2008
I can't honestly remember the last time I worked on it, though I know from checking image titles that it was after September 24.
I don't remember what colors I used either, but I do know it was after the last application of alcohol. So much for scrupulous record keeping!
I want to get the background finished as quickly as possible for two reasons.
The most obvious reason is because once the background is finished, I can get to work on the horse and the horse is always the most fun part of the painting process.
But the background will also affect the way the horse looks, so it's important to have it in place before I begin the final stages of painting Aeropostale.
I layered Apple Green, Dark Green and Peacock Green over the background. Apple Green was used in the light areas, Dark Green in the dark areas and Peacock Green to blend them together.
I then used Yellow Chartreuse, Chartreuse, Light Green, Apple Green, Deco Yellow and French Gray 30% to burnish the previous layers.
I am very happy with the way it looks and am ready to tackle the horse.
I read today about an equine artist named Shawn Faust who took a workshop with Daniel Greene and was told by Mr. Greene that the eye is the essence. Shawn Faust's work is gorgeous and I learned a lot just by looking at it, so I'm going to start work on Aeropostale by starting with the eye. September 28, 2008
But it was also the second in a series of concerts by the Delano Chamber Orchestra and Wichita Horn Society. Since I have been exhibiting with these two groups, that meant I was on location, as well, presenting a collection of horse paintings.
It also meant I was working on location. Since Aeropostale is the only painting currently in progress that is not an oil, it was the one that made the trip.
At first, work was a little bit uncertain and disjointed. There wasn't a clear spot to start the process and there were enough interruptions from visitors that it was difficult to settle into a rhythm of any kind until the concert began.
Once the music began (Brandenburg Concerto No. 6), I was able to settle into work, as well. It's amazing how inspiring classical music can be. Especially played live, with all the nuances of strings and brass and, yes, even a Harpichord, filling the air!
The complete list of colors used is Prismacolor Orange, Sienna Brown, Dark Brown, Burnt Ochre, Black, Indigo Blue, True Blue and Non Photo Blue. Pressure was light to medium, depending on how saturated I wanted the color layer to be and how much color was already in place.
Eyes are an evolving process in most portraits. It looks finished now, but as the rest of the horse is completed, adjustments will be made to the eye, as well as to other areas. I am not yet decided about whether or not to use a solvent of any kind on the eye, but there is no hurry to make that decision. It's a lot easier to make that kind of adjustment later in the process than it is to try to fix something. Patience really is a virtue! October 7, 2008
Work continued today with Prismacolors and the steady, even application of color throughout the neck and shoulders of Aeropostale. Other than saving the highlights, which is always a concern, work was geared more toward building color than detail
I used Prismacolor Burnt Ochre, Grass Green and Dark Brown. The first round of color was applied in that order throughout the shoulder and neck, but after that, color was applied in random sequences, building layers of color and working toward the deep, red-brown color of Aeropostale's coat. October 8, 2008
I started with Prismacolor Black Grape, which I layered into all the darks and mid-tones in the shoulder and neck and into the darker areas under the near side ear, in the deep shadows of the forelock and mane and the shadows under his chin.
That was followed by Prismacolor Crimson Red in all the same areas.
By this stage of work, the surface is getting pretty slick. Lots of color and lots of wax binder.
The hardness of the surface I chose back in 2000 or 2001 (mat board) also is not overly friendly to lots of color, especially where I also want lots of detail.
So after work was done for the day (see image above),
It took two applications of alcohol to get the look I was after, with appropriate drying time in between. October 10, 2008
The painting has reached the stage at which I am thinking about finishing individual areas. I have been working the neck quite a bit, so that the mane can be finished. Once those two areas are complete, I was shift focus to the horse's head.
But today I gave most of my attention to the muzzle.
Beginning with Blue Slate, I marked out the areas that have a blue-ish cast from the sky. That was followed with Light Umber to warm some related mid-tone areas and to begin building the shapes that will define the nostril, lips and mouth.
To give my eyes a break, I used Yellow Ochre to layer color over most of the rest of the areas that were not clear highlights or deep shadows. October 11, 2008
That was the last thing I did today.
The first thing I did was continue work on the neck, particularly the dark areas under the mane and at the base of the neck.
Darks can be built in multiple layers of many colors, each one applied lightly, or in just a few, heavily applied layers. I like the look of many colors working together, each one innfluencing all the rest, so I use lots of layers and lots of colors. I began with Orange, layered lightly over the mid-tones and into the shadows throughout the horse. That was followed with Dark Brown in the shadows and Light Umber in between. I alternated layers of the brown, gradually building darker and darker values. The last color I used was Indigo Blue.
Blue Slate and Cloud Blue were used to work on the bridle path and I believe that area is finished. I worked a few strokes of each of those colors into the highlights in the main body of the mane, as well.
The ears were also darkened and refined somewhat, leading to the background work described above.
By the time I finished for the day, I was beginning to think I was approaching the end of this project. The highlights on the horse are about the same color nd value as the mat board, so there will not be much to do with them. That means all that is left is building depth in the shadows and creating the mid-range values that will bridge highlights and shadows.
Here is Aeropostale at the beginning of today.
This was an unusual working day. Since it was Sunday, I wouldn't ordinarily have been working.
Since the most important part of any portrait is the eye, that is where I began work today. Beginning with Orange, I built color in the iris, then into the pupil and the highlight. The actual eye was the focus of my attention until it was nearly complete, then I worked the upper and lower lids and the surrounding areas a little bit.
More layering of color today. Once again, I focused on the neck and shoulder, but also worked up into Aeropostale's head and face a little bit.
I used a large, flat golden taklon brush to do some blending with rubbing alcohol. The alcohol breaks down the wax binder enough to allow the colors to blend almost like watercolors. The more fluid consistency of the pigment also fills in a lot of those 'paper holes' and evens out the color film.
Not many colors were used today. Blue Slate, Light Umber and Yellow Ochre, as a matter-of-fact.
Work today was more varied than I expected when I picked up this painting. For one thing, I didn't expect to be working in the background again, but that off side ear has been bothering me for some time, so I decided to fix it. That meant heading back to the greens and blues. I used Grass Green, Apple Green, Dark Green and Violet Blue to trim the ear and blend the new background into the previous work.
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