• Classical Paintings Blog Update

    08Jan
    Categories: Musings, Studio News Comments: 0

    At the beginning of each year, I take time to evaluate the past year to determine what worked and what didn’t and how I might be able to improve in the coming year.

    One of the largest demands I currently face is on my time. In order to assure time for painting and writing, I have decided to streamline the way I manage and maintain blogs.

    Toward that end, I am in the process of merging my Horse Painting and Classical Painting blogs under the Horse Painter heading.

    For those who follow the Classical Painting style, every post, comment and page from this blog has already been exported to the Horse Painter blog.

    Classical Paintings will remain open for approximately six weeks, then traffic will be redirected to the Horse Painter blog.

    I thank you for your loyalty to this blog and hope you will check out the Horse Painter blog, where you will find all the same news and information you have found here, in addition to other, more general studio news.

    Best wishes to you in 2010 and happy reading.

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  • New Demonstration Page Launched

    28Oct
    Categories: Studio News Comments: 0

    On July 13, 2007, the largest portrait I’ve painted recently was completed.

    A 22×28 oil painting on prepared panel, Guienne Hanover represented many challenges. It is a painting of a moment in time, rather than a traditional portrait. As such, it included a full landscape and architectural features.

    The painting was completed using a variation on the seven-step Flemish technique beginning with a detailed drawing and included an under painting, color glazing and the final application of details.

    A step-by-step demonstration for the portrait of Guienne Hanover is now available in the Demonstration pages of the Horse Painter blog.

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  • Buckles & Belts, The First Color Layer

    24Oct
    Categories: First Color Layer Comments: 0

    Color work began as Buckles & Belts enters the final stage of the painting process.

    Work began with a rubbing of Transparent Yellow Oxide over the parts of the horse that are more golden in color. Around the eye, over the jowl and the area adjacent to the poll. I used a small (about 1/4″) frayed sable flat brush to rub color directly onto the surface of the panel. The color was kept thin enough to allow all the details of the dead layer to show through the paint.

    When that was complete, I switched colors to Transparent Red Oxide and rubbed that into the redder areas. Where golds and red overlapped, I worked the red color into the previous color, blending them wet-into-wet.

    That was followed by a combination of Burnt Umber and a green made from Transparent Yellow Oxide and Manganese Blue into the darker areas.

    To end the session, I rubbed a little bit of golden mixture into the leather straps of the bridle. The halter and bridle will be painted in a more opaque method, but I wanted to put some color into the bridle to help distinguish it from the horse, as well as from the halter, which will be blue.

    To see the step-by-step demonstration on this painting, see Buckles & Belts.

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  • Impulsion: Nearly Finished?

    15Oct
    Categories: Musings Comments: 0

    This painting has entered my favorite part of the process: Details!

    It pretty much gets ignored if there’s portrait work to do, but with all of my portraits drying or waiting for supports, I had the opportunity to put Impulsion back on the easel.

    I liked the changes to the background made in the last session, so I started this session by further lightening the background over the horse’s back and around its head. That silhouetted the horse a little better and lightened the overall value of the painting. Just for fun and because it was on the palette from another painting, I added some greens made from Manganese Blue and Transparent Yellow Oxide to the browns and other darks currently in the background.

    Then I began finishing the horse starting at the head and working backward into the neck and even a little bit of shoulder work.

    There is a lot of reflected light on this fellow, so I played that up under the chin and throat. But I also played up color variations that don’t appear in the reference photograph in order to make the shadows and mid-tones more interesting.

    To further vary the shadows, I used the same green mentioned earlier to darken and tone down some of the deepest shadows.

    I finished for the day by playing in all that gorgeous mane and forelock. With my smallest brush, I drew long hair into all the wet paint already on the canvas. Some highlights were placed to give the forelock shape, but I’ll need to add a few more after this work dries.

    For a complete, step-by-step view of this painting, see Impulsion on the Classcial Paintings web site.

  • Flemish Technique Portraits

    08Oct
    Categories: Studio News Comments Off

    Due to the absence of posts on this forum, you may be wondering just what I’m doing in the studio these days.

    The answer is, Plenty!

    Most of the current work is with portraiture, however, and those projects remain private until after their completion.

    Two paid portraits and one donation portrait are currently in progress.

    The portrait of Lockkeeper is currently drying in the umber layer phase, but will be ready to advance to the dead layer on October 9.

    A new portrait, Keyodee Star, is also drying, but has just been completed at the umber phase. It will be another three weeks before it moves back to the easel.

    Both portraits are sales made through the Michigan Harness Horseman’s Association’s annual benefit art auction.

    The newest portrait is a three-horse portrait titled Kacie’s Kids. It features the 1997 and 1999 Grand Champion horses at the Clare County Fair. The drawing of the first of the three horses was completed the first week in October. The remaining drawings are soon to be started.

    All three portraits are being created using the Flemish painting technique.

    I am also actively marketing portrait work, so if you would like your favorite horse, dog, cat or other animal companion captured in oils, contact me or visit the Horse Portraits page on this blog. The information on that page applies to all portrait work, regardless of subject.

    If you have questions, contact me. I’ll be happy to discuss your ideal portrait with you.

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  • Joker, Finished

    01Oct
    Categories: Musings Comments: 0

    Joker
    6″ x 8″ on Prepped Canvas Panel

    Joker is a portrait of a Black Clydesdale photographed about four years ago at Express Clydesdales in Yukon, Oklahoma. Joker was originally painted as an 8×10 colored pencil on gray paper.

    In looking for subjects for the Flemish technique, I looked at old images as well as considering new. Because I’ve always liked these big horses and this big horse in particular, I decided to revisit this particular portrait as an oil. It was the perfect small study for one of the 6×8 panels I had lying around.

    The painting was started in March, along with several others, and was completed on September 19, 2009. Much of that time was spent between sessions, with the painting drying.

    It was also sometimes being ignored! As a lesson painting and not an official portrait, it never was very high on the priorities list.

    But on September 19, I had one portrait just entering the drying phase (Lockkeeper) and another portrait still in the drawing phase. Two other paintings, both small landscapes, were drying, so I decided to work on Joker.

    There wasn’t much left to do with it. Punch up the highlights, define some of the shadows a little better and tweak some of the details and the painting was done.

    Joker is the second painting finished with this technique, the first being a ministry portrait of a dog.

    It’s also the smallest painting I’ve finished so far this year.

    To see the step-by-step demonstration on this painting, see Joker.

  • Morning Light, A Landscape: More Color

    29Sep
    Categories: Musings Comments: 0

    In this painting session, I continued with the work from the previous session.

    The first thing I did was mix a warmer green using Transparent Yellow Oxide, Manganese Blue and Titanium White with a dash of Azo Yellow for brightness. That color was lightly applied to the background hills and trees to enliven the highlights.

    Then I moved forward in the composition and began painting the tall grass, working from the back forward and from left to right. In this area, the previous phases of work provided guidelines for lights and darks, but didn’t dictate where the lights and darks appeared.

    The trees were roughed in, as well. When I got to the bottom of the canvas, it was time to stop.

    One small tree in the center right needs to be painted and the painting will be completed at this stage. That tree was skipped because it overlaps the tree behind it and I wanted them to stand apart. When the work I did today dries a little, I’ll put in that last tree. Then all that will remain is brightening highlights, darkening shadows and any other fine-tuning that needs to be done.

    For a complete, step-by-step view of this painting, see Morning Light, A Landscape.

  • Morning Light, A Landscape: Color

    26Sep
    Categories: First Color Layer Comments Off

    Color work began on Morning Light with the background. More specifically, the sky.

    The sky in the reference photograph was mostly very light colored, very even clouds. I wanted a little more interest than that, so from the beginning, I added a patch of blue sky in the upper left corner and darkened the clouds on the opposite side of the sky.

    When I began color work, I started with the patch of blue sky. I used Cerulean Blue, Titanium White and a touch of Prussian Blue for that area.

    Then I reverted to Dead Layer colors (Prussian Blue, Titanium White, Lamp Black and Burnt Umber) to paint the bank of clouds. The result was a much more dramatic sky.

    I also wanted the horizon to blend with the sky a little bit more to create distance, so I mixed greens using some of those same colors. Yellow Ochre warmed the mixture and provided the yellow to create the necessary green.

    I painted the background hill very light, then added Burnt Umber and Prussian Blue and painted the belt of trees in front of the hill.

    At that point, I accidently rested my left hand on the freshly painted sky and decided it was time to stop for the day!

    For a complete, step-by-step view of this painting, see Morning Light, A Landscape.

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  • Buckles & Belts: Dead Layer Finished

    24Sep
    Categories: Dead Layer Comments: 0

    Buckles & Belts (6×8 oil on panel) sat idle for quite some time between the completion of the umber layer and commencement of the dead layer.

    Too many paintings coming due at the same time, too many things going on in other areas of life and two weeks of a cold that prevented all studio work combined. All of my paintings suffered from neglect, but this one most of all.

    When I finally began the dead layer, my intention was to do just enough to get started, but I ended up painting all of the parts of the horse’s head, jowl and neck that show through the various straps and buckles.

    I was quite surprised to get so much done, especially since the complexity of this painting has been somewhat intimidating. Surprise, surprise! It was a great way to end the studio day.

    In the next session, I focused on the halter and bridle and the rest of the horse. I began with the eye, then worked my way out into the rest of the face, finishing for the day with the buckles and belts. I used a third session to tidy up whatever remained and when I finished that day, I was thinking the dead layer looked complete.

    On September 21, I took a few minutes to add details like highlights on buckles and straps and punched holes.

    The painting was then put into the drying area and will dry until October 12.

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  • Painting Galleries Now Live on Horse Painter

    08Sep
    Categories: Studio News Comments: 0

    I am very happy to announce that galleries of current artwork are now live on my Horse Painter blog.

    Galleries include collections of colored pencils, oil paintings, landscapes and horses, portraits and paintings and ACEOs and miniature artwork.

    The galleries feature paintings created in a variety of techniques, but are predominantly before my exploration of the classical painting techniques highlighted on these pages.

    Oil Paintings For SaleGalleries are accessible by clicking the “gallery” tab in the menu bar at the top of each Horse Painter blog page, then by clicking on the thumbnails listed on that page.

    With the exception of the Harness Racing Gallery, each gallery features new, currently available works.

    The Harness Racing Gallery does feature some works that are available for purchase, but most of those paintings are portraits that have resulted from twenty-plus years of working with the Michigan Harness Horseman’s Association auction. Some of those paintings date back into the previous century, but remain personal favorites.

    Another of my personal favorite image galleries is the ACEO Landscape gallery. These tiny paintings are all 3-1/2″ by 2-1/2″ in size and most of them feature some of my favorite scenes from the Flint Hills of Kansas.

    Whether you like horse paintings or landscapes, you will find something in the galleries, so take some time and browse.

    I also invite you to bookmark your favorite gallery for future updates. New, available paintings will be posted first on the blog gallery pages.

    And if you find something you just have to have, let me know!

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