Day 3

Day 3.
I started day 3 with trying to work in some details to the painting. I also removed the artist's glue from the mane which when removed clearly shows where the water colour has not taken.  I painted in more shadows and hair stokes. This is the point where I start using a medium size brush to give the allusion of hair. Once the paint is dry I take a finer brush (1 or a 2) and add layers apon layer of little brush strokes to give depth to the horses body and mane. I also added a couple of washes on top of the fine strokes to add a depper colour. I also added more colour ot the eye (always the most difficult to do). I also added a wash on the harness with a little deeper colour to add depth and try to attain the perception of 3D....!!.  I can feel the difficulty beginning to set in ... but tell myself it's all in my mind! I can do this ..!!  I have spent just over 3 hours today on the painting today and although there is a long way to go .. it's coming (I think!)

Commission Horse

I have been asked my neighbour who is leaving Qatar at the end of the month to do a painting of her favourite horse . O.M.G. I thought! I have only done one in my whole life and that was the pastel (found below in this blog). However, once I saw the photographs I thought .. OK! I'll do it... or try to do it! It is a race for time but ...

Day One: After 4 attempts at trying to stretch the paper for water colour painting I finally managed to do it and the paper stayed flat. Not an easy feat in these Qatar temperatures with a/c blasting away. Plus the board I usually use for stretching paper has warped so had to find a new one. My dear husband did his bit and found me a board that would not warp easily when the wet paper was put on it!! I left it over night and the paper became lovely and smooth.

Day 2: I put the pencil to paper and did a basic tracing of the head to ensure a true likeness and and transferred the traced image onto the lovely flat paper. Whilst I had been waiting for the paper to truly set, I was rummaging in my Art cupboard for my water colour paints, I came across my Artist's gum. I haven't used this before and had no idea how to use it! So I went on the internet and found how to use it (thank-you Windsor Newton - such a great sight for tips on any kind of painting!!) and practised on a spare copy of the painting. Cool stuff for keeping highlights and other fabby things. Anyway, I marked out the places where I did not want to paint and to keep white and started the painting! After 5 hours of work today this is the progress I have made.

2 hour pastel sketch

Oil painted background scene; artist's modelling paste and acrylic inks. 16 x 14 canvas.

Sunflower 3

Sunflower no 2

Sunflower

First attempt at using acrylic ink on water colour board - 8"x 5". This painting is to be the first of 3.