Equine Work-in-Progress: Muzzle Detail

Above is the detail on the muzzle that I have laid in over the value drawing, minus the final whiskers.  One of the most challenging aspects of drawing for me, is the need to constantly and consciously fight the urge to execute every tiny, little detail.  Over time I have learned a bit --just a bit -- about the importance of suggesting detail, rather than drawing every excruciating grain of sand, piece of hair, or thread in the fabric.  Upon stepping back and assessing this horse's muzzle, I was (am) unsure as to whether I have successfully limited the level of detail.  As I carry on and build details in the other areas of the image, I will be better able to evaluate this.  Given that it is drawn on Uart sanded pastel paper, softening and blending the level of detail can easily be done.

So, back with my nose to the grindstone -- or in this case, the sandpaper.

Retrieved from the Flat File, and Kudos

This equine piece may look familiar to some of you: it is a drawing I began last summer, with the intention of returning to it prior to now.  At the time that I sat it aside I had little more than a somewhat pale grisaille laid in.  Over the past few days I have completed a solid base coat, and soon will begin layering in the subtle colors and detail work.  The piece is being executed on Uart sanded pastel paper, and unless I crop it (again), the finished image size will be 25" x 16".

Before closing I must give a big shout-out to California artist and good friend, Elizabeth Patterson, CPSA, who at present is having a solo show in Paris, France.  The exhibition is being held at the Galerie Louis Carre & Cie.  Check out the phenomenal video and show images through the gallery link: unless, unlike me, you are actually able to read french -- then you can enjoy the entire page!

Thanks for stopping in.

Detail of Equine Work-in-Progress

Despite battling the respiratory flu for the past week and a half, I have managed to complete the detail work of the bridle in the past couple of days.  Though I will return and go over the darkest and lightest areas again just prior to completion of the drawing, for now I'll call this area of the rendering -- done.

Though its unusual for me to be working on two or three drawings at a time, that's exactly what I find myself doing at present.  I'm feeling compelled to set this one aside for a time, and return to a larger equine piece that I began several months ago.  A couple of submission deadlines are looming in the not-to-distant future, and the larger works are more suitable for these.

Thanks for stopping in. 

Small Equine Work-in-Progress

Well, the holidays are now well behind us (small sigh of relief), and Ellie seems to be behaving herself for the most part as well as developing a bit of much-needed maturity.  I am happy to report that despite my concerns the Christmas tree did remain upright, and she only destroyed one ornament.   : )))

I've recently resumed my work on this small piece, one of three I have in progress.  Using both Faber-Castell Polychromos and Caran D'ache Pablo pencils, I am laying in the final details of the leather bridle and the horse's eye.  After completing these and the silver fittings, I will finish building the values and detail in the horse's coat.

Thanks for reading, and a Happy New Year to you.

Its the dog's fault. Really.

Ellie, shortly after her arrival.  She sure looks cute, but........

Several of you are aware that last winter we sadly lost both of our golden retrievers, less than three months apart.  First, fifteen-year-old Gus who simply lost his battle with old age, then thirteen-year-old Clare who suffered from recurring cancer.  As goldens tend to be, they were wonderful dogs: Clare was my relentless running partner for many years, and Gus was the kindest and noblest animal I have ever known.  Life without them underfoot just didn't seem complete.

When I began to make murmurings about getting another golden early last summer, the males of the house tried to dissuade me: my son lobbied for a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and my husband requested I consider a Clumber Spaniel.  As I read about both of these breeds online, I wanted to think I was being open-minded -- but really, I was having none of it.  I mean, if it works......why fix it?  (And you know, what Mom wants................)  So, after researching several golden retriever breeders in southern Michigan through the summer, "Ellie" came home to us in September.  

It did not take long for me to begin to wonder if, a) I had been tremendously naive, or b) I had simply forgotten what cute, little puppies are really like -- though I'm quite sure my memory serves me correctly in that I'd never experienced anything quite like Ellie.  I'd envisioned walking through the fields with my beloved golden puppy at a perfect 'heel' by my left knee, (okay, okay.......that was naive), and suffered from delusions of me working at my drawing table with Ellie quietly napping on her fleece mat at my feet. 

This was not to be.  Actually working for any length of time, soon seemed like a distant memory.  Ellie seemed much less like a sweet little puppy, and more like the whirling Tasmanian devil I recall from cartoons as a child.  Even my husband, more dog-savvy and tolerant of puppy foibles than I, was heard to mutter on several occasions, "I think there is something wrong with her."  Listening was clearly a totally foreign (or selective) skill on her part for many weeks, and there seemed to be a great deal of confusion as to who was actually the pack leader around here.  Averaging about every forty-five seconds, I was either taking something out of her mouth that didn't belong there, saving my elderly cat from her puppy exuberance, or removing her from somewhere or something that is off-limits.  (And I'll spare you the potty-training details.)  My life was quickly reduced to a pocketful of "cookies" (food being the only thing that motivated Ellie toward anything that even remotely resembled good behavior), and a vocabulary consisting of, "no", "leave it", "sit", "stay", "STAAAYYY", "off", "leave the cat alone!"...............and the occasional, "good girl".

 I knew (hoped) things would get better; I just did not realize it would take so long!  Over the past two to three weeks and as she approaches five months old, Ellie is maturing and showing signs of the great dog she is going to be.  (Big sigh of relief).  I no longer find myself in the throes of, "What was I thinking?", my old cat seems to be no worse for wear, and life is gradually resuming some normalcy.  So you see?........I didn't fall in a horse trough as some of you may have suspected.

Below are the two small equine works that I have had in progress.  I will be assessing what finish work is needed on the bay horse; the grey requires significantly more layering before it is close to finished.

  

       

Tomorrow my son returns home from college, and we will put up the Christmas tree.  I'm doing this with some trepidation..........somehow visions of the cat running under the tree with Ellie in hot pursuit followed by the tree crashing to the floor keep creeping in.  Call me crazy.

Have a wonderful, joy-filled Christmas.........and if you made it through my lengthy 'Ellie-vent', well, thanks for reading.    : )

Work-in-Progress: Wyoming Wild Bay Horse

On the drawing board currently is a small piece similar to Wyoming Grey, which was sold at the silent auction for the Colored Pencil Society of America last month.  This piece is the first of two or three works of this type that I am doing for an area gallery.  I have just begun to put down the layers of detail, and have yet to punch up the darkest values.

I can barely believe that the summer is winding down already.  The barn swallows' final broods of the season are about to fledge, and the sand hill cranes are frequently found snacking in the fields as they approach time for their migration.  In  another week my son -- who has been here all summer diligently attending to his part-time job and full-time social life -- will return several hours north for his second year of college.  Sniff.  Life holds few guarantees, but change is certainly one of them.

Dallas, The American Plains Artists Exhibition, and a little bit of drawing

Tomorrow I will be leaving for the Colored Pencil Society of America's International Exhibition and convention week near Dallas, Texas.  This event always proves to be five days of great fun and lots of laughter with good friends, as well as a tremendous source of inspiration.  A cowboy boot shopping expedition planned originally by several members, seems to have morphed into a virtual CPSA field trip -- so much so that we may do well to rent a bus. (And grant me a 'whine' for a moment:  I think I broke a toe yesterday, who's swelling could prohibit me from being able to properly try on boots this week.  This could be a catastrophe.)  So stay tuned for photos of wild, middle-aged women.  Okay, well............ maybe not so wild.     : ) 

My piece Dust and Thunder has been juried into the American Plains Artists 27th Annual Exhibit.  The show will be on display in Las Cruces, New Mexico, from September 9 - October 30, 2011, at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.  The exhibit can also be viewed on the American Plains Artists website.

Finally, the entire grisaille is completed on my current work-in-progress -- (except for that pesky ear area near the right-hand margin that I decline to show in its entirety at present, and which I have redrawn three times ..........it is a little irritating when I find myself stuck on something in that way, but occasionally it seems simply the nature of the beast) -- and I have begun to put down the heavier layers upon which I will build the details later.  After I return from Dallas, I may set this piece aside for awhile in order to work on a couple of smaller equine pieces that need to be completed first.

So, see you on the other side of the convention -- and thanks so much for reading.

On the Drawing Table.......Another Equine Drawing

This current work-in-progress will eventually depict two black horses, and is once again inspired by the wild horses of Wyoming.  The image shows the early stages of my layering with colored pencil.  As with my most recent equine drawing, I am putting down a grisaille using the range of Prismacolor french greys (except for the muzzle), in order to establish the shapes and some of the values.  There is much ground to cover yet: for perspective, this horse head is nearly 20 inches high.

With this piece, one of my goals is to retain and lead the viewer's eye through the particular -- though subtle -- use of color.  As the work progresses, I will be able to explain more specifically what I mean by this - and what it is I am attempting to accomplish.

As always, thanks for stopping in.   : )

"Dust and Thunder" Update: Growing Pains

Have I mentioned that I don't do foliage?  Well, practically.  Developing the foreground and foliage under these horses' hooves caused me to wonder..........when did I last execute any form of plant life?  After some deliberation (and the 20+ years I quit drawing altogether don't count), I recall it was in a pen and ink drawing in or around 1978.  So clearly, I don't do foliage.

Despite this fact, I recently completed laying in the foreground and foliage in "Dust and Thunder".  One of my goals with this piece has been to begin to develop a looser technique -- to successfully suggest detail, rather than attempting to draw every detail.  Though I'd probably be embarrassed if I knew how many hours it actually took me to develop the foreground, I'm pleased that I seem to have managed to clutch the reins a little less tightly -- in other words, hopefully I am relinquishing some artistic 'control issues' just a bit.  (Moi'?)

Presently I am tweaking the darkest values on the horses themselves, then will move on to continuing the development of the dust around the horses' legs -- something I look forward to.  With that, as well as the placement of the light source and landscape behind the horses, I will be able to address the contrast issues I discussed in my last post.

Thanks for reading.

"Dust and Thunder" Update: Maintaining a Focal Point

While recently developing a couple of preliminary layouts for future drawings, I've continued to work on Dust and Thunder.  Below is a photograph taken late this week, during one of its many (smile) "ugly phases".

During my recent research and readings about composition both online and in books, I am increasingly intrigued by the many ways in which an artist can create a dynamic composition by the handling of certain aspects of a drawing / painting -- color, contrast, edge control, and temperature, to name but a few.  More specifically as applied to this current drawing, I have been giving a great deal of consideration to how controlling contrast can help to define my focal point.  The focal point of a drawing / painting should have the strongest contrast of edges.  This can be achieved not only through the use of color and / or value, but also through edge control, with hard edges providing the greatest contrast.  Areas of high contrast other than the focal point, can actually pull the viewer's eye away from the focal point.  For this reason hard edges throughout an image (guilty!) can be problematic.

In Dust and Thunder my plan is for the area of the appaloosa (spotted) horse to be the focal point.  As I develop the background colors and foreground foliage, as well as continue to define some edges and soften others, it should become more clear as to how I am attempting to use the above information to do this.  I'm interested to see how the conscious application of the principles pertaining to contrast may effect my drawing, both on this piece and in the future.

Thanks for reading.

  

        

Close-up of Current Horse Drawing: "Dust and Thunder"

Now that the holidays are in the rear view mirror and my son has recently gone back to college, I have returned to the herd of galloping horses that generated so much angst for me when I last worked on them.  This work-in-progress has been given the working title, and possibly the final title, of Dust and Thunder.

In a past post I've mentioned that I continue to learn to draw, simply by drawing -- and this piece has given that fact new meaning.  You may recall the tremendous anxiety I experienced early in this drawing's process, given the differences from my usual style.  I have tended to feel more comfortable with subject matter that is viewed from a close-up perspective, and has clearly defined details and textures.  Dust and Thunder on the other hand, is about ambiguous shapes and values, soft edges, a rather tricky source of back-lighting, and lots of dust!......(which is yet to be revealed, as most of it will be laid in after the entire drawing is completed.)  In addition, the viewpoint is that of a landscape -- a first for me.

There have been many times I felt lost trying to navigate my way through this drawing: it seemed as if I simply did not know how to put one foot in front of the other.  More than once I wondered if I would have to give up on it.  But when I returned several days ago to finishing off the values of the two greys in the image, I no longer seemed plagued by the difficulties I was previously having with it.  Maybe I just stuck with it long enough.........or maybe I simply needed the break from it that I took out of necessity after the loss of my mother............or maybe recent events have helped to lend a degree of perspective of sorts, about what really is problematic in life -- and what is not.  Or maybe.............

Whatever the reason(s), I'm grateful for the learning -- and it feels good to be back in the saddle again, so to speak.  A happy, productive New Year to everyone.  Thanks for reading.