Brunner – The Mystery Horse Unveiled

Brunner - 12x16 Oil on Canvas

A few weeks ago I did a post on ‘The Mystery Horse’, a surprise commission portrait I had completed. The gift has been given, now I can fully reveal the horses identity and tell you a little bit more about this project.

I met the commissioner Jodie, on the Headwaters Stable Tour last fall. She was eager to have something special created of her horse Brunner, which she shares with her daughter Ashley. I was told Brunner was a gentle giant, a Percheron/Thbd cross. From there we set up a photo shoot where I could meet him in person.

I knew that Brunner was big, but I guess I wasn’t really prepared for how big, because I was quite shocked when I finally met him in person. There he was, 18 hands of tall, dark, handsome and solid horse!! Despite his size, he had a remarkable pony-like way about him.  He was gentle, soft, round and with a kind loving eye. He has three markings unique to him. A question mark shaped blaze, white patch on his wither (not from a rub) and white hairs at his tail dock. In the photo shoot, I tried some different perspectives to capture all three of these details in one photo. We ended up cropping the image tighter for the final layout in the finished painting.

Brunner and his mom standing behind him

With gift commissions, I rarely get the opportunity to hand the artwork directly to the receiver. So I sit on pins and needles waiting to hear some word about their reaction!! Thankfully, a couple weeks later I received a lovely note from Jodie’s daughter Ashley about the painting:

Hi Jennifer,
 
My name is Ashley, I am Jodie’s daughter and our horse’s name is Brunner.  I was given the beautiful, stunning painting you did of our handsome baby for my birthday and I LOVE IT!  I love that you captured not only how he looks on the outside but his kind, gentle temperament on the inside…you are very talented!  My husband and I are in the middle of buying a house and I can’t wait to find a very special place to hang the painting.  Not to mention the cards, what a special card to give out notes… used one the other day for my Mother in law and she loved it and said she would cherish that card.
 
Thank you again for all your hard work, what a beautiful gift to receive from my Mom!
 
Will pass your name on to any friends who would like to have their horses painted!
 
Many thanks!
 
Take care,
 
Ashley Arkeveld

 These types of letters always make me thankful for what I do for a living…I love my job! 

 

 

Brunner - Head Detail, Oil on Canvas

 

 

 

 

In The Studio of Sargent Workshop

Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1892-93, John Singer Sargent

Back to my studio in the lucisous green hills of Caledon, after a week-long painting workshop at The Academy of Realist Art in Toronto. The workshop was based on direct painting techniques used by John Singer Sargent. The journey was not just an exercise in learning new painting techniques, but one that evoked many personal revelations about my temperament and patience as an artist.

The instructor for the course was Matthew Mancini ~ http://matthewmancini.blogspot.com/ Matthew is clearly a gifted artist, who also possesses ability as a great teacher. I believe it is often rare to find both qualities in artists. He was clear and methodical, patient and positive ~ even when things would appear to be heading on the road to certain disaster.  Matthew started the week off with a painting demo using direct painting methods. He made things look incredibly easy, focusing on building simple shapes, keeping clear statements of value and colour. We proceeded to work up a quick study using the same technique. It was then I realized it wasn’t as easy as it looked. However; at the end of day one I was happy that my initial sketch remained looking human. I’ve never painted the human form before…!

Day two, we started what would be a more finished portrait. A Sargent copy, which we would work on for the next three days.  I began the painting very much like any other; with enthusiasm and positivity.  By the end of day two, my positivity deflated…while I was learning new techniques, old work habits came to haunt me. Without realizing, I got sucked into detailing a particular area of the painting.  I kept going back, trying to fix the area using my tiny brushes working about an inch away from the canvas.  In the process I lost perspective on correcting the overall shape and things were going grey and muddy quickly.

It occurred to me that the frustration and exasperation I was feeling at this stage in the painting were not unfamiliar emotions. The same situation has happened before on horse paintings.  Matthew was instrumental getting me out this situation. Instructing me to grab a bigger brush and re-establish the basic shapes of the area I was working on. Once I did this, the painting made quite a miraculous recovery…without resorting to breaking my brushes in frustration  

Study of Sargent Portrait, created during workshop, 14x18, oil on Canvas

Previously in my studio, when experiencing similar situations I likely would have walked away. Adding it to my shelf collection known as ‘The Canvas Graveyard’. I hope in the future I will be more attuned to when a painting begins to go astray. I can make corrections early on in the painting by returning to the simple shapes that make the image.

The final day I started a third study, putting everything I had learned together. The transformation was drastic. While the painting is by no mean complete, I was pleased that I was able to simplify the shapes, keep the colour clean, and begin to build something that could work from.

Head study of Sargent copy, final day of workshop

So where do I go from here? I’m quite sure I can easily apply the process taught in the workshop to painting horses. I will begin this week, using Gran Gesto’s painting. However I will still search for my own individual style to infuse with my new found knowledge. During the more controlled portions of the painting I felt my patience waining. After years of creating meticulous drawings of the equine form, taking hours, sometimes months to create, perhaps I no longer have the want to be so ‘perfect’ anymore?  

I will always have a deep respect for old masters techniques, but when I turned to oil media, painting became such a release and an outlet.  In the studio with the music loud, a bold palette mixed up and blank canvas in front of me with no other distractions I feel alive and well. Perhaps I need to become accustomed to what the new ‘perfect’ is..?

Links of interest:

Artist & Workshop instructor, Matthew Mancini:

http://matthewmancini.blogspot.com/

The Academy of Realist Art: http://www.academyofrealistart.com/

Analogous Oil Study

Analogous Colour Study, 8x10 Oil on Linen Gallery Wrap

Productive day in the studio! Seems quite fitting given it is the day before my week-long painting workshop in Toronto. Yes, it is another horse eye study..Guess this one makes title of Horse Eye Study #III

If I didn’t mention it before, I’m telling you I LOVE Amazon for buying painting books. A couple weeks back, I ordered Vicki McMurry’s book, ‘Mastering Color’ :

'Mastering Color' by Vicki McMurry

I can’t say enough great things about this book! I love it and I love Vicki’s work! I love her bold use of colour,  her detailed explanations on colour mixing, various colour schemes..etc!  If you are a painter and love colour, I strongly recommend this book.

Today’s painting, I created using an Analogous colour scheme ~ colours beside each other on the colour wheel, which Vicki discusses in the book. Alizarin Crimson as my base, spreading out to Violet and up to Orange + Titanium White.

I quite happy with this painterly oil study. The violet and orange mixed well to get some decent greys for shadows. Pure hits of colour I used Cad Orange and Alizarin..learning to love Alizarin BTW…as long as I don’t wear white in the studio!!

Painting is very wet, so I will post a better pic when I return from my workshop. Purchase inquiries may come to me, jennifer@jennpratt.com

As always, your comments are always welcomed and enjoyed. Thanks for reading.