Olympian Gran Gesto – Preliminary Study

Gran Gesto - aka 'Sammy', Preliminary Study in graphite

Here we go..the preliminary study for Jacquie Brooks Olympic mount and dressage partner, Gran Gesto..aka ‘Sammy’.  Jacquie requested something different, a unique angle, tight crop and to capture his ‘in the barn’, puppy-dog personality. This is what I have come up with as a proposed layout thus far…and Jacquie loves it..so we forge ahead. This is good news

I envision the final work in oil, tightly detailed in the face and eye. His eye contact to the viewer of the painting is key. I like the feeling he’s playing ‘peek-a-boo’ within the image. I will keep his eye expression soft and gentle. As the painting comes forward toward the viewer, the details loosen up and become more painterly in effect over his back area ~ I don’t want the painting to be all butt-shot!! LOL..that will have to be done with how I handle the oil media. If you can picture a photograph, that is sharp in focus on his face, and the foreground out of focus, that is the way I’m headed..

I think the composition has a nice flow, a gentle ‘S’ curve along his spine leads you into the painting. It’s a little hard to describe how I envision the finished work, as it is all in my head, but hopefully the sketch and my description gives you all some clue.

Stay tuned for more!

 

Beckon, getting playful in Oil

I’m gearing up to do another commission of  Beckon. My client, Andrea Scott of Equine Rehab.  in London Ontario, loves her detailed coloured pencil portrait (which I did a WIP on this blog), but she also loves the my loose and colorful original painting ‘Untitled in Orange’.  So when Andrea asked for a second piece of artwork of  her Beckon, a Clyde/thbd cross, I offered to do a bright & painterly oil portrait this time around. Let’s have some fun with this one!

Preliminary Study in Oil of Beckon

I’m in the study stage right now. I have two..maybe three compositions up my sleeve..this is the first quickie, 8×10 oil on canvas…a  good beginning, but there are a couple more layouts and colour combinations I would like to explore..stay tuned…

Have a great day!

 

Composition Challenge

Finally back to Po! His composition has been driving me nuts!

We decided to go with a side profile oil painting of this lovely Westfalien dressage mount, by Pik Labionics. I did the sketch…

Po, preliminary sketch

…transferred it to panel..started the underpainting…then realized..the image isn’t balanced..something to do with the shoulder / girth / elbow area…argh…the broad flat shoulder area is distracting from his lovely head…so I’ve been fiddling…and decided…

Po - Prelminary cropped

To start over again & make the image square… I was hesitant, I love to include sloping wither lines in my work. However, his face is so lovely, delicate and he has the most interesting shaped ‘almond’ eyes..Including so much was really taking away and made the image impossibly balanced…I was effectively cutting the painting in almost in half, rather than a balance into thirds.

Problems with Po's layout!

I’m feeling much better about this direction, and glad I’m following my gut on this one..something just was not right.  I’ ve primed a new canvas and will begin the underpainting this week.

I’m going to be completing this painting using layers of glazes. It is going to be a long haul, but the luminous effects will be well worth it. The painting I did of Panama K  used the same process..

Panama K - 9x12 oil on canvas

Stay tuned. There will several paintings started in the next couple weeks. Including Gran Gesto! i’ve made some decisions on that one too! phew!