Progress October 12

I am going to work at the farm for most of the day so the oil paints are staying in the freezer

Here is a shot of my Christmas image in progress

Have a great day

Progress November 11

 I haven't blogged in a while. I don't have any explanation for this. Here are two of the pictures I've been working on.

Progress October 15

Here is the latest 

Progress October 12

My kids are home from school this week

Even though I haven't been posting I still surprisingly have been able to work on my projects

This is a drawing on Bristol in graphite. I've been experimenting with drawing media this year and am so far happiest with graphite. Hobby Lobby had a bunch of new products I haven't tried yet. I got some of those yesterday. I am planning to work bigger and have some large sheets of Strathmore Bristol board on order. Hopefully it will arrive within a week.

I also got the chance to revisit a picture I started last year.

It's been bugging me that I haven't really gotten it to a stage I'm happy with. I was able to set aside and get back to it this morning. I am in the process of lightening it overall and removing much of the blue hue. More on this one after Tuesday.

Progress October 1

I think all but a few details are left to do on this one. Actually I am not too happy with this photo. The darks in real life look richer than the photo depicts. Uggh. Getting work to look good in reproduction is an unending struggle. I am going to wrap up his dark valued companion picture next and work on a drawing that is in its final stages, The goal for fall is to finish up many of my projects in progress and start some fresh new pictures.

Progress September 30

I'm a bit nervous about shipping my painting to Kentucky. It got accepted in the American Academy of Equine Art's juried show The Blue and the Gray. It went out today in a custom box from the shipping store. Fingers crossed that it gets there safely and on time and that maybe someone will buy it :-).

They are going to have another Civil War themed exhibit at this time next year to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the end of the war. I hope to get into that one too.

I decided to spend the rest of the day painting. It's been a while and I had to clean off my palette and reset my paints. I want to try to finish up some of the pictures I started this summer. Here is one- I think I am going to call him Wary  or something similar. 

Today I worked on his right to left. I am going to paint his neck tomorrow morning.

Progress September 29

Finishing up the tonal drawing of the wee beasties. I really enjoy this Canson gray drawing paper. I have to go back to Hobby Lobby and pick up a few more sheets.

I am hoping to ship my civil war picture to Kentucky tomorrow. I am having it packed professionally. I watched the first half of Gone With The Wind this evening and picked up a few more Civil War themed painting ideas. I just need a cast of actors, costumes, and horses to portray all of my inspired ideas haha.
Watching that movie every year or two reminds me of how it scared the heck out of me when I was a kid. My mom took me to see it on the big screen at the old Lansdale cinema before it got torn down. All of the carnage was awful, but as a little kid I was most upset about the two horses in the movie that died. What was mom thinking?
So tomorrow is a shipping day and the start of a new drawing. Yay.

Progress September 27

I started a new picture on paper I've never tried before. It's Canson gray drawing paper. The surface is super smooth and allows for nice detail. The pencils glide over it. The paper is really nice but I have to get things right the first or second layer. Anything more than that and the waxy pencils stop making marks. I might try the skirts and spurs image one more time on this surface.

Progress September 26

I am in the final tedious stages of this drawing. I find this tedious because of how careful I have to be at this point. One wrong move and the drawing can be ruined. That is where oil painting has an advantage. Mistakes can be wiped away. I am enjoying this imagery. I might make this one into a large oil painting this winter.

Progress September 25

Still working on pleats and spurs. I hope to finish it tomorrow. I've been enjoying the opportunity to just draw for a change. Went to the university women's annual book sale. I found a bunch of treasures including an interesting biography on James McNeil Whistler. It's a page turner compared to the bio on N C Wyeth I'm struggling to finish.

Progress September 24

I'm up late working today. I thought I'd switch things up and work on a few drawings this week, and get back to painting this weekend. This is my second go on this image. Last month I drew it on gray illustration board. I didn't care much for its texture so now I am trying straight white drawing paper from Canson. It too has a little bit of texture but its not too bad. A close friend suggested Strathmore 500 series Bristol. I am going to try that next. I have a lot of experimenting to do before I find the best paper.

Progress September 23

It was great to go back to Pennsylvania for homecoming. I wish I could do that every year. 

I got my painting "The End Of The Line" accepted in the AAEA civil war themed equine art show. I am so happy- more on that later. 

I submitted a few small pictures for Gamblin oil paints torrit gray contest,

Here they are. Back to real work tomorrow.

"Daisy"

"Out of the rain

The Bobs.  16" x 12"

Progress September 15

I've been painting a lot but forgetting to post! Today I worked on a picture in Gamblin's Torrit gray. What a great tube of paint- so rich and cool. I hear the color varies from year to year which keeps life interesting.

Progress September 4

I am having a lot of fun with this image

I started the final before I resolved the study

I am going to be more disciplined tomorrow and work on the studies I've 

begun

Progress September 3

Things have been so hectic getting the girls back to school and j off to Taiwan and dads new job

Here is a study for a lighter picture

Progress August 5

Working in pencil today

Thinking about my next move

Progress - July 28

Started a new study

If it is successful I have a 24 x 24" canvas waiting

What a beautiful subject, it almost paints itself

Progress 26 July

Still working out the values for the civil war painting

This is taking a while but I am enjoying the process

Progress July 22

Trying to complete the values on my civil war painting

It's taking a while because there are so many values! I wish I could keep going but I have to stop for the day

Civil war picture

I spent the last week volunteering at church

I'm afraid that hurt my productivity 

Back to the grindstone tomorrow 

I did manage to start my cavalry painting

Going to get it under control this week

Necking

Spent a little bit of time today working on necking. Going to start my civil war painting this weekend.

More progress

The medium I'm using helped the paint dry faster than I thought.

I was able to continue with this study today.

It's a small picture, 12" by 12".

I may paint a bigger version. I need to name it. Nothing comes to mind at this point.

Today's progress

Stopping for the day

I am happy with the progress

At this point the picture has to dry for a few days. After it is dry I can start the tack.

Summer studies

I had the chance to photograph the Northern Ohio Outlaws on Friday. As usual they all looked great and ride and shot exceptionally well. I got a lot if beautiful reference photos. It will be a while before I can process all of them. These are a couple of studies from this reference.