Study of Chief #2

Study of Chief #2

20 of 30

Oil 8" x 10"

SOLD

This is my second study of Chief.  With this one I wanted to try a different background and paint the other side of him.  I also loved the photos I had of him running.  As you've seen, ultimately I painted him from this side, but from a different picture.  

Study of Chief #1

Study of Chief #1
19 of 30
Oil 6" x 8"
SOLD

 I've been posting steps of my recent commission of Chief.  Before I even began this painting I did several studies of him.  It helped me get to know the horse, his color, proportions, plan the background, etc.  It also helped me work out the composition.  The buyer originally had a different idea than what I'm now painting in mind.  She sent me lots of photos and I worked from those, cutting and pasting.  When I came up with the composition of the large piece that I'm now working on, I emailed that to her and suggested that for the painting.  She agreed.  Sometimes you know when a painting's going to work.  The next time I have a commission I'll suggest in advance that I'd like some artistic freedom.  I hope I have as great a client as I now have!

I'm happy with this study and happy how the painting itself is turning out.  I've decided to be like the hosts on HGTV shows who send their clients out the door for the last part while they put together the rooms.  I'm not going to show the next steps until the whole painting is done.

And, while I've been participating in the 30 in 30 challenge, I gave myself Sunday as a day of rest.

On My Easel

On My Easel

16" x 20"

16 of 30

This is the third study of Chief that I'm painting.  I'll post the others at a later date.  This size takes me days, so I thought I'd post several steps.  I used grid lines and Bargue drawing techniques to get the horse right.  Both are helpful.  You can google Bargue to learn about it.  It's really great.  It has you visually lining up parts of the object both horizontally and vertically with other parts of the object.