Chief

Chief
29 of 30
Oil  16" x 20"
Commission

I posted several days of steps of this painting during the past month.  Once he was just about done I looked at him for several days and then fixed a few things on his body.  Now he is all done and ready to be mailed off to his owner.  As I said, I loved painting him.  I had pictures of him all over my studio and it's been fun to hang out with him!

After my first posting with just Chief and a loose background, I got an email from an author inquiring about using him on the cover of her next, 8th, book.  And while it's not going to happen (he's too western and light) I was thrilled to be asked.  You just never know who sees your art, who likes your art.  That's a great thing about the internet.  If not for the internet I wouldn't have received this commission, received an inquiry, met the people with whom I blog.  We do live in a great time!

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..3

On My Easel..3

18 of 30

Oil  16" x 20"

Commission

It was time to work on the background before I could continue with the subject.  Every color and value of an object is only correct when compared to the color and value next to it.  So, I couldn't continue with Chief himself until I knew the colors and values around him were accurate.  

On My Easel..2

On My Easel..2

17 of 30

Oil 16" x 20"

Commission

I'm adjusting the 30 in 30 challenge to work for me.  One of my goals is to paint more large pieces, and I can't do that everyday.  But, I can paint almost everyday.  So, I'm showing some of the daily progress on this commission.  

I've loved painting this!  I paint cows, bison, but I don't paint lots of horses.  I'm not around horses that often, and they say paint what you know.  Well, they also say push yourself.  (Not sure who "they" are!!)  So, when I got this commission I decided to go ahead.  I've loved the challenge.  I think the hardest part about painting someone's horse, is just that.  The horse belongs to them and if some body part is a bit different, they'll notice.  Which is why I paid close attention while drawing him.  I used grid lines and Bargue references.  I don't usually grid drawings.  Mentally using Bargue reference lines and points is always helpful and useful in any drawing.

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.