'Windswept'

Another layer on the background on today and main areas of shadow very roughly sketched in. Because it is such a big canvas I'm trying to work quite loosely on the painting as a whole at this stage to avoid it looking disjointed... normally I like to get quite a detailed drawing down in pencil first but in this case most of the 'drawing' will be done in paint as I go along.

I don't mind this ugly stage of my paintings as much as I used to, and I feel like I have laid the foundations for this one now. Once it's dry again I'll slap on a dark glaze over the lot, and then start picking out some of the main highlights. 45 mins spent today so 3hrs 45 spent in total so far.

I actually did a little oil of the same pony in a different pose for an SEA charity fundraiser in November for Debbie Hounsome, a paraplegic rider hoping to to compete at the 2012 Paralympics. The painting (below) was a tiny 5" x 7" so I'm finding it interesting painting her at the other extreme size-wise!