If there is one thing that I have learnt in 2011, it is probably the value of working from life as part of my wider preparatory and practice work. It's not something I am very good at, find easy, or a style of painting very close to my usual style- but I enjoy it, and I think I have really reaped the benefits of dedicating a bit more time to it this year, in my regular work.
Having not done very much of it in recent months I have decided to pull my finger out and go do some! This morning I spent an hour or so at a local yard that I used to keep my horses on in the past, and painted. Not the best time of year to do it really as most of the horses are well rugged up but enough heads over stable doors to keep me busy at least!
So tricky trying to paint a horse who only fleetingly looks in the direction you are painting him, I produced the dreadful painting above! Not quite sure how I managed to make his face look quite so deformed... shall blame it on tricky combination of roany face markings haha! As ever not too worried about the end result really as it's more about the process- but it would be nice to one day be capable of producing good equestrian oils from life. Planning to try and make my yard painting visits weekly/fortnightly, hopefully that way by the time the next SEA workshops come around in the spring I might not be so useless ;-D I might even try and paint the same horse each time, that could be an interesting way to measure my progress?
Have added another layer to the 'Out of the Shadows' painting since last blogging, and started another beach polo one too (pictured below). Hoping at least one of them might be ready in time for the Association of Animal Artists exhibition at Derby House next month!
