Paris

Yesterday was a bit unproductive, I only had the afternoon to paint and I managed to paint over Paris' chest as I wasn't too happy with it before and that was all! But today I've managed a lot more and now only have her head to finish and then her mane, tail and hooves.

Paris

And here she is at the end of today. I'm really getting into the painting now and thoroughly enjoying it and the paint isn't causing too many problems either!

Paris

Here's Paris at lunchtime today. I'm really glad to say that I think I'm starting to take charge of the paint and it's not messing me about too much. Having the darker layer underneath dry is making it easier to work with today so I'm just going to have to be patient and let areas dry and work on another section in the meantime. It's hard to change old habits but I'm learning!

I'm also trying to give Paris her summer coat which is the more striking golden colour that makes Palominos so stunning but I am nervous about making it too dark or to the other extreme, to white but hopefully with these darker gold undertones, I'll steer myself in the right direction.

Paris

This painting is proving to be very hard work and all because of the paint, nothing else! I've noticed in the past that occasionally certain colours, often green, will be difficult to work with and that is proving the case with these colours. The way I work is to start with the darker undertones and build up the lighter layers on top, blending as I go along. Because acrylics dry so quickly, this normally means I have to be quick with blending and have developed a technique that works... with most colours! I'm finding today that when I'm putting the lighter layer on top and then dampen my brush to blend, the bottom layer lifts off when I put brush to canvas. To say it's annoying is an understatement and my brush has taken one flight across the studio so far! I think that this painting might take a while as I have to wait longer for the under layers to dry so I'm going to start my exhibition paintings in the meantime to give me other paintings to work on should I get frustrated with this one. It's such a shame as the reference photo is great and such a beautiful horse to work on so I was really looking forward to it but the paint gods have decided to make it harder work. :-D

Paris

Here is my next commission which is the beautiful Paris. I've chosen to give her a dark background as she has some fantastic sun highlights which will stand out really nicely against the dark and make it a bit more dramatic.

Shimmer - Finished

Here is the finished and approved painting of Shimmer. I'm very pleased with this painting, it's always fun to do full body paintings and I even surprised myself by not completely ruining the grass! Strangely grass is a very tricky thing to paint as it contains not just green but blues and yellows and browns just to name a few and is easy to make look a mess so I'm very happy with the result.

Shimmer

And here is Shimmer at the end of today with just the grass and shading below her to be done. Unfortunately we have the lighting from my daylight lamp making the top left corner a bit light but it's a bit dark to be taking photos without! See, I'm still dreaming of long summer days.......

Shimmer

Brrr, someone tell me when it's spring time and I can emerge from under my blanket! I'm not a fan of winter and would gladly hibernate until the sun shines again and the air is warm so it's taking me a bit longer to get my paintings done, but I did invest in some fingerless gloves so I don't completely freeze whilst working!

Here's the next stage of Shimmer. I've finished her main body and have started on her face. You might be able to see in this picture that there is a hint of grass where she is stood so she doesn't just appear to be floating but I will work more on the grass at the end of the painting so that I can incorporate her feet into it and try to make it look more natural.

Shimmer

This little cutie is Shimmer, a young and gorgeous black lab.