Archie - Finished

Here is the finished portrait of Archie, awaiting approval. I've really enjoyed this painting, Archie being a very good looking horse and a joy to paint.

Archie

A bit more progress made today. There are a lot of colours in Archie's coat which need blending together. My palette has consisted of oranges, browns and even pinks and purples to try and capture it properly.

Archie

This is the first stage of my painting of Archie. Firstly I draw out the basic outline of the subject onto the canvas and add a few details like the positions of eyes, shadows, tack etc and then I go around the outside edge of the drawing with masking fluid so when I paint on the background, it doesn't matter if I go over the edge of the drawing with the paint. The photo above is of it with the masking fluid removed.

Then I do a wash of base paint to cover the blank canvas so I can then paint on top without the white canvas showing through. I leave other areas uncovered to start with to make them easier to pick out when I come to painting them later.

And then I can get started on painting in the detail. I've started with the neck and will then move on to Archie's head, leaving the tack until last.

Cab - Finished

Here is the finished version of Cab, waiting approval. I always find it interesting and slightly amusing with each painting as to the areas I love to paint and the areas I find more challenging. I absolutely love painting eyes and it's often been commented upon by people looking at my paintings, especially if they're close ups of faces. I also love painting dogs noses as they have that wet look about them that I really enjoy depicting. Horse's muzzles are also a favourite of mine as I adore how soft they are in real life and have great fun trying to make them look as soft in my paintings. However, ears are a real bug bear for me, in both animals and humans! I have no idea why but I always struggle with ears. Hands, feet, paws and hooves are also quite tricky as it can be quite easy to get the sizing slightly wrong and this in turn can make them look very strange!

Cab

I finished tweaking Cab's face today and painted his ear so just his mouth and nose to go. I've been trying to get a decent photo, which in these dark evenings is tricky to do as my daylight bulb reflects off the painting and gives it a slight white 'glow' and on the original painting there are a lot more oranges and burnt siennas in his coat. But this was the closest photo I could get and shows some of the colours quite well.

Cab

Cab is suffering from shiny head today as I took the photo whilst the paint was still wet. Still quite a lot of work to be done on his face but I've made a fair bit of progress today.

Cab

He's coming along! I was hoping to have made a bit more progress today but something came along that halted all progress so I'll come back tomorrow with a new painting head on.