Lady Arabella Moger and Rupert

Here is todays update. I must admit that I thought, being a smaller painting, that it wouldn't take as long as usual to paint but there are so many little details to include so it's taking the same amount of time as a much larger painting. Having said that, I bizarrely adore painting tiny details so I'm loving this one and if it wasn't for my eyes getting tired, I'd happily keep going into the evening and maybe night!!

Lady Arabella Moger and Rupert

Time for my next commission and this time it is of Lady Arabella Moger and her favourite horse, Rupert. This is quite a small painting for me, 10x12" but a really interesting one as I don't get to do many horse and rider paintings. Below are the first couple of stages. I start with the drawing having been put onto canvas. I then mask the edge of this drawing with masking fluid so I can paint on the background without worrying about going over the lines of the drawing. The photo below shows once this background paint has dried and I have removed the masking fluid and gone around the edge of the drawing to define it and touching up any bits of paint necessary.

Then I start to add the first layer of paint, purely just to cover up the canvas so it doesn't show through on any later layers. Some areas, like the saddle, I will leave until I come to paint it as it's quite a mixture of saddle, reins, whip etc so I don't want to paint over it now and forget what's going on under there when I come to paint it.

Shamrock - finished

Here is the finished painting of Shamrock, awaiting approval.

Shamrock

I thought I'd post a couple of stages of todays work so you can see how I paint. The top photo shows the dark underlayer that I start putting down. I always work with dark on the bottom and lighten up on top.

This photo shows how I have started to put lighter layers on top, creating the different shades and tones in the coat. I will go over it at the end and put in any tones that are missing or have been covered in the process. I also painted in Shamrock's eye before starting the rest of the face as this helps me to feel the character as I'm painting.

Shamrock

Here's todays update. I've been working on the neck area today and have managed to get most of it done with just a bit of tidying up tomorrow.

Shamrock

My next commission is of Shamrock. I have been looking forward to this painting as the colouring is so unusual and I love it! Below are a couple of the first stages. The top one is just after I had painted on the background and tidied up the edges around the head area.

And this stage is when I have covered up the canvas with the first, very attractive, layer of paint, covering up the white canvas so colours that I paint on top come out correctly.

Lillie - Finished

Here is the finished version of Lillie, awaiting approval. Again, there's a bit of light reflection on the background because some acrylic paints can have a slightly 'plasticy' shiny appearance but I always varnish with a matt varnish so this never shows on the final piece.