Small Works/ Personal Style

"Dream Ride" 3.5 x 2.5 colored pencil

Over the past few years I have found myself greatly enjoying doing the smaller works of art. Why is this? Mainly because these smaller pieces tend to be quick 'practice' works. I rarely spend more than an hour doing one of these ACEOs, which always leads to the possibility of doing one a day with my busy schedule. I also greatly enjoy doing these in colored pencil! As much as I love the medium, it tends to be a bit of a burden to do anything larger than 11 x 14 with them, and they general take a long time to complete. With these smaller works, it doesn't matter the burdens of the medium because there is less space to cover! Not that I want to discourage anyone from colored pencil! It is a wonderful medium. I think as my personal style grows and develops I just see the need to move away from them.

Developing my style has been an interesting journey, and it is one I feel that is only beginning. When I first started seriously looking into art I wanted to go into a more realistic approach to it. However, through the years my painting have started taking on a more impressionistic/painterly look to them. My palette has grown to non-traditional colors, and everything has started to get looser. Colored pencils will always be a 'tight' medium, just by their nature. They are better suited for the realistic style, and not the one I am currently moving into. It's just amazing how much growth and change my art has undergone in only a few short years, but it is all for the better. I really hope by the end of this year I will finally be comfortable with the new style of mine that is budding. The more I paint, the better I feel about it!

One Year With Melody

Rhapsody's Melody 11 x 14 Graphite

Today's art is a portrait of my beloved Melody who came into my life a year ago today. Even though I did not take ownership until well into the summer, today still marks a landmark in my books. After I lost Hunter, my beloved quarter horse, I never really planned on getting another horse anytime soon. My friend asked me at this time last year if I wanted to go with her and pick up two new horses she was getting, and I of course said yes! Seeing Melody was love at first sight for both of us, and I knew it was time to move on and open my heart to another horse. By the time summer rolled around I ended up trading a mini gelding I had for Melody, and it has been wonderful ever since.

It has been years since I actually sat down and did a graphite drawing. Although, I have always found graphite fun and relaxing to work in. It also helps to reiterate the fact that I need to slow down and create a finished well proportioned drawing before moving on. This is a continuous struggle for me! Rushing through things NEVER produces quality work! And though I am getting better at this, it still needs work. Not working in my fun palette of colors seemed a bit odd as well. More than likely I will be doing another portrait of Melody in color in the near future!

Snowed in = Painting Fun!

"Autumn's Beauty" 16x12 watercolor

Since I have been snowed in waaay too much recently I pulled out my watercolors to give them a good try. Honestly, I'm not too happy with the results. Watercolor is HARD! But- it makes for a nice challenge. This painting is from a photograph I took in October of my 27 year old thoroughbred mare, Ginger, happily enjoying the colorful mountains. I have also tried this photo in colored pencils, and eventually want to give it a go in either acrylic or oils. It's a very fun picture to reproduce!

One thing that is always important to remember when a painting dud rears its ugly head is to learn from the mistakes. What did I learn from this one? Use less water! And, don't over work it! With these two things in mind my next watercolor painting should be more of a success than this one. I also think I'm going to steer away from landscapes, those always seem to be duds.

With more snow on the way it certainly means I will be painting more! Currently I am working on a graphite portrait of my lovely little mare Melody. Although, I really wish the snow would stay away so I could actually, you know, see her!

Happy Painting!