Playing Catch Up

"Sleepy Head" 2.5x3.5" Colored Pencil

This painting is an oldie, but goodie. Once I realized that I wanted art to become apart of my life other than being a fun hobby I sat down and really pushed myself hard to try and get used to other subjects. Since I almost always paint horses, so the goal at that point in time was to draw everything but horses! At first this failed miserably. I went through about a month solid of my everyday paintings failing. I was getting very discouraged, and decided I needed to change my game a little. See, at the time I was trying to get an ACEO finished in under an hour, so with this one I decided to sit down and simple do the best I could no matter how long it took. Sounds simple I know! I sat at my art desk for over three hours trying to make sure this little work was perfect. And I am certainly pleased with the end results, even to this day! I learned that it really doesn't matter how much time you spend on a work, it's taking the time to make sure you do it right.

I also apologies to you guys for lack of up dates. The little camera I was using to take photos of my work was stolen, so I have no way to post my new stuff :( Hopefully I'll get a replacement in the next month or so!

Happy Painting!!!

Belle ACEO

"Belle" 2.5 x3.5 Colored Pencil on Paper

This beautiful mare is owned by my Barn Manager, and I couldn't help but try my hand at painting her! She's a Champion Arabian Halter horse, and full of attitude! Around the stables we call her "Barbie" because of how she struts around! It's always amusing the personalities these creatures have, and that's most of the reason why I'm so drawn to horses. Their beauty and grace is just the perfect subject for a painting!

I also like completing these smaller works of art. They come in handy if there isn't a lot of time to complete a larger work, and they help keep things challenging. It's very hard to come up with a pleasing composition with such a tiny work space! Colors and contrasts become even more important than the subject matter as one trys to make the painting successful. With the time factor, I can usually have one of these completed in less than an hour. And in a busy work day between school, writing, music, and exercises- like I said, larger works just keep getting pushed back. This is especially true with school since I'm an art major, I have so many paintings due for different professors there just isn't time for personal work sometimes!

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!