This is the finished painting which I have called Windswept
I have done quite a lot of work on the horses as you can see. One horse in a familiar grey colour whilst the other in deep chestnut with black mane and tail, whilst also with black legs. Manes are swept out in one direction, as well as tails. Powdered snow is being kicked up by their hooves. The general effect I like to believe, is one of storm and threat even of chaos. I will let others judge
I have, I hope kept the strong light coming in from the left. The snow heightens that effect.
Not an easy one to put together. At times I was tempted to abandon, but I usually like to finish before condemning a painting to the bin. I am generally happy with this one, and comments on social media have been enthusiastic
Usually I paint from some sort of photographic reference or even real life occasionally. I was advised to step out of my comfort zone when I was heard grumbling about not being able to think of something to paint. This is probably the closest that artists get to writer’s block.
So I started with a reference of a single horse which I duplicated, changing the colour of the second one. I put them in in a rough form.
I started on the background which I began with a coat of burnt sienna, diluted down. I let that go hard overnight, and then gave a glaze of lamp black, dabbing some out with paper towel to give cloud shapes. Lamp black is quite smoky looking and I like the effect it gives to winter clouds. Again I let that dry naturally overnight.
The clouds needed to go darker. I mixed Ultramarine Blue and Light Red and started from the top, adding more red as I reached the horizon line. I let that dry hard whilst I figured out what to do next. Remember I was on my own with no safety net!
I felt that the horizon could do with storm clouds rising. I used another mix of the red and the blue. The clouds didn’t work so they turned into distant hills which worked better
This is the type of commission that I enjoy doing. One of my favourite subjects, painting horses, and in this case, a charming composition, of a horse being brought in to the stables, possibly for saddling up, by her young owner.
One of the most difficult things to get right was the colour of the horse. A brown horse doesn’t sound very complicated but there are many shades of brown, and I needed to get close to the original reference photograph. This horse looked like a bay to me, with black mane and tail, and with black legs. I did the horse over several days, building up the colour and letting it dry overnight. Until the colour was dry, you just could not tell what it would look like. Eventually I was satisfied with the result
Most other things were relatively straightforward. I blurred out the background to increase the feeling of distance. Also in the photograph the background was in direct competition with the main subject.
The composition now worked well and told a story. I was a rider myself once long ago, and this picture reminded me of those days. My son and I would go north for a week to Northumberland, where there are some very open spaces. We would ride from place to place, and overnight the horses with local farms. They would stay out overnight, and in the morning we would have to go and find them, and bridle them up. Horses are cunning and when they saw you coming would make for the higher ground. You really worked hard to catch them. Once you got the bridle on, you could bring them down to be saddled for the day’s ride. This picture reminded me. Incidentally all this happened nearly forty years ago. My son is 53 now and me, well, I don’t ride anymore.
White horses galloping along the shore are always a stirring sight
I am getting paintings together for a new exhibition in March at Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking, and needed some new work. This one I am pleased with and will be putting it forward. This is the latest in my series of Camargue horses. I like this one more than previous horse pictures. perhaps I am getting better!
Recently I was given a commission to paint a horse with its owner. This will be given as a present so a special responsibility. I will let you know how I get on
Minotaur Sculpture in Wire Netting at Lightbox Gallery Woking
Closing soon unfortunately, this Sophie Ryder exhibition showing her amazing sculptures is on in the Upper gallery of the Lightbox in Woking. Not only sculpture but also her mosaics and tapestry are represented
I have never had the chance to look at her work close up before. I have seen individual pieces in places like the RHS garden at Wisley, where three dancing gigantic hairs amuse the onlookers. It baffled me as to how such detailed work could be done in wire netting, netting like chicken wire, but it has been. Different animal shapes are on show. Hares are obviously a favourite. The minotaur as you can see and I believe gigantic ones are set up in her sculpture park in Yorkshire. Dogs too, a re featured as she loves her dogs
I will attach towards the end a picture of a set piece featuring four hares contemplating a heap of scrap metal. I was told that this piece was inspired by 9/11. I fancied that I saw expressions of bewilderment and despair on the faces of the hares, as they tried to make sense of the destruction and needless loss of life. Whether it was there or not, nevertheless this piece has a meditative quality, and I stood there watching it for quite at time.
Sophie Ryder is renowned for developing the Lady Hare, with the body of a woman and the head of a hare, as a counterpart to the Minotaur in Greek Mythology. The female body is based on her own apparently.
Her work has been shown all over the world, and I believe 9/11 will be going to the United States.
Firstly I am indebted to Wendy Hodgkins Corniquet for her excellent reference photograph
I find it hard to resist Camargue horses and when I saw this picture, I felt that it would work well as a painting
The only thing I changed was the background. The photograph had a background more like a sunset, which I have changed to something plainer. I felt that concentrated more on the horses.
Camargue horses as you know, run wild in the wetlands in the Rhone estuary. They are always white, which adds to their impact as a herd, especially galloping through water.
I have painted them many times, as featured on my web site davidharmerwatercolour.co.uk
I am grateful to Vicky Stovell of Smiley Sunshine Photography for the use of her amazing photograph as a reference
I was intrigued by the photograph, not just for the composition bu also for the effects of the colours, which I hope that I have done some justice to. Yet another superb sunrise over the sea photograph to work to, yet challenging whilst exhilarating
The colours seemed to go in bands. Deep yellows and pinks in the lower sky beneath the blue, which are then repeated in reverse order through the horizon and into the sea, finishing with blue around the swans as we get into shadow.
The pebbles were time consuming. There were a variety of colours amongst the stones, blues and browns which I have tried to pick out, whilst at the same time, subduing the effect slightly so as not to compete with the detail of the birds. Something of a balancing act. Have I been successful. I will let others judge
I have trieed a different image and with it a different style
I was intrigued by this image, having decided in my mind to give horses a rest for a while. I was struck by the simplicity of the subject, and wanted to capture that. Detail has been kept to a minimum. Despite the activity, the horses seem calm. The water is churned up, yet the painting gives a feeling of peace
I think this is a painting that you can look at for quite a long time.
I would first like to acknowledge with thanks Rebecca Photography on Pixabay who kindly allowed me to use her reference photograph, when preparing this watercolour painting
I like, as many will know, painting horses and horses in water. This image intrigued me and presented problems from the start. Horse and rider were a complete silhouette. So? Well, there were no details to help me with the drawing or very few at least. It was difficult, if nigh impossible to check my measurements as I proceeded with the drawing. Likewise the rider, which I don’t normally include but they were the same image. They could not be separated. If you have ridden horses, and I have a little when I was younger, you will know that you have to adopt certain attitudes or body shapes, otherwise you will just fall off. Legs must be in the right place for example. You can’t see the legs in this image so what to do?
I ended up doing a separate drawing of the horse with rider showing her legs and stirrups. I had to match the correct leg position with the rest of her body. That took me some time. It was quite a long time of experimentation, before I was ready to paint. Sky and water were comparatively straightforward in comparison. I had to give horse and rider two coats of burnt umber before I had a perfect silhouette.
I must have done something right. The painting sold on its first announcement
I would have liked her for my current show at Denbies Wine Estate but you can’t have everything, and anyway you can only sell a painting once
I painted Autumn Swans about ten years ago. A breeding pair nest most years on the Basingstoke Canal, which runs through our village,and bring up their family. I have painted them often, sometimes with their brood of cygnets and sometimes before they are hatched. This pair are foraging on the leaves that have fallen on the canal water. Their beaks are tricky to draw and get right. They are shovel shaped for sifting through mud. So often it is easy to draw them pointed which is wrong
The canal water at this time of year is brown, as their is no reflection. You just look through and see the muddy bottom. Deads leaves float on the surface, gradually sinking. The white of the swans is the plain paper, with some blue shadow and also a little raw sienna, as these birds are not pristine
I have another swan picture ion my website, which shows the cygnets as well as mother swan
This painting finally found its new owner a few days ago. Paintings can sometimes wait a long time for the right person. The new owner is delighted and so am I. At the same time, I shall miss these swans, part of my life for a long time, but it is right for them to go, and fly the nest
offtoafineart 