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
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 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.
Horses with acknowledgements to Image by Artower from Pixabay
I am grateful for the loan of this image provided by the royalty free website Pixabay. I thought that painting my own version in watercolour would provide me with quite a challenge. The horse that worried me most was the chestnut mare in the centre. How to get the colour that vibrant was a question I couldn’t answer. Obviously a glazing exercise, but where to start. I consulted the mighty Google and looked at various options. One was interesting, starting with an under painting of dilute sap green, but I drew back from that and went for something safer
I decided to do two trials, and start with drawings in coloured pencil. I have never done that before and it seemed so obvious, after it was pointed out. One I drew in terracotta and the other in golden brown. I washed in the coloured lines so that it started looking like a painting. I then gave both a coat of Cadmium Orange and I photographed them both for the record.
Drawing with terracotta pencil and orange washDrawn with the golden brown pencil and washed in with orange
There isn’t much between them, although I quietly favour the golden brown
These can harden overnight, and I will start tomorrow on successive coats. Burnt Sienna with a dash of red. Shadows in burnt umber with a dash of indigo. That should give quite a sharp finish, I hope but we shall see. The whole thing is like nothing I have attempted before
If I haven’t mentioned before, my own website davidharmerwatercolour.co.uk was completely redesigned recently. It is now set out better, in subject headings, so that things are easier to find, and is working well
I referred to the illustrations I have been doing in a previous post. I have enjoyed doing these, and as always when you try something different, you tend to surprise yourself.
John the author, a professional actor, whose tour has been interrupted by lockdown, which as everyone knows has closed theatres throughout the land, produced delightful sketches and memories on social media. Such was the response, that he collected them together into an anthology. I was asked to provide illustrations for the various chapters, just as visual footnotes, which I hope has done justice to the book.
The works of Shakespeare, as with many other well known pieces, crop up often. The Scottish play is no exception. Why is it unlucky to mention that play by name? Theatre folk are notoriously superstitious. Who else would say “break a leg” to someone just going on? I don’t know but must check it out before going further
One view put forward is that Shakespeare used actual spells during the witch’s incantations, by which I mean spells that witches used. I am not able to say whether they worked or not. It has also been pointed out that MacBeth, being a short play, was put on, at times of emergency, such as sickness amongst the cast. It came to be associated with misfortune. That sounds more feasible, but we don’t really know
As you can see the three witch mice are in full incantation. They are wearing their masks or their ‘blinds’, and they are looking convincing. If they are not convincing, they certainly look frightening. I wonder if we shall see them in print. I believe there is interest from two publishers, but of course it will depend on the deal. We shall have to see
Changing tack for the moment, I sold Horses in the Wetlands yesterday to a buyer in America. Always an extra buzz when the sale is international, I’m not sure why. Anyway the picture was picked up at lunchtime, and is probably going through Heathrow as I write this. In a year when real exhibitions were not possible, online sales have proved a godsend . I will leave with a reminder of the image
I changed some of the colouring on some of the horses as I wasn’t pleased with the way that they were turning out.I used some very dilute rose in a glaze over some as well as a very dilute gold over the lead horse, just to see what that did for the effect
I found I quite liked it. That is why I have changed the name to Horses in the Wetlands as they don’t look like Camargue horses any more, although arguably the rose colour could come from a low sun. Anyway, I am quite pleased with the overall effect
I am not going to feature this one on the internet just yet as I am starting to build up a collection for my show in December, and this one I think will work well. Strange to think my first bricks and mortar exhibition of 2020 will be in December, unless cancelled of course. Life is getting restricted again
As I said in my last post, I am looking for another horse painting, ideally of horses on the move, to replace Horses in the Snow which sold last week
This one should work hopefully. You can’t tell from this sketch but horses are cantering through water, so a lot of splashing going on which will give the idea of movement hopefully to the picture. A good excuse to do a lot of flicking and splashing during the painting as well. One of those defining moments when you throw paint at the picture or spray with an old toothbrush and hope it lands in the right places
I have painted Camargue horses before. We were there a few years ago, and they are magnificent to watch. I don’t trouble much with background for these shots, just paint the horses and sky the same blue/pink/grey combination, and then build up the horses with dark shadow
It worked last time, which is no guarantee of future success of course
offtoafineart 