Wild Friesian Horse Mane

If you've been following my FaceBook page you know I've had a thing for images of long, wild, and crazy horse manes lately. So I got the urge to paint a crazy Friesian horse mane! 

I still have a little more work to do on the mane along the bottom and on the right but this is basically all it is, a simple painting all about the mane! Not so much about the horse. 

This is also a much looser style (for its size) than I usually do. I just wanted to have some fun and do crazy big brush strokes in the hair and not get caught up in detail.

This is not a great photo, sorry. There's a bit of glare. I'll get a more "professional" looking photo when I'm done. In the mean time, tell me what you think of this looser, more simplistic style of painting. Do you like it? Or should I get back to the detailed stuff?

20"x24"

oil on canvas

Miniature Paintings - No 36 - Palomino Horse Head

Continuing my miniature painting project I have a beautiful palomino horse to share. This was painted from a photo I took at an event at the Hollywood Hill Saddle Club arena last year. I love to do the action shots, even if it's just the head, so you get the look of excitement, the flowing mane, etc.

 6"x6" oil on Gessobord

Original: SOLD

I went to HHSC events for the first time this season last weekend. I took more pictures of just faces this time. I really like to focus in on the face, the expression. Here are a couple of photos of pretty faces I took this past weekend that might end up as paintings.These two aren't action shots. But I like their perked up expressions. I also like the way the sun was just starting to break through the clouds so they had a bit of a soft glow around them.

 

I also finally got my Horse Portrait Commission Pricing page up. So if you, or anyone you know, wants a horse painting done you now have the information you need.

Black Bear by Waterfall - Add a baby?

I need your opinion. I added a bear to my waterfall painting.
(This time it's actually painted in, unlike the previous deer version that was digitally merged)
I was thinking about adding a baby bear. It would not be accurate since it's an autumn scene and you wouldn't seen babies in the fall. But it would add some charm to the scene.
So, what do you think about adding a baby bear? Should I keep it realistic with no baby? Or should I take some artistic license and make it cute?

The House I Grew Up In

Google Street View is an amazing thing. I don't know why but I suddenly got the urge to look around the neighborhood where I grew up from birth to about 10 years old. Here it is! This is the actual house from Google Street View today:

Not a lot has changed about the house other than the colors. Good to see it's still standing and someone has taken good care of it.

Wow, what memories it brings back. It's only a about a 1700 square foot house on a 6000 square foot lot but I remember, as a child, thinking the house and the back yard were huge! I had a play house, a duck pond, and a rocker horse not unlike this one:

No, that's not me! But I think I was that cute once upon a time. Haha!
Oh my, what age does to you!

We also had 13 cats and 5 dogs at one time, running around that yard (hopefully not chasing the ducks).
Duck ponds, playhouses, toy horses, dogs, cats ... it seemed like a vast playground at the time. But, really, 6000 sq ft is a tiny lot. Amazing how much bigger everything seems when you're a little kid!

Miniature Painting - No 35 - Red Fox

I've been a bit side-tracked from my miniature painting project lately due to the gallery miniature show, licensing, commissions, and the recent SCBWI event. But finally found a little time to do another mini again.

Here's No 35, a sweet little red fox. When I photographed her she'd been running around playing with her pups on a warm July morning so she was hot and panting. But she looked like she was happy and having a good time with her babies!

 4"x6" oil on multimedia board

Update: SOLD

Horse Portrait - "Ziggy"

I just another horse portrait painting. This is a remake of the mini painting I did last month. The owner of the horse saw the mini painting on my Facebook page and loved it so she commissioned me to do a larger version. I really enjoyed painting this horse, even painting him twice! He has such a nicely shaped head, lovely expression, and I really like the way the light falls across his face and neck.

Ziggy

9"x12"
Oil on canvas

Here's the mini painting for comparison.

Ziggy Mini

4"x6"
Oil on canvas panel