Apr 15, 2017
Horses Without Fences
In earlier posts I shared a new set of digital horse paintings featuring a family of horses in snow in a variety of coat colors. In those earlier versions the horses were behind a fence in a corral. Well, to show off more of the beauty of the horse itself I made versions with the fence in front. This post will feature them in solid coat colors. In later posts I'll have appaloosas and pintos.
Apr 9, 2017
Do We Really Need To Know Evil To Recognize Good?
I recently finished a painting of a Friesian horse trotting through the snow. The Friesian horse is an easily recognizable, though not well-recognized, breed. By that I mean, if you are familiar with horse breeds, it is very easy to distinguish from other breeds. If you are not familiar with horses, however, you've probably never seen or heard of one (except in movies).
Friesians are easily distinguished from other breeds because they have many characteristics of a draft but are leaner and more graceful. The Friesian always comes in black (except for one very rare exception, a chestnut stallion called Fire Magic) with no white markings such as socks or blaze. It has a long wavy mane and tail and feathery feet.
But, the Friesian is uncommon in the United States and if you live here you are unlikely to ever have seen one. In all my years of owning and working with horses I don't think I ever saw one in real life. This is why I say it is not likely to be recognized by most people, at least most people in the U.S.
The Friesian gets its name from the place of its origin, a region in the Netherlands known as Friesland. It's a light draft horse breed originally bred to pull carriages and is popular for this purpose because of its elegant, high-stepping gait.
So, what does the title of this blog post have to do with any of this? Well, when I first uploaded this image I shared it to my Facebook page and I realized a lot of people would not recognize this horse breed. So I added a little bit of info about the breed and included a YouTube video so people could see this amazing horse in action.
The Friesian horse's movement is so amazing to watch that, while previewing YouTube videos, I got a little emotional when I watched these beautiful creatures in action. They are stunning. It made me ponder all the wonder and beauty this world has to offer. But then I wonder, how can we have such beauty and yet have so much ugliness and evil too? Why can't we just have the beauty of this world? Well, I've wondered this before, as I'm sure everyone has at one time or another. If you wonder out loud, the response from others is usually something like, we can't recognize beauty without ugliness, we can't appreciate pleasure without knowing pain, we can't know good without knowing evil.
That's the standard and widely accepted notion about good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, etc. The idea is that if we lived in a world where everything was wonderful, everything was beautiful, that we would not be able to appreciate it, or even recognize it. I disagree. I think this is nonsense.
Why? Because I was a child once. Yes, we all were. Think back to when you were two years old. When I was 2 I already knew horses were wonderful, beautiful creatures. No one had to teach me that, or compare it to something ugly before I understood. I was already delighted by kittens, puppies, and baby chicks. I marveled at pollywogs, hummingbirds, and butterflies. I'm pretty sure that, at 2 years old, I knew nothing of famine, war, hurricanes, and the Ebola virus. Yet I still managed to thoroughly enjoy my goldfish and fluffy teddy bear. I really don't think we need to know ugliness to know what's beautiful, to know misery in order to recognize what brings us pleasure. The ability to recognize beauty is already within us from birth.
So, for those of you who would like to experience some beauty without thinking of ugliness for a few moments, I present to you the magnificent Friesian horse in action in this YouTube video below. Enjoy!
The KFPS Royal Friesian Horse
Friesians are easily distinguished from other breeds because they have many characteristics of a draft but are leaner and more graceful. The Friesian always comes in black (except for one very rare exception, a chestnut stallion called Fire Magic) with no white markings such as socks or blaze. It has a long wavy mane and tail and feathery feet.
But, the Friesian is uncommon in the United States and if you live here you are unlikely to ever have seen one. In all my years of owning and working with horses I don't think I ever saw one in real life. This is why I say it is not likely to be recognized by most people, at least most people in the U.S.
The Friesian gets its name from the place of its origin, a region in the Netherlands known as Friesland. It's a light draft horse breed originally bred to pull carriages and is popular for this purpose because of its elegant, high-stepping gait.
So, what does the title of this blog post have to do with any of this? Well, when I first uploaded this image I shared it to my Facebook page and I realized a lot of people would not recognize this horse breed. So I added a little bit of info about the breed and included a YouTube video so people could see this amazing horse in action.
The Friesian horse's movement is so amazing to watch that, while previewing YouTube videos, I got a little emotional when I watched these beautiful creatures in action. They are stunning. It made me ponder all the wonder and beauty this world has to offer. But then I wonder, how can we have such beauty and yet have so much ugliness and evil too? Why can't we just have the beauty of this world? Well, I've wondered this before, as I'm sure everyone has at one time or another. If you wonder out loud, the response from others is usually something like, we can't recognize beauty without ugliness, we can't appreciate pleasure without knowing pain, we can't know good without knowing evil.
That's the standard and widely accepted notion about good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, etc. The idea is that if we lived in a world where everything was wonderful, everything was beautiful, that we would not be able to appreciate it, or even recognize it. I disagree. I think this is nonsense.
Why? Because I was a child once. Yes, we all were. Think back to when you were two years old. When I was 2 I already knew horses were wonderful, beautiful creatures. No one had to teach me that, or compare it to something ugly before I understood. I was already delighted by kittens, puppies, and baby chicks. I marveled at pollywogs, hummingbirds, and butterflies. I'm pretty sure that, at 2 years old, I knew nothing of famine, war, hurricanes, and the Ebola virus. Yet I still managed to thoroughly enjoy my goldfish and fluffy teddy bear. I really don't think we need to know ugliness to know what's beautiful, to know misery in order to recognize what brings us pleasure. The ability to recognize beauty is already within us from birth.
So, for those of you who would like to experience some beauty without thinking of ugliness for a few moments, I present to you the magnificent Friesian horse in action in this YouTube video below. Enjoy!
The KFPS Royal Friesian Horse
Apr 4, 2017
Paint Horses In Winter Corral
Paint horses are here! In my last post I created several color variations of appaloosa horses in snow. Now I've done them all in the tobiano pinto coat pattern in bay, buckskin, chestnut, palomino, and black. As usual, all are available as prints, greeting cards, throw pillows, tote bags, and more. Click an image to see all the products available for that version of the paint horse family artwork.
As with the other, I can mix and match them for you so if, for example, you want a black paint, palomino paint, and bay paint together, I can do that. Just let me know.
As with the other, I can mix and match them for you so if, for example, you want a black paint, palomino paint, and bay paint together, I can do that. Just let me know.
Apr 2, 2017
Appaloosa Horse Family In Multiple Colors
In a previous post I shared some new artwork of a family of horses in snow. I did all the solid coat colors of black, white (cremello, actually), chestnut, bay, palomino, and buckskin. Now I'm adding some coat patterns and today's post includes the appaloosa coat pattern on most of those base coat colors. I left out the cremello because it's so close to white you would barely see the spots.
Like the solid color versions, these appaloosa versions are available on prints, greeting cards, throw pillows, duvet covers, shower curtains, tote bags, hand and bath towels, t-shirts, phone cases, coffee mugs, and more. Click an image below to see all the products available for that particular artwork.
But they would still be slightly visible. So what do you think? Would you want to see a cremello appaloosa version? And, like the solid colors, I can mix and match these if you'd like a particular combination. For example, if you want a bay appaloosa mom with a buckskin appaloosa baby and a black appaloosa dad, I can do that. Just let me know.
Like the solid color versions, these appaloosa versions are available on prints, greeting cards, throw pillows, duvet covers, shower curtains, tote bags, hand and bath towels, t-shirts, phone cases, coffee mugs, and more. Click an image below to see all the products available for that particular artwork.
But they would still be slightly visible. So what do you think? Would you want to see a cremello appaloosa version? And, like the solid colors, I can mix and match these if you'd like a particular combination. For example, if you want a bay appaloosa mom with a buckskin appaloosa baby and a black appaloosa dad, I can do that. Just let me know.
Mar 23, 2017
Horses In Snow Business Cards Basic Colors
I've added my horse images to a lot of products in my Zazzle store lately but one product in particular I thought might be most useful to horse owners is the business card. Many people who love, own, or work horses offer some sort of goods or services such as training or boarding. So if you're a horse breeder, trainer, veterinarian, farrier, or offer other services such as showing, boarding, or riding lessons, you could certainly use business cards to promote your business. For this I've created matching sets of business cards and business card holders with horses. I've done all the basic coat colors so you can pick your favorite.
Remember, if any of these don't quite fit your needs, I can also mix and match colors to make your own custom version for you, such as this example below.
Remember, if any of these don't quite fit your needs, I can also mix and match colors to make your own custom version for you, such as this example below.
Mar 17, 2017
A Horse Family of All Colors
I continued on with digital paintings of horses, this time adding a mare, foal, and a background. There are so far 6 variations of "families" of horses available, each with the basic horse coat colors of chestnut, bay, palomino, buckskin, black, and white (or, more properly, cremello). Since it's still technically winter (although the birds singing outside my window at dawn seem to think spring is here!) this family of horses has been placed in a background winter scene of a horse ranch in snow. All these base coat versions are available on Fine Art America/Pixels as prints, greeting cards, tote bags, throw pillows, and more. Click your favorite color version image below to see the full range of products.
NOTE: Because these are digital paintings saved as separate elements it's easy to change things up. If you'd like a family of horses that are not all the same color I can fairly easily switch horses around for you. So if you'd like, for example, a chestnut mare, a buckskin foal, and bay stallion, I can do that and make it available as a print for you. Just email me or comment below and let me know how you'd like it.
NOTE: Because these are digital paintings saved as separate elements it's easy to change things up. If you'd like a family of horses that are not all the same color I can fairly easily switch horses around for you. So if you'd like, for example, a chestnut mare, a buckskin foal, and bay stallion, I can do that and make it available as a print for you. Just email me or comment below and let me know how you'd like it.
Mar 7, 2017
Paint Horses Of The Rainbow
In a previous post I had shared a rainbow colored pinto horse with dripping wet paint. Now I've added variations with the separate colors of the rainbow so you can have one in just your favorite color, or to match your decor, clothing, or accessories.
Right now I mostly have t-shirts (including tank tops, hoodies, long-sleeved shirts, etc) with all the different colors on them. Some of the colors are on other products like notebooks or coffee mugs. But it takes a while to add them to all these products so I'm still working through all the colors. I'll just share the shirts for now. Of course you're free to browse my Zazzle store and see what other products are available, and check back occasionally to see what new products have been added.
Right now I mostly have t-shirts (including tank tops, hoodies, long-sleeved shirts, etc) with all the different colors on them. Some of the colors are on other products like notebooks or coffee mugs. But it takes a while to add them to all these products so I'm still working through all the colors. I'll just share the shirts for now. Of course you're free to browse my Zazzle store and see what other products are available, and check back occasionally to see what new products have been added.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
