Whitemares

[TucsonDon]

MY IMAGE(S):
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Critiques/upload_spool/11-14-2002/15516_whitemares.jpg


GENERAL INFORMATION:
Title: Whitemares
Year Created: 2001
Medium: Acrylic
Surface: Canvas
Dimension: 48 inches X 36 inches
Allow digital alterations?: Yes!

MY COMMENTS:
First attempt at acrylic painting after a 40 year hiatus earning a living as an art director and graphic designer. Would welcome any and all commentsÉnegative or positive.

MY QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP:
I have a problem knowing when to quit. Trying for an impressionistic styleÉalways seem to go beyond it.

[Chuck Levitin]

I would say the painting is more realistic than impressionistic, but it is well executed, as your art background suggests it should be. I think there is an anatomical problem with the horse on the left. It appears to me that he has an extra vertebra or two. Also, his left foreleg seems to be coming out of the body too far back, or maybe the chest is too large. There are cast shadows on the horses, but not on the grass around them. You may want to put a wee bit more blue on the rearmost horses to help them recede more. You've painted their hooves the same color white as their coats. I think the hooves should be a more ivory color.

[Helen Zapata]

The horse on the right that is looking at us just tickles me. :)

I'm not qualified to say anything as far as horse anatomy goes, but for painting after 40 years.. I think it's a great start!

Helen

[TucsonDon]

:) Hey! Thanks you guys...your way too kind. I'll get those mares back on my easle and remove some ribs, add some shadows, etc.
My grandson said the horse on the right looked like Alice Cooper!
ÑTucsonDon

[Helen Zapata]

Originally posted by TucsonDon
[B My grandson said the horse on the right looked like Alice Cooper!
ÑTucsonDon [/B]

ROTFL! Kids are great. Be sure to show us how this painting turns out!

Helen

[CynthiaKelly]

I like the way you handled the paint, and the windswept feel of the horses and their setting is fresh and vibrant. But you need to spend a lot of time on horse anatomy. Alice Cooper's right foreleg... and the horse on our left... and the forelegs on the mare behind and slightly left of Alice... Since you probably worked from a photo (as opposed to getting the horses to hold that pose!) project the photo over your painting to see where you are off as far as anatomy goes.

[TucsonDon]

Hi CynthiaÉhey, you are totally right. I started with a reference photo, but when I found myself trying to put to much detail in, I tossed it. Thought it would help me loosen up a little. Maybe I should have kept it.
Anyhow, I'm thinking of starting over, rather than trying to patch this one.
Or, maybe not. ?????
ÑTucsonDon

[CynthiaKelly]

Well if you were a true beginner I would say a bunch of nice reassuring stuff but since you're a pro, yes, start over. But don't loose the wonderful handling of the lights and darks playing over the forms of the horses - the feel f the wind and the open air... As for reference photos I do the same thing - work the sketch from them and then get rid of them so I don't fall into that trap of making a painting of a photo. But with animals - I do a lot of animal portraits and equine art - I often do project the photo over the piece at some early point just to be sure I'm not off on the anatomy. (There is a slippery slope from that point to simply projecting the photo onto the blank canvas and tracing. Some artists are fine with that and that is their perogative, but I have chosen not to go that route.) Not that a photo is ever exactly right - the best it can do is give you some reference points, but you have to adjust for the distortions of perspective.