Small Horse Portrait WIP & Demo - FINISHED

piper2 · #1 07-24-2006, 10:18 AM

Hi, folks! I've been talking about all the commissions I've gotten from my last show but I haven't shown any to you yet. Well, here's one that I've actually taken photos of along the way. I hope to finish it today. Depending on my level of distraction, level of toddlerness my children achieve, and whether or not I run out of pumpkin orange. I'm going to be very detailed in my description of my process, so if you're easily bored like I am, you can just skip through and look at the pictures.

This guy is named "Custom" and is a Quarter Horse I met at the last show I went to. I was taking all my own photos at that show, which I prefer oh so much to using a client's photos, because not only does it mean you saw the subject in person, but I can get them to position the horse in a good lighting situation. In this case, I wanted to have him with one side of his face well lit and the other in shadow (a la Rembrandt) because a dynamic lighting situation almost always looks better.

Anyway, so this guy was one of those big lumbering horses that's very calm but not very . . . flashy. I mean, he obviously has a very nice looking head, but unlike the horse I photographed right before him, he was not at all willing to give me a good money shot. I always take a bunch of photos, so this was the best of about five. It's a good basic shot, but it needs to have some alterations. For instance, I wanted to be sure to prick his ears towards the viewer. Not a whole lot, because it would've been out of his character to have them very attentive, but enough that he looks pretty. Second of all, my camera has distorted things a bit -- given everything a sort of fish-eye look, which all cameras tend to do unless you stand back a good ways and zoom in. Anyway, I'm going to correct that by reducing the muzzle size in my drawing and not showing that much of the body in my version. In real life, there's no way his head would look that big and his body that small. Be mindful of camera distorion. It's evil! Evil!

Okay, with that in mind, I'm ready to get started. This is just a little one -- 5 x 7" -- that I like to call my "teaser" size. No one is really happy with just a little portrait like that, but a lot of people are afraid to pay big bucks for a larger one without seeing if you can hack it. If I do it well, I can usually count on a bigger commission down the road.

This photo has it's

piper2 · #2 07-24-2006, 10:24 AM

Okay. I start with the hardest part first, the eye and the general shape of the head. I want to get that over with while I'm still enthused and eager with the portrait. So in this extraordinarily awful photo, you can see I've begun. This is a 5 x 7" piece of Bristol smooth, and I'm using Prismacolors. So far, I've used:

1. Black, to outline the eye and for the pupil
2. French Gray 70% for the grey parts below the eye
3. Sienna Brown for some brown mid tones
4. Orange, for the brightest highlights
5. Marine Green, to underpaint the orange
6. Chocolate, for dark tones
7. Dark Umber, for dark tones
8. Periwinkle, for above the eye and a bit below
9. Apple Green, for anyplace I want to tone down the orange a bit.

It sounds like a lot of colors, but this where I'll use the greatest range. The eye is my focal point -- I want the viewer to be drawn there first.

piper2 · #3 07-24-2006, 10:28 AM

Okay, this is a slightly better photo. You'll notice that I work out from the eye. I tend to get a truer likeness that way. I used to outline the entire head and then fill in, but for some reason, it seemed harder. Now I just modify the light outline as I work outwards.

The only additional colors I've added into this mix are peach, for the lighter hair towards the horse's left, and Crimson Red, for the midtonish shadows. The darkest parts are all black and chocolate. I'm already thinking at this stage that I need to add some blue to the darkest shadows. And I'm wondering where I've put my violet blue, my favorite blue for shadows.

piper2 · #4 07-24-2006, 10:32 AM

Big leap forward! Mostly because I got engrossed and forgot to photograph it in between. This photo is kinda cruddy -- too contrasty -- but oh well. This looks like a lot of work, but it's not really. Mostly what I've done is work out where I want the neck to go and establish darks behind it. I've removed all of the distractions from inside the stall and just gone with black and peacock blue.

The neck adds a few more colors to the mix -- Black Cherry and Beige Sienna. Beige Sienna is the color you see on the mane, and Black Cherry underpaints everything on the neck itself. Otherwise it's mostly a light layer of black, chocolate, and Sienna Brown or Chocolate with some Marine Green on top. I play around a lot at this stage. I want it to be visually interesting. So I add Peacock Blue into the deepest shadow on the neck (I never did find my violet blue) and a bit more Apple Green around the eye.

piper2 · #5 07-24-2006, 10:36 AM

And this is the final progress shot for the first day; all of them together probably represent two hours of work. Hard to estimate properly, because I had to get up to make cookie dough and play with small children and other distracting things. Like scratching my head or staring at the wall.

You can see he's starting to look like a real horse now. No new colors were added, but I've added peacock blue around his eye and done more with the peach and beige sienna on the light side of his face. This photo is a bit washed out, but I promise to get a better one for the next progress shot!

I've taken care to make his neck recess into the background. How? Remember everything cool colored has a tendency to get pushed back and warm colors come forward. So I blue everything in the back with peacock blue or black cherry. Sometimes I use purple for this stuff too, but I don't want to add more colors into the mix. I'm already using rather a lot for me.

Okay, I'm hoping to finish this up today. I'll post more later. C & C welcome -- and questions too.

prospector · #6 07-24-2006, 10:44 AM

Maggie,
"The eye is my focal point -- I want the viewer to be drawn there first."

Great start for a WIP, hope ya scan a larger pict. of yer start. I work just the opposite. Doing background first so i can see what values, and colors will be reflected on subject. I do the first thing I want ya to see last. Doing background first is kinda like foreplay to the exciting part..

Looking fer yer progress.

Jack

Amira · #7 07-24-2006, 10:59 AM

Wow Maggie - that's what I call an elaborate WIP!

I don't think I'm likely to paint a horse in the near future (or the not-so-near future for that) but watching your progress is so much fun I might even be tempted!
But then I just like your colorful approach for any subject.
Oh, and thanks for listing the colors!

Waiting for the update,
Amira

couturej · #8 07-24-2006, 10:59 AM

Maggie, it's looking wonderful!

Thank you sooo much for showing your progression and the colors that you are using it helps alot.

I'll be watching for an update.

eaprescott · #9 07-24-2006, 12:04 PM

Thanks so much for this WIP, I for one, love to read along and make notes as to colors, etc.

Ann

Chisaii · #10 07-24-2006, 02:40 PM

Your horses are truly "horses of a different color" with all the great colors you put in there!!

You already know how much I enjoy your pieces and the way you work with color!

cyber_holic · #11 07-24-2006, 02:56 PM

WOW! This is looking great! thanks for putting in so much detail! I can't wait to see more!

ARTMUTT · #12 07-24-2006, 03:22 PM

Looking good!

I just got a new 120 color tin of Primsa's and I'm itching to crack them open and try them out.

Love your use of color....

piper2 · #13 07-24-2006, 05:38 PM

Wow! Thanks, guys. I hope this is useful. I'm not the best horse artist out there but I know it's always useful to read other people's WIPs to see what makes them tick.

Here's a very, very little update, only about 15 minutes. I got distracted with a painting and forgot I had real work to do! Only two new colors here: Spanish Orange to warm things up a bit, and Cool Grey 70% for the muzzle. This photo's a bit distored -- his cheeks are actually a lil' bit wider. But it's pretty close, and the colors are closer than the other ones have been so far.

Amira · #14 07-24-2006, 06:52 PM

Just wanted to mention those eye-lashes.... WOW!

It's already coming together beautifully - nice warm colors!

piper2 · #15 07-24-2006, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amira

Just wanted to mention those eye-lashes.... WOW!

It's already coming together beautifully - nice warm colors!

I labor endlessly over various nostrils and facial bones and boards and she says wow eyelashes!!!!!????

Okay, I'm sort of pleased with them as well. They're mostly orange and a little bit of Spanish Orange (which is really more of a yellow) if anybody's wondering.

Salute to our Partners