Horse Paintings by Carrie L. Lewis

Posted By Carrie L. Lewis on February 5, 2009

Since it’s been a week or so since the last working session, the first thing I did this week was rub Walnut oil into the areas I wanted to work.

In the past, I’ve brushed the oil onto the painting surface and wiped off the excess with a rag. But I am beginning to adapt some of Alexei Antonov’s methods in using the Flemish painting technique to paintings in progress and the method of applying oil is the most immediate for this particular project. Applying the oil by hand (as shown here) produced a much thinner, more even application of oil that didn’t require wiping off the excess.

As in the previous session, I worked with small brushes to apply paint, one to apply white and one for Burnt Umber, and a larger soft brush to blend edges as necessary. My goal was to finish the legs, but I had some difficulty getting the boot correct on the off side hind leg and ended up completing just that area and the background around it.

The following evening, I worked on the off side front leg. The leg itself was pretty straight forward. No surprises there.

But I did have considerable difficulty getting the hoof and boot correct until I realized that the opening for the boot is actually large enough that there is some visual play in it. In essence, it had to be painted like the collar of a shirt. Loose enough to show an opening.

It’s still not quite right, but once this work dries, it will be a simple enough matter to define that area more completely.

And the rest of that hoof and boot looks great, even on the computer; the true test of accuracy!

From the front leg and the gear that adorns it, I moved to some of the rest of the gear, most notably the strap that circles the horse’s belly at mid girth and from which leg harness is suspended. I painted that first, then ended up repainting it after painting the background over it and also working on the back half of the horse’s barrel.

At the end of the painting session, I spent some time on the saddle cloth. The area shown in this photo is where all of the work was done.

In both sessions so far this week, I’ve been able to paint for nearly an hour in the evening. There is defineable progress at the end of each session and I can begin to see the horse coming together.

I am also learning that with this particular method, it’s better to work subject and surrounding in the same session. That allows for the manipulation of edges and light and provides the best result.

The painting will rest (and so will I) on Wednesday. Wednesday evening choir practice makes painting impractical, so I’ll focus on writing. There is enough white in the work so far this week that it will take another day to dry enough to work on, anyway, so the timing couldn’t be better.

As always, thanks for reading and best wishes.

Category: Oils, The Painting Process
Tags: Flemish Technique, Guienne Hanover, Michigan Standardbreds