Lockkeeper in the Home Stretch
Posted By Carrie L. Lewis on December 11, 2009
The portrait of Lockkeeper entered the home stretch today with the beginning of color work.
I started with a rather ambitious daily goal: do the first color glaze over the entire painting.
I even thought about what I would do. A glaze of mixed green over grass and trees. A glaze of mixed earth tones over the horse. A blue sky that would be more opaque, then set the painting aside and let it dry for the weekend.
Given the size of the portrait (16×20), that seemed a little far reaching, but recent experiences with writing convinced me to give it try and see what happened.
Color work began with rubbing the sky and tree area with alkyd/walnut oil medium. I didn’t use very much oil and rubbed it over a wide area, so didn’t believe I needed to wipe off any excess.
Instead, I used Titanium White and Manganese Blue to paint the sky, then used varying mixtures of all the colors (Titanium White, Transparent Red Oxide, Azo Yellow, Manganese Blue) to paint the trees in the background. It wasn’t exact and the trees aren’t finished, but the color is in place.
To finish the session, I mixed a yellowish mixture with more oil, then rubbed that over the rest of the background. Then I used Yellow Ochre and Transparent Red Oxide and the same method to add some color to the largest areas of the horse.
I didn’t particularly care for most of the work, but I didn’t think I could wipe off most of it without damaging the sky, which is satisfactory. So I decided to finish out the day’s work, then let it dry and proceed from that point.
So the moral for the day is that an ambitious goal may not be attainable or may not result in perfect results, but it can help get things done!
It was a good way to get back to some color, too!
I am a self-taught artist for the most part. Lots of trial and error in the past forty years! Formal art training consists of a couple of years of high school art, a painting class at a community college, one semester in the Fine Arts program at Abilene Christian University and a couple of local workshops.
I am always looking for ways to better my artistic skills, so I am a permanent student in the School of Trial and Error. I love reading and have been known to spend hours online researching materials and techniques. As a result, I've painted in several different styles, including the direct method (which goes straight for the color) and Classical methods (which involves underpaintings, layering and glazing).
I have exhibited paintings in locations such as Lone Star Park Race Track, Grand Prairie, Texas and Remington Park Race Track, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Since the early 90s, I've worked with the Michigan Harness Horseman's Association, donating custom portraits to their annual benefit auction.
In the course of maintaining a growing art business, I have taught myself web design (a skill that will no doubt prove to be a continual learning experience).
I also enjoy puttering around the yard, chasing trains with my husband, Neal, travel and, of course, looking at horses whenever they appear on my horizon.
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