Work In Progress – Rain on the Ridge
Posted By Carrie L. Lewis on February 14, 2008
It was a busy, almost frantic evening in the studio and office. Send photos for an upcoming portrait to the client for review; finalize the drawing for another portrait; look up additional reference photos for yet another portrait; get some web design work done; and, well, paint.
All of those things were finished before I got to the easel, but I had a very good session once I got there. A new aceo landscape painting was finished, the third of the year. I worked on a 4×6 landscape that’s about half done, too.
The one I worked on most, though, is this one. The working title is Rain on the Ridge and it is a direct result of a Flint Hills trip this past summer that began and ended in sunshine, but passed through a thunder storm (complete with lightning) in the middle.
I am working with lots of glazes and have yet to paint a completely opaque layer of paint. Those tiny horses are, for the most part, opaque, but that and the sky are about it.
The painting began with a rubbing of Yellow Ochre over double primed linen canvas in a panel form made by Raymar. The brightest area in the sky was applied as a yellowed white in an opaque form. That was about five weeks ago.
Since then, I have been glazing various colors over the hills and horses, and working the sky about once every seven to ten days and allowing lots of time to dry in between.
Tonight’s work brought the painting almost to completion. In fact, the grass and brush in the foreground were added at the end of the session and, if I really wanted to, I could call it finished now.
But I want to highlight that patch of brightness around the white horse. That will probably follow in a week because the colors I am using are slow driers and are using quite a bit of Linseed Oil.
By the way, the colors are Yellow Ochre, Sap Green, Raw Umber and Burnt Umber with touches of Titanium White and Japanese Yellow in the landscape.
The sky is Titanium White mixed with Azo Red, Cerulean Blue and a tiny bit of either Japanese Yellow or a pale green.
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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