work in progress: drafts in harness

Here are the guys slowing coming together in a watercolor...

This piece is about 75% done, and it's a fun challenge. I hope to paint more draft breeds (I used to love drawing the Budweiser Clydesdales when I was a kid), and explore more intricate and complex harnesses. They are a work of art in themselves.

I LOVE working in watercolor. I love the unpredictability of it; the "happy accidents."

You add some water to some color, and let it dry and magic can happen. The shapes, textures, the patterns that can occur are as diverse and beautiful as nature itself.

Watercolor lets you control it---up to a certain point. Then, it takes over. It forms a partnership with you and your vision, but it also maintains its own identity. That's what I love about it. It's not afraid of anything.

Adding ink to watercolor gives it an a little extra sharpness, and it helps the color jump off the paper.

These two Belgian horses are resting right now as evidenced by the somewhat stripped down harness and their relaxed looks.

But, hmmm...That off guy sees something interesting in the distance, and the near guy is keeping on eye on you. Maybe you could scratch under his forelock, please.

These two horses were drawn from memory and imagination, and a diagram (and a farmer who uses draft horses!) are helping me with rendering the harness.