Legendary Sires Triptych in progress: First step: create preliminary sketches

Above: Prelim sketch of the strong and extremely vicious tempered Hastings, sire of Fair Play.
Above: Pre-lim sketch of Fair Play, the noble and beautiful sire of Man o' War.
Above; pre-lim sketch of the mighty Man o' War.

These are working sketches for a watercolor/ink triptych of the the Man o' War sire line. I studied these horses' photos and histories to get a feel for who they were. I then sketched what I felt.

Hastings, the stallion in the first working sketch, was a dangerous and aggressive horse that would lunge for any man given the chance. The only photo I could find of him was not a flattering one; he had his ears laced back with an angry expression. Why yes, he was a handful! Behold this nugget from pedigreequery.com:

Notorious for his bad temper, stablehands dare not approach him on the rare occasion that they needed to catch him (they built special chutes from his stall to his pasture and to the breeding shed in order to handle him safely) without literally carrying a big stick for defense purposes. (credit: pedigreequery.com)

EEEK! I decided to give Hastings an ears-up "look of eagles," but I also made sure I gave him a sneer and a "stand back" look to his eye. His nostril is also tensed and flared. He is not inviting you into his personal space!

Fair Play was a stallion of great beauty and refinement. He was a talented race horse in his own right, but then he sired Man o' War. And we all know what Man o' War went on to be...
Many say Man o' War was the greatest race horse that ever lived, and I can't say that I can argue with that. No small feat! Man o' War was simply awesome.

I wanted to give Fair Play an air of royalty, and I gave him a head-held-high with a faraway look in his eye. He is focused on the future...

Man o' War will be depicted in a full-body pose, rippling with muscle, standing in front of a Glen Riddle barn. (Glen Riddle was the name of the farm in Maryland that belonged to Man o' War's owner, Samuel Riddle.)

This triple portrait will be my homage to this great and historically significant sire line.

Watch here for updates.

Also on the table, Legend IV, inspired by the incredible and temperamental Whirlaway.

The Eyes Have It--A lesson on the windows into a horse's soul

The eyes of horse are extremely expressive; capable of showing excitement, fear, contentment, concentration, delight, you name it. I find such joy in drawing and painting the eyes of my horses---they can reveal so much about the horse's character. Above is the close up of a young and flighty thoroughbred.
The above image is a close up of my painting Fiery Bay. This horse's eye is showing excitement with a tinge of fear. His eye whites are blazing, he is very alert of his surroundings, and his brow muscles are slighty furrowed.
The paint horse's eye is showing a calm curiousity as she turns her neck slightly to get a better look at something. (Perhaps her owner with a carrot?)The brow muscle is relaxed, and the white is showing because she is moving her eye in its socket to get a better look. She may also have a bit of eye white that shows all the time, and this eye position accentuates that characteristic.
This mare shows a kind, sweet and trusting eye. Her brow is relaxed as she calmly regards her surroundings. The whites of her eyes are not showing, and her lids are open and friendly.
This spirited Arab, (a close up of my rendering of the Godolphin Arabian), shows a majestic, confident and spirited expression with a white-rimmed eye that is focused squarely on YOU. The white is prominent, and the brow muscle and eyelid are lifted so that the eye is wide open to completely take in his surroundings. This horse is energetic and fiery.
This dressage horse has a furrowed and somewhat tensed brow that is deep in concentration as he listens to the rider's leg, hand and seat aids. He is clearly focused on the tasks his rider is asking him to do. This shows a horse in complete "listening mode."
This depiction of Man O' War shows an eye without fear that is brimming with dominance. Stay on the other side of the fence, please! This eye shows a horse that is wary and on high alert. His eye follows you, but his head does not. He does not feel like he has to expend that much energy to tell you to stand back from his space. He does it only with his eye. The message is quite clear!

The horse has muscles all around the eye in order for the horse to show different moods and states of being. Combine the eye with some ear expression, and you can create a plethora of moody equines!

There are many ways to show expression in a horse's eye. Show the whites of the eye and you can automatically create a horse that is curious or on alert. When the eye is showing white, it is out of its "comfort zone." A calm, contented eye usually does not show white, but instead it is large and liquid, without a tensed brow muscle. However, due to breed characteristics or other factors, a horse's eye may show white in a restful state. In this case, the muscles around the eye play a big role in depicting moods with the eye. The "brow" muscle can be tense or relaxed, and lids can be wide open or partially closed to show alertness, contentment or sleepiness. :-) (think half closed lids, zzzzzzzz...)

Practice some eyes and see how many horse moods you can capture! It's fun!
(and study some real horses up close if you can...)

Happy drawing!

Open Studio--a super fun time! Thank you, all!

WOW!!!

My Sept. 19 and 20 Open Studio was the best one yet!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out! I had a lot of fun talking with all of you. Thank you for your support, it means so much to me. Hugs all around!

I am so grateful that my art will be going to good homes. This brings a big smile to this artist's face. :-)

Hope to see you in November!

OPEN STUDIO! Sept. 19 and 20, 2009

Hooray, Fall is almost here, and now it's time for OPEN STUDIOS!

Make sure you stop by Sound the Bugle Studio's first Fall Open Studio on Saturday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 20 from 10am-5pm. Sound the Bugle Studio is located at 6 Kenyon Rd. in the beautiful town of Hampton, Connecticut.

LOTS of new art to see, all for sale....

(psssssssssst...the Holidays will be here before you know it...and I have GIFT CERTIFICATES available for custom horse and pet portraits...)

Kenyon Rd is easy to get to from Connecticut's route 6 and route 44. Look for a white cape right on the corner of rt. 97 and Kenyon Rd in Hampton. Rt 97 is Hampton's Main Street.

Check for those RED Open Studio signs!

see you then!

Helen

Awww, shucks

My buddy Cheryl gave me an "Honest Scrap" award because she likes my studio blog.
Thanks, buddy!
An "Honest Scrap" award is basically a blog chain letter or the blog version of a MySpace “survey.” So, who am I to miss out on the fun??

check out her AWESOME blog here: Really, go here NOW:

http://neanomaly.blogspot.com/

and then, check out the other blogs she frequents. They are wonderful! I recommend them, too.

I aslo recommend this blog by my wonderful artist friend, Brandy Gale: (TAG! You're it!)
http://singlemaltcove.blogspot.com/


Now I have to list ten things about myself. Okay, here goes:

1. I love to cook.
2. I like to put weird colors in my hair.
3. I was married on Halloween.
4. Michael Palin of Monty Python has one of my paintings.
5. I have an Open Studio on Sept. 19 and 20th from 10am-5pm at my home studio at 6 Kenyon Rd., Hampton, CT. YOU SHOULD GO! :-)
6. I need at least ten hours of sleep a night to feel my best.
7. Fall is my favorite season.
8. I can not resist fresh, thin crust pizza.
9. I believe in karma.
10. I can recite Star Wars line for line.

Brandy, feel free to take the torch....