Sue Linton Artist: Pre Race banter - the creation of my Equine art prize entry 2012 prize entry so far.

I decided to get an early start on this years entry as I was too rushed last year and didn't like the result.
You had to go to a racetrack and take photos to paint from and the theme is 'At the track'
I'm not sure what I'm going to call it yet but something like ' Pre Race Banter ".
Here I'm just quickly drawing in all the horses etc to get them to sit together and make sure they fit on the board.


It's really rough and I soon realised the horse was all out of proportion so I redid him with shorter legs and a smaller body. I had placed a different head and neck on the front horse rather than use the one in the photo so I had to adjust things so the head etc is the right size for the body and make it look natural.

I'm enjoying painting very roughly and not worrying about whether I have a likeness. It doesn't matter if it looks like the horses and jockeys - they can be generic. Although knowing me the jockeys probably will look like the people by the end..lol's

Here I have the two main horses in and I quite like it although the front horse is still a bit scrunched up proportion wise.

I've got the general idea laid out now.
I'm not sure if I'll keep all the other horses in but they can stay in for now. Grr I just realised the rear horse and jockey are too big so I'll have to redo them.


Thanks goodness for acrylic paint! I just painted out the horse so it was white again and now I'm putting some lines in to give me an idea of how big it should be. Painting is all about trial and error..making each stage more correct than the one before until it's finally ' finished' ( which is subjective!).

That's better!

That will do for now. I'm still not sure what colours I'll make each horse or whether it will have they'll be in a scene or just a coloured background. I'll see what I think as I go along. I love the way I can do whatever I want!
It's tempting to make the rear horse a grey but I think that will draw too much attention.You have to think of the overall effect and whether a change will get you closer or further away to getting the painting saying what you want it to say.

I want the focus to be more on the jockeys rather than the horses.
I just found out I can't change the colour of the horses and the portrait has to have a likeness..oh well..I'll make the necessary changes.Lucky I found out now and not when it's finished!

I've started to cover the whole painting in colour. At this stage I wasn't sure whether to leave the extra horses and jockeys in the background so they are are left partly covered so I can put them back in later if I want.
I decided as I was running out of time I would take them out and I think it's the right choice as it's less cluttered now.

I usually finish off the whole painting at once but as this one is so big and would take a long time to get interesting I decided to humour myself and start on the front horse so I would keep enthused..lol's
The front horse is now started in Oil over the acrylic underpainting.
I'm having a problem with sheen on the front horses rump so I have to take the photos from an angle which distorts the painting and doesn't really do it justice.

Here you can see the painting at an angle and how it is distorted.I decided I needed to get the grass the right colour so I could judge where to go with the rest of the painting.

Here I've roughed in the rear horse and rider. You can see the sheen problem in the photo.

I 've started to detail the front horse. I've added a bridle , breast band ,and made his hood more accurate, I've also roughly done the colours on the rear jockey and put a bridle on the horse.

Now I've roughly done the colours on the front jockey and put a bit more expression on the horses eye. Slow but steady. I've softened the background. I'm not sure if that's how I'll leave it but it's good enough for now.

The front jockeys face is roughly done..

What a difference it makes where I photograph the paintings! I have a spot in the studio that's a bit brighter so I moved the painting there.This photo is probably a little light compared to the painting but the quality of the photo is so much better! I've done a bit more on the front horse .

Ok that's the latest for now.I still haven't finished the front horse and rider but I better move onto the rear one.The challenge for me will be not to get bogged down with detail.I want impact and the story to be more important!

I've now roughly done the rear jockey.Since this photo I have finished off the rear horse and done some more on the front one.I've also subtly suggested some foliage at the back. Now I just have to pull it all together.

I've started on bringing the whole thing together. I decided to change the background and subtly suggest a misty day.The rear jockey is roughly done and I've started to detail the rear horse although it will always be more suggested than the front one.

More detail , some gloss on the rear horse and still fiddling with the front one. the original photo was taken on an overcast day and I am adding sunlight on the horses so that is quite a challenge!
I originally was going to have another horse and rider to the right of the rear horse but I decided against it and chopped the unused excess board off the RHS. Eek! No going back now!

Here I've added some suggestion of sun on the back mist.Sorry the painting is wet so we have some unwanted sheen in the photo.

Finally - finished ..I think..no see latest below

The final version is below - I decided that the grass needed to be made lighter and a few minor changes to the rear jockeys face.I could keep fiddling but this will do!