Country Tide & Alex - The Kiss

Here's a photo of what I've done so far.  To give you an idea of the size the white thing on the left is an A4 piece of paper . The area near his ear isn't accurate but that doesn't matter as I'll correct it later. This is just the underpainting. I want to cover the whole canvas so there is no white.

The photo I have of Country Tide chops off the bottom of his nose and the top of his ears and it is blurry so I can't really see the shape of his ears. I'm using photos I took of a similar horse in a similar position to help but I'll need feedback from Alex to ensure it does look like Country. The reference horse isn't in quite the same position either so I have to ad lib a bit to make sure things look right.

 

Above - I've just finished the underpainting in this pic.I've started on the oil painting and he is now bay and the portrait is going through the ugly stage. Now I've got to work out how to give it some interest.

I painted my first version from the reference photo. I made up the ear and muzzle as the photo cropped them off and I ended up moving the position of his eyes twice, his ear 3 times and changing the shape of his muzzle. By the end I ran it past Alex and we both agreed it didn't quite get there. I found I was just copying the dull lighting of the reference photo and I couldn't see the positions or shapes of his head as it was so blurry.

 I decided to take a big risk and just use the original photo for proportions and positioning .I would use a photo of a similar horse in a slightly different pose in better lighting. I must say this portrait certainly kept me on my toes!

Alex & Country Tide

Oil

Framed size 58 x 89cms

A creek bushwalk

My partner and I went for a bushwalk yesterday.  This walk was a loop walk we'd both done several times years ago with a bushwalking club.The plan was to walk along a disused ( hardly noticable) logging track to the end of the ridge go down into the creek and follow it for a few kms and then back up another ridge and another logging track and back to the car.
 We took a map and compass but we were a bit slack navigating as we'd done it before and figured you couldn't really get lost..


It was nice easy walking along the ridge.The only way you'd know it was once a logging track was that there weren't any larger older trees there. Setting off down into the creek we encountered a thick patch of scrub with ' lawyer' vine or 'wait a while vine'. It's called that as it grabs you with its thorns and won't let go.I even got scratches through my long pants and sleeves..My partner wasn't impressed and suggested we turn back but we decided to push on another 15mins to see if it got better. 5 mins later we were out of it and into a lovely little side creek that led into the main one.
I haven't done a trackless walk for quite a while and I love the feeling that hardly anyone has ever been there before - other than the occasional logging stump there was no sign of man , no litter , no weeds and only the sound of the running water and birds.
 It was really lovely and peaceful.The creek was about 3-4' wide and the water clear and clean.1st time I've drunk from a creek for a while!Back in the 80's we used to always rely on drinking the water where we bushwalked but these days with more settlement and people it can be a bit risky. There is no human activity anywhere that could pollute this one.
We ambled along taking heaps of photos. I didn't have a tripod so my photos are hand held and not as sharp as they could be ( it's quite dark down there.)


We had a few friendly leeches who wanted to come along on us for a feed but the insect repellent we put on our shoes seemed to keep most of them away.

Looks like a leech had a nice feed and then dropped off..

Walking back out along the ridge I was feeling pretty proud of myself..Cripes..its only taken us 3hrs .This used to be a full day walk I must be fitter than I thought..Then my partner said ' Isn't this the same ridge we walked in on? '. Bummer.. we had hardly gone any distance along the creek and turned up back on the same ridge we entered on..saving about a 5km walk..Next time we'll pay more attention to the map..Oh well at least we were home for lunch .

The creek wasn't very big but the water was clean , it was pretty , peaceful and easy walking.

Surrounding vegetation

The water was beautiful and clear and ok to drink.
The weather here has been pretty average this season 95% overcast and cool (not that I mind that) but this weather is ideal for creek walking as it's not too hot and the lighting is great for photos.If you get sunshine it is too contrasty for the camera to cope with. Creeks never photograph as well as they are in the flesh ( like most things I suppose).One day I'll have to work out how to get my easel to one so I can paint..and work out how to avoid the leeches if I stand in one spot for too long..lol's

From the archives - Winston & Rebel

I took lots of reference photos and we selected the best photo of Winston & the best of Rebel and put them together to come up with the ideal portrait.The portrait was a surprise Xmas gift for Linda's husband.He was overcome and couldn't stop showing everyone his boys!
The painting looks stunning hung on the wall in the house entry where everyone can enjoy them.
Rebel ( rear dog) has since got a chronic condition so it's good that Linda has him captured in the portrait when he was happier and healthier.

Winston & Rebel
50 x 60cms image size
Framed Oil

Here they are framed.This gives you an idea of how big a 50 x 60cms image sized portrait is framed although these days they would probably be a bit bigger as I use wider framing.

 

A day at the races..

I am going to enter the Inglis Equine art prize again although this time I will allow myself enough time to do a decent painting. The theme is a day at the races so I organised to go and take some photos at the local track.

I had a good day at the races yesterday although a bit different to most of the other visitors. Thanks to Alex and Alan I got ferried up to the starting barrier for each race and got to take photo of the horses preparing , going in and leaping out.

There were 5 of us in the car so it was a bit chummy in the back seat.Graeme one of the guys who's job it was to put the horses in said I must have liked them to keep squishing into the car..I said I was stalking him..
As we were going back to the buildings after the race had started there were horses cantering up and everyone was amused when I asked ' Is that the next race?' Dur.. it was the same race finishing..Didn't fall for that one again..

The weather was favourable it didn't rain and we even got a bit of sun occasionally.I really need a better camera as the ones I took weren't as sharp as I'd like but there are some good ones that should do for a painting.The problem will be selecting only one as I don't have time to do more.

The photo is Alex in action. Alex is having me create a portrait of herself with Country Tide her favourite horse who sadly passed away earlier in the year.

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Palettes & Kero

I lay out my oil paints on a white rectangular laminex 'plate' called a palette.( See photo).
I mix my colours in the centre. Every portrait ends up with different variations of colours mixed and to simplify things so I don't have to throw away paint and remix colours every day I cover each in gladwrap and freeze them. The paint stays good for weeks that way.
I have all 3 palettes used at the moment - one left over from the portrait group , one from my last demo and one from my last portrait so I had to clean them all down to get a clean one to start Country Tide. I have to brush kerosene on them and leave it for a while to soften any dried paint and then I scrape it off and clean the palettes with a rag.
I was feeling a bit whoozy and realised the kero was getting to me as I needed to open the door to get airflow..ugh..
All done so now I can put out my Oils to start.

The creation of Destiny

I started painting Destiny at a horse event. He had several background colour changes along the path to his creation!

 Here he is early at the event.

This was how he was at the end of the demo at the horse event.I quite liked the pale background but felt he didn't have enough impact.

Here he is at home and I'm experimenting with backgrounds.Suzie had shown me another painting with a background she liked so I was guided by that but altered things a little to suit Destiny.

I liked this one but felt he needed a bit more oomph..

I asked my partner what he thought of this versions background and he said he liked it and it was classy.For once I took his advice and decided to email Destiny through and see what Suzie thought. My partner has an irritating habit of being right even when I don't agree with him! LOL's

Suzie didn't like the background . She thought it was a bit too stunning , in your face  preferring a subtler one although she did say that other people could love it.

Here is the finished Destiny. It isn't just a case of changing the background colour as its colour affects the whole of the portrait. When you change a background you have to incorporate subtle colours from the new background throughout the portrait so it works as a whole.I also continued refining , doing his eye and getting a good likeness.

Destiny

35x 35cms image size

Framed Oil.

Framed

All's well that ends well..

The guy just came around to get the calves body.I hadn't turned it over but he had a look and said he thought it had died of natural causes and the dogs had come after and had a feed.
So the cows stay on , Zeuss has his mates and hopefully with Z + cows more assertive the dogs will give us a wide berth! Lol's.

Mondays portrait

My portrait group painting was almost frisbeed today! LOL's..( thrown across the room).
I was painting onto a piece of canvas taped to a board and when I wet it it rumpled up into big ridges..I had forgotten to take extra masking tape down to tape it firmly so I ended up having to paint up and over hills and valleys in the canvas.. amazing what you can do when you have to! Quite frustrating at times. Here's an early pic of the portrait to show you what I mean!

Argh!!!

At the end of the 2.30hr session.

 

Poor Zeuss

Poor Zeuss..here he is in heaven surrounded by his new mates..They now have to be quickly taken off. 

Last night I could hear a cow mooing loudly and just assumed it was the bull next door who's seen the new cows.
I came out this morning and realised one mum was agitated and seemed to have lost her calf. I thought she had just misplaced it when I saw a little one separate from the group.I tried to shoo her down towards it when I stumbled over her calf- dead missing and eye and half it's nose..It's a big one too.bummer what a way to start the day.
Looks like the dogs that were stressing Zeuss have got it.He's seemed calm lately and we hadn't seen any so I thought they had gone.
We don't want to lay baits but I think it's the only way.It was a large calf so now I'm a bit worried for Zeuss.
I just spoke to a local chicken farmer who said he'd seen a yellow feral dingo/ cross dog around.It's probably the culprit.Hopefully if we lay baits it will only get it as I don't think the dingos come onto the place.I just hope the foxes don't take any as they keep the rabbits down.
Poor Z..The one that was taken is the one just to the right of Zeuss so it was a fairly large calf.

 I've asked if the bloke can put a larger cow on the place permanently to keep him company.We don't know yet if that's possible. 

Later today -

Revenge of the animals...I looked out at the paddock and one of the local dogs had decided to come and pay a visit..Zeuss and the cows galloped after it and sent it packing! LOL"s

Gresford - Allynbrook - Gresford cycle

My partner had a day off today and as it was a bit cooler today  we went up the valley and did a cycle ride. It will soon be too hot to ride so we're making the most of it.
The Hunter Valley is looking great after all the rain .This ride has several river crossings on fords and I went for a quick fully clothed dip as it was pretty humid and warm .It worked out well as I was still damp at the end so I didn't notice the heat.
I'll make the photos larger so you can see them better.

Heading out from East Gresford

 

River at Allynbrook

 This is a photo taken back in 2009 to show the first ford where I had a dip to the left of the picture.We went the opposite direction  today.

General views at Mount Rivers

View to the right of the previous photo

The road was gravel for about 5kms here and a bit dodgy .You had to be careful to stay in the smoother bits although it is still a 2 lane road. 
Recommend mountain bikes with suspension.Go early in the morning and the roads are very quiet . The Lostock Rd can probably get a bit busy in peak hours at weekends ( maybe get a dozen or more cars).LOL"s Today once we got off the road to Allynbrook we saw one truck carrying hay bales and one car.

Swing bridge property car entrance over the river.

Taken in 2009 - to show the general river scenes on the way back

The road winds around the hills. This is  going back towards Gresford.I am standing on one corner and there is a km or more of winding road before this pic. My partner is the tiny white dot.Some great downhill runs..& some uphill grinds ..zzz

I have a habit of whinnying at any horse I pass.I don't know what I say but they usually whinny back and run around. This little guy put on quite a show!

Once I was bushwalking with a group on Barrington Tops and the brumbies were nearby. I did my whinny thingy and the stallion got all excited and started to come over. My fellow walkers told me to stop it as they were scared of what he'd  do..LOL"s

It was a lovely cycle although I'm tired now..I don't feel like packing the car for tomorrow's dog show but I better get into it.

Shelby

I ran a competition on my Sue Linton Artist page for a photo to use as a demo painting for this Saturdays dog show. Anne Marie won with Shelby.
 I'll post some progressive photos of her as she is created.
Here is the photo- she is going to be an 30 x 40cms Oil on gallery wrap canvas so she can be hung unframed.

Isn't she cute?

Here is the start of Shelby. I've just drawn her up very quickly with paint on the canvas.

A bit further along - I've reduced the size of her paw and corrected a few other things..I constantly correct things as I go along.I decided to have her hanging over a plank or wall in the foreground.

Here I'm at the dog show and want to give something for people to look at as quickly as I can.

Here I'm almost finished for the day.I think I might have done a little bit with her eyes but I ran out of time.

The finished portrait

Shelby

30 x 40cms

Oil on Gallery wrap canvas

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A portrait makes a unique heartwarming gift!

I still have a bit of space for Christmas portraits so if you have a friend who is hard to buy for and loves their pet , horse or spouse a portrait makes a gift that is hard to match!
If you get a few friends or family to put in you can have a large stunning portrait for their house.If they have lost an animal a portrait can really help them remember the good times and ease their loss.

Grr..If things keep going the way they have been there will be some kangaroo steaks on the BBQ soon..

I love the roos and usually they are no problem but the male hormones are going off at the moment and they are cornering the females under the front verandah.
Other than being woken up by the bashing , grunting , clucking and growling they have demolished my prized Cycad ( wrong place at the wrong time and trampled and broken).They also got carried away and tore out half the small front garden bed..grr
We'll have to fill in the area under the verandah so the girls can't go in there. Meantime I'm on the war path and I'm yelling and chasing them away from there whenever I'm around.