Clear for Take Off

Clear for Take Off

I started work on this piece quite some time ago.. and just could work out what it was that I wasn't happy with... finally decided that it needed a change of back ground colour.. so out came the black and now I feel its working much better makes the horse and rider stand out.

Clear for Take Off

23" x 25"

Mixed Media

$1200 unframed + shipping

Catherin McMillan

http://www.animalarthouse.com/

email: catherin@animalarthouse.com

FBook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Catherin-McMillan-Artist/298959873937?created

Commissions welcome

Original Artwork for sale

Payment plan & Gift vouchers

available

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Painting a Dog a Day by Kimberly Kelly Santini

"Checkered Silks," from the Saratoga Series, 8" x 10", acrylic on Ampersand Gessoboard, depicting racehorses in the paddock at Saratoga, $499 to the first one asking nicely. Inquiries (including booking commissioned artwork from miniature size [4" x 4"] to larger than life) may always come to me.

The sunshine we've had the last couple days has made me want more. After a gray winter, I am so ready for snow to melt and the light to bounce off a green lawn and flood the house. Of course, that also means windows must be washed and spring cleaning is around the corner, but I'll just ignore that part.

So today (well, in all honesty, yesterday is when I started this painting) I worked on this scene from the paddock at Saratoga Race Course in New York. The reference photo was from a rainy afternoon (hence the jocks' rain gear - I don't know what their breeches are called but I'm sure someone will tell me), however I amped the contrast a little so as to provide a glimmer of sun as the storms clear.

And, as always happens with my artwork, once I scan or photograph a painting, I see a few changes I'd like to make. I'll sit with this piece for a couple days and see what else it tells me. But so far, I'm very happy with it.

Thanks, as always, for looking at - and sharing - my artwork with your friends and family.

Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

www.paintingadogaday.com

SHOP ORIGINALS & LIMITED EDITION GICLEES: at my Etsy shop

ORDER CUSTOMIZED NOTECARDS & REPRODUCTIONS: at Imagekind

COMMISSION A PET PORTRAIT: contact me

GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE: contact me

READING MATERIAL: Preview and order each of the Dog a Day books at the publisher's website: The First Year (2006-2007) and That's 14 in Dog Years (2008). If you would like your copy personalized,order them through me.

Painting a Dog a Day by Kimberly Kelly Santini

"Blinkered I," 6" x 12", portrait of a Thoroughbred bay racehorse at the clubhouse turn on Saratoga, acrylic on canvasboard, $359 to the first taker. Inquiries may come to me.

The weekend at Saratoga Race Track was incredible. I have so many new ideas swimming in my head, jockeying for position. I posted a few of the 1000 photos+ I shot to my Facebook page, so you can get a sense of what the weekend entailed. You can see additional shots that my friends Linda Shantz and Juliet Harrison took on Facebook as well. Lotsa purdy horses, dramatic light, some equally dramatic weather, and the company of great friends.

So this is the first from my new series titled simply "Saratoga 2009." This horse was training on the main track Saturday morning. Such a joy to watch him interact with the other horses - there really is nothing like a running horse, reaching, stretching, fluid strides, blowing comfortably, all the while asking for a little more rein, wanting to hook up and give another a serious run.

Along with the equine behavior, I found myself fascinated by hoods and blinkers and other various trappings/gear. There was a parade of different bits of leather and sorts that I got to see up close and personal, both through the camera lens and with the naked eye, all of it oozing promise in painted form.

The next Saratoga piece is already on the easel, "Blinkered II," and I hope to work on her more later this evening. Meanwhile, I am delighted to share this piece with you.

Thanks, as always, for looking at and sharing my paintings with your friends and family.

Kim Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Elin Pendleton paints a mare in foal in a spring pasture

In the workshop I'm teaching this weekend, I had to demonstrate the Color System's morning light, so I picked up on an image from Linda Shantz, who organized the July virtual pARTy for artists to do an image from the same source.

This is a 16 x 20 acrylic done for the morning light painting in the Color System today, and depicts a very pregnant mare in a pasture. I modified the source material quite a lot and am pleased with this painting. Redesigning source material and making it one's own is the mark of a confident artist, with an arsenal of ability to make source material just the "jumping off point" for the art. I love doing this! And in front of the eleven participants of the "Color Boot Camp", I finished this up for them in record time.

You can see the source material and some of the other entries here. Mine won't be there for a while until my registration is cleared.

Congratulations to new collector Louise Sackett from Santee, California, on her purchase of yesterday's painting of the California Coast in moonlight!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

July's Virtual pARTY - Kimberly Kelly Santini

"A Full Belly (Marni in Foal)," a Dog a Day painting from the July Virtual pARTy, 8" x 10", equine painting, acrylic on canvasboard, $449. Inquiries may come to me.

 

This is Marni, who I met several years ago as part of a lovely spring photo shoot. She was days away from dropping her first foal, but nevertheless delighted to soak up even more attention (something she definately wasn't starved for!). I have a mess of photos from that evening, and chose one of them as the inspiration for the July Virtual pARTy hosted by equine artist Linda Shantz and myself.

 

What's a Virtual pARTy? It's when a group of artists collectively works from the same reference. In this case, participants have 24 hours to make art with a 4 day window of time to complete those 24 hours. All the pARTy entries will be shared on the pARTy blog later next week. But meanwhile, there's a number of us who are working away in our studios, painting the lovely Marni.

 

I'll have to hook Marni's family up with the Virtual pARTy site. I know they will get a kick of of viewing all the art their little lady inspired.

 

(Hey, if you are interested in participating yourself, there is still time - work is due by midnight on July 4th - sign up here)

 

Wishing everyone a safe and sparkley weekend. Happy 4th of July!!

Kim Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Snowy Greetings - a Derby Week painting by Kimberly Kelly Santini

"Snowy Greetings," 12" square, chestnut Thoroughbred filly portrait, acrylic on canvasboard, $529 to the first taker. This is a tough piece to photograph - with the amped contrast and saturated complimentary colors, my camera didn't know what to do.  I may try to scan portions of the painting and piece it together in photoshop, but meanwhile inquiries may come to me.

This little lady was half of today's Kentucky Derby pARTy - Linda Shantz will be presenting the other half later today. This is what a "pARTy" is = we are both painting from the same reference photo.

I didn't think to take progress shots of my painting, but will do so next time. But Linda's painting is here and you can view her process as it unfolds. I'll add my image to the site later today.

How did this piece come together? Well I started out with a violet underpainting (the compliment of orange), and pretty much had the drifts and swaths of snow painted in the first pass. Then I sketched in the rough shape of the filly, and working from general to specific, gradually laid down smaller and smaller layers of paint.

We are having so much fun with this pARTy that we are considering doing this regularly and opening it up to any artists who wish to participate. Stay tuned....

Thanks for sharing Derby Week with me - I hope you enjoyed our venture into all things equine. I promise dogs next week, and maybe a cat, too, just for good measure.

Enjoy your weekend - hope it includes a couple minutes watching the Run for the Roses!

See you Monday, Kim Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Derby Week at Painting a Dog a Day by Kimberly Kelly Santini

FROM TOP: "Illy," 4" x 8", equine portrait, private collection (THANK YOU!) and "Bay Mare," 5" x 7", horse painting, $249. Both in acrylic on canvasboard, both from the Painting a Dog a Day project. Inquiries may come to me.

 

The brushwork in both these paintings makes me happy. I've learned to say more with less, and I very much like this style of painting.

 

There's new paintings added to my Etsy store. This is a great location where it is easy to browse through unsold Dog-a-Day artwork, and there is a mess of other wildly talented artists and artisans over there as well. Enjoy your time on Etsy, and pick up something special for Mother's Day.

 

For that matter, if you tell me your purchase is for a Mom, I'll give you 10% off. What the heck, let's include newly booked commissions for Moms in that as well - through Mother's Day, all purchases intended for Mom's qualify for 10% off. Sound good? hope so!!

 

Meanwhile, I'm headed back to the easel to work on another painting. Can't get enough of it today!

 

Thanks as always for sharing my paintings with your friends and family.

Will see you tomorrow!

Kim Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Palomino Portrait by Kimberly Kelly Santini

"High Noon Toogie," 12" square, commissioned equine portrait depicting a palomino, from the Painting a Dog a Day project, acrylic on board. I believe Toogie's portrait is sold, but haven't yet gotten confirmation from my client. 

 

If you are interested in "High Noon Toogie" please shoot me a note. Proceeds from this painting will benefit Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kenab Utah. And just a warning - get yourself a snack before pulling up the Best Friends site - you'll get lost in all the stories & great information.

 

Notice the new header for today's email? I've decided to periodically share the inventory numbers for the Dog-a-Day paintings. Toogie's is painting #67 for 2009 and #641 from the Painting a Dog a Day project. Hard to believe I'm closing in on painting #700 - sounds like the making for a party....

 

This piece was a challenge in values - I didn't want the darks too heavy or devoid of color, and I didn't want my lights washed out and flat. I do not use black in my palette - I mix my darks with a three way combo of the primarys, which gives me a richly colored variety of shadows.

 

When tinting, I use a lot of cadmiums and light magenta along with titanium white. And it's important to me that there is never a swath of pure titanium white anywhere in my pieces - after all, when is anything pure white in real life? it's always got a hint of another pale color in there.

 

Thanks, as always, for sharing my paintings with your friends and family.

See you tomorrow!

Kim Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

www.turtledovedesigns.com

Wrinkles-Hackney stallion

This is one I worked up this morning from a shot I took last fall. I take a ton of horse photos, then they often languish unlooked at in the computer until I stumble upon them and see that there are some possibilities I can explore.

 As always, I did some Photoshop work on this one, and as always I really have no idea how I came up with the end result or what exactly I did. I work with my photos in quite an intuitive "trial and error" way. Makes it hard to duplicate effects, but keeps my eye fresh as I have to approach each new visual with an open mind and no formulas or preconceptions. 

One of the reasons I was working on this one is that I finally have my photo art website up and I am busily adding images to the various galleries. I have a good number of images on the site already, with many more yet to be added. There will be new categories added as I get time to sort it all out. Check it out at www.judywoodartphotography.com  . You can also check my blog if you are so inclined for more photos and stories. 

Joy

"Joy," 8" square portrait of a Thoroughbred, acrylic on canvasboard,  private collection.

This painting is part of my daily project "Painting a Dog a Day." Despite it's title, I break the rules and paint equines, felines, and other furred and feathered things.

I also welcome commissions. I am currently booking portraits for February 2010. Please send your inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com.

Thanks for sharing my art!

Kimberly Kelly Santini

www.turtledovedesigns.com

http://ksantini.etsy.com

"Lashes and Corkscrews," 5" x 8", depicting a buckskin tobiano curly horse, acrylic on board, $289 to the first taker. Do I see any hands? Inquires to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

This painting is from the acclaimed "Painting a Dog a Day" project. While the piece really isn't a canine, I am allowed to bend the rules occasionally. Especially when confronted with such a gorgeous horse as Percy. Who can blame me?

The most important thing to me is painting every day, or as often as I can. And when inspiration hits me, I'm going to fly with it!

Consider yourselves invited to follow along with the daily portraits at www.paintingadogaday.blogspot.com .
Thanks so much!

Kimberly Kelly Santini

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

www.turtledovedesigns.com

Charlie

Lonesome Charlie

24 x 18 original acrylic

Everyone, this is Charlie. At least, that's what I call him. He's a rodeo horse I saw last summer. He was a little banged up, I'm not sure what from, and it broke my heart. Whenever I'd look at his picture, I'd envision him as a wanderer, a nomad, a vagabond, travelling the country, always on the road. Then, this reminded me, strangely enough, of Boxcar Willie, and then travelling vagabonds, derelicts, and, winos! Okay, stay with me here and how some ideas come through in the strangest ways. Thinking of cheap wine then reminded me of a wine my friends used to drink when we were, well, young. We'd put our money together and buy magnums of this really nasty, cheap wine called Lonesome Charlie. My dad always used to say that was a wino's drink.
So, that's the strange process which occured when I thought of his name.

I also debated with myself whether or not to paint the wounds. After much wrestling, I decided to go for it. Most horse paintings are always beautiful, showing perfect horses. Reality isn't always so. Things happen, and Charlie happened to have battle wounds, or whatever they were. So, there's much conflict in this piece. Beauty vs. reality, perfection vs. raw wounds, green pastures vs. being a road warrior. So, here's Charlie, both beautiful and imperfect, but real.

You can see more of my art at www.carolerodrigue.net