Shooting Star by Sheona Hamilton-Grant

"Shooting Star"

Pencil on Paper

44x29 cm

Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved

As soon as I saw the reference sent by wonderful photographer and fellow artist Juliet Harrison, all I wanted to do was get tucked into portraying this exquisite running machine.

Focus had to be given to the graceful lines, athletic long neck, beautifully defined shoulders and the ever alert inquisitive eye. 

In order to pep-up and add a wee twist to the final composition, interesting elements, such as his elegant pride, apparent coolness in the spotlight, controlled presence when in the thick of things, were had to feature.

I adored drawing this athlete, all the memories of my days "in the business" came flooding back.  They had a strong magnetic pull on my pencils.   The hours spent on the drawing board one big long refreshing walk down memory lane.

The icing on the cake: both Shooting Star and Up & Running are on their way to Australia as I type. 

Both are finalists in this years Inglis Equine Art Prize and their presence now required on the Australian Equine Art circuit! 

So very very chuffed. 

Actually chuffed to very little pieces!

p.s: Massive thank-yous' once again to Juliet Harrison for generously allowing me to use her material and vision. p.p.s: Juliet's work, her interpretation of the equine form is so beautiful. Her use of light masterful. If you are unfamiliar with her work, you simply must discover her amazing art world at http://julietrharrisonphotography.com/

By Two Lengths

By Two Lengths

By Two Lengths is the first of my two entries for this years juried Inglis Equine Art Prize.

Originally I was going to include a field of race horses but decided the power and majesty of this fellow was all that was needed.

By Two Lengths is drawn on black canson pastel paper.

By Two Lengths

20" x 27"

pastel

$2500.00 framed

Catherin McMillan

http://www.animalarthouse.com/

email; catherin@animalarthouse.com

Commissions welcome

original artwork for sale

Gift vouchers available

Payment plan offered

Pay pal accepted

The Post Parade, A Lesson Painting, Part I ~~ Kimberly Kelly Santini

ABOVE IN PROCESS: "The Post Parade," 5" x 14", depicting the post parade at Saratoga Springs Racetrack on a sunny summer day, done in Golden Open Acrylics on an Ampersand panel, will be $379 (when finished tomorrow). Interested in adding "The Post Parade" to your collection?Then by all means, please email me and we'll make it happen!

This morning I felt like tackling a challenging painting, so I pulled a mess of reference photos, dug out a loooong panel, and got busy. Here's what I accomplished in a few hours' work:

I started with a bold underpainting, and roughly built my first layer to reflect the composition - Light Ultramarine Blue on top, with a mixture of Cadmium Red Light, Light Magenta, and Naples Yellow on the bottom.

Then I roughly sketched in my composition. I laid down the curve of the rail, began defining basic values in the tree shapes, greened up the infield, and lightened the track. There are pockets of the underpainting exposed all over the surface - this will add vibrance to the finished piece (see how the green "sings" alongside the exposed orange?). I also retained a strip of the underpainting to indicate where the horses' feet would hit the ground.

I continued adding loose details, working from the middle of the canvas outwards to retain proper spacing. I am concerned with the progression of shapes, making certain there are relationships (defined via body language) between the ponies and their charges. I'm also paying attention to scale, making the horses at the head of the parade proportionally smaller than those in the front right edge.

In the 4th step (illustrated at the top of the blog), I'm still working with the barest of details. I've pushed more sunlight in by lightening up the track in the foreground and graying out the background trees, doing this with several layers of glaze. Notice the horses still don't have legs, many of them are also missing their heads - once I am finished with the background (including the infield), I'll start in on those sorts of details.

Tomorrow you'll get to see the finished piece! Meanwhile, I'm headed back to the easel!

Thanks for sharing my artwork with your friends and family,

Kim

ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

Detail from Step 4 of the painting in process. Derby Details Get all the info you need to make the most of Derby Day celebrations at any of these links: The Bloodhorse - all things related to Thoroughbred racing Churchill Downs - the official website for the track where the Kentucky Derby is run Mint Julip - what's race day without a julip? Alton Brown'll show you how to fix one here. Hats - every lady at the track will be sporting a fancy hat of some sort. Or a riding helmet. And just for fun, take a peek at my friend Bob Clark's website - he's painted many a Derby winner for their connections, and I don't doubt for a second that he'll get commissioned to paint Saturday's winning horse, too.

Monster ~~ Painting a Dog a Day by Kimberly Kelly Santini

ORDER NOTECARDS/REPRODUCTIONS

"Monster," 6-3/4" x 10", portrait of a Thoroughbred racehorse, done in Golden Open Acrylics on a Raymar panel, $449. Want your own Monster? Just ask nicely. We've been hanging at Linda Shantz's farm all week - first you got a painting of Spider as a baby, then Billy who's just started his racing career. Today brings Linda's mare, registered name "EntertainingAngels," barn name "Monster." Monster's job right now is nanny to yearling Baby Girl. Monster's supposed to keep Baby Girl out of trouble and teach her some manners during their days together. Stay tuned because tomorrow we move from the farm to the track and I'll paint a race scene. Or two. Maybe even some fancy hats....... But first, I haven't even asked - who's your Kentucky Derby pick? Thanks for sharing my artwork with your friends and family, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com A Slice of Beauty I am grateful for whomever originally planted the deep row of daffodils in our back garden. Our home is nearly 80 years young, and these bulbs have been welcoming warmer weather for the 8 springs we've been here. How many others have they ushered in? (In the background is one of my new favorite things - a tile from the brilliantly talented ceramic artist Laurie Eisenhardt. Here's a better pic of the hand, which The Princess chose when we visited Laurie in her studio last weekend.)

Trainers in Training - update

Trainers in Training update

Ive made a start on the mouldy railings the children are standing on.. finding it necessary to darken their cloths a little more to stand out against the rails.

Green is such a challenging colour to work with..

Trainers in Training is on target to meet my entry deadline for the upcoming Inglis exhibition entries... phew
Trainers in Training

14" x 21" unframed size upon completion
Watercolour
Catherin McMillan
http://www.animalarthouse.com/
email: catherin@animalarthouse.com



Original art work for sale
Commissions welcome

Lay byes & gift vouchers available


Pay Pal accepted

Little Spider ~~ Painting a Dog a Day by Kimberly Kelly Santini

ORDER NOTECARDS/REPRODUCTIONS

"Little Spider," 6" square, portrait of a Thoroughbred foal, done in Golden Open Acrylics on Ampersand Gessobord, $299. Spider's painting will go to the first one asking nicely. It's tradition in the studio that, in honor of the first Saturday in May and the Kentucky Derby, Painting a Dog a Day gets turned over to the horses during Derby Week. Spider's doing the honor of kicking things off in grand style. Hailing from a girlfriend's farm (fellow artist Linda Shantz), he's now a strapping 2 year old in training, learning to put those long legs to work. And Linda's got a crop of 3 new foals this year. Lots and lots of dreams waiting to be fulfilled! Thanks for sharing my artwork with your friends and family, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com And More News From the Equine Front..... Over the weekend, two Painting a Dog a Day pieces earned special honors at the Dancing Horse Farm Equine Art Show. "Freedom" received 3rd Place, and "A Gentle Breeze" took 1st in the Paintings category. Many thanks to the jurors and exhibition staff for these awards! And special thanks, too, to Dog a Day collector MB for sharing photos of her pony Nitro, who inspired the paintings. Both paintings are available for purchase. You may also order notecards of either painting: Order "Freedom" Notecards Order "A Gentle Breeze" Notecards

Trainers in training

Trainers in Training - work in progress

Trainers in Training is currently a work in progress and is one of my entries for the Inglis Equine Art Prize here in Australia..


The theme for the exhibition is life on the stud farm... it seemed an appropriate image to paint of these 3 kids almost inspecting this young thoroughbred horse... assessing its prospects as a future winner.. and there becoming the industries future trainers..


Trainers in Training is a watercolour and will be 14" x 21" unframed size upon completion.. I'm enjoying the complexity of the fabric folds in the kids shorts...

Catherin McMillan
http://www.animalarthouse.com/
email: catherin@animalarthouse.com

Commissions welcome
Original artwork for sale

Lay byes & gift vouchers available

Pay Pal accepted

Painting a Dog a Day by Kimberly Kelly Santini

Derby Day was my favorite when I was a kid. After all, it was the only time of year that horses and racing were on TV upwards of 2 hours. And during Derby Week the newspaper featured workout times and grainy black and white photographs of the favorites - great fodder for sketching and musing Saturday's outcome. As a horse-hungry child in those pre-cable and pre-internet days, this was a big deal indeed.

And now (for the fourth year running!) I celebrate Kentucky Derby week by turning the Dog a Day's into four-legged paintings of another sort.

We'll start the week off with a Daily Double:

"After the Finish," from the Saratoga Series, 8" x 7", Golden Open Acrylics on Raymar panel, $399. Inquiries (including booking your own pet portrait, from miniature size [4" x 4"] to larger than life) may always come to me.

"The Tote Board," from the Saratoga Series, 8" x 5", Golden Open Acrylics on Raymar Panel, $339. Inquiries (including booking your own pet portrait, from miniature size [4" x 4"] to larger than life) may always come to me.

When I sorted through photo references and painting ideas last night, I narrowed myself down to 9 compositions. We'll see how the pace of the week goes, but I would love to work through all 9.

Feel free to forward these paintings and share with another horse racing fan.

Thanks, as always,

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.

"Stretch," 42" x 16", acrylic on gallery stretched canvas, thoroughbred painting. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .

This is NOT a traditional portrait by any means. But I didn't intend that.

Instead I wanted an image that represented the breed, the beauty inherant in that full out stride, the tenderness seen in the reach for a peppermint, the green of reflected sunlight off Kentucky bluegrass.

This painting is more about the summation of a lifetimes' accumulated equine memories, and less about a specific horse or moment in time.

Despite it's scale, it retains a contemplative quality that encourages you to linger as you travel down that path of memory.

Kimberly Kelly Santini

www.turtledovedesigns.com - distinctive 4-legged paintings, and home of the Painting a Dog a Day project (www.paintingadogaday.com )

Hocks n Knees

Two years ago, I sat down in the dirt behind my girl Class, and took pictures of her while she was eating. I've been wanting to try this painting ever since. I finally got it done. Or at least this is my first attempt at this angle.....

Thank you so much for stopping by our horse art blog, we appreciate it!
Donna
Remember, you can find horse art, wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.
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