Thoroughbred….Bridle

I left off around here from my last post.  I need to step back and take the drawing/watercolor in as I proceed.  Helps to see what needs to be done next.



The horse’s head, first I need to make sure the straps and buckles make sense before I apply the watercolor.



Then I put a light yellow wash down on all those straps.



Since I was in the vicinity…..I adjusted some of the snout pigment using all my browns and purple.  I’m always surprised at how versatile purple is!  It’s probably   my favorite underlying color. 



This ring was bugging me, so I got out my circle stencil and adjusted the lines a bit.  But the problem coming up next…. is it’s a perspective circle….meaning it’s not straight on.  

Hopefully, I can just trick the eye here!  Haha.

Thoroughbred….Eye

I’ve enhanced my jockey a little from where I left off in the last post.  I’ll need to go back in and push the shadows and folds darker soon.



I seem to be all over the place with this horse, not working in sections like I had in my previous horse.



The horse’s eye was creeping me out, it looked like a ghost’s eye…so I skipped ahead to give it some life.



The straps and harnesses on this horse are all dark…but I liked the lighter strap lines from the previous horse.  I will pull in my creative license and try to change the dark brown straps to tan.  Bummer…that I changed my mind here, cuz I already laid down some rust color for that strap on the upper left side.



These two are starting to take shape now.  I’m trying to lay down color overall, before I get too carried away with the details!

Thoroughbred….Jockey

Mr. Jockey started off this way from the wash stage.



Went in for some mindless coloring….which shouldn’t be a problem, but all my reds seem to be too pink or too coral.  I have no plain-red!



I must’ve been feeling fearless, because I started in on the goggles.  So much color and reflection going on there…possibly I wasn’t so much fearless as the goggles are forgiving.



Started layering color in by brush for the face.  Then evened out the color in the helmet.



I’m surprised that with each piece I must re-learn how good these watercolor pencils are for bringing in contour and depth to sensitive areas, like the face.  I seem to forget.



He still has a lot of work ahead of him….or rather me!!  But I’m liking his look so far.

Plein Air….Plants

Hello….Spring!!



I really enjoy this view from my study in my new house.



So, one day I tried to capture it.



I first, just got some basic shapes down, and lots of green for those trees.



When I was done, I went back in and outlined with my micro pen.  The above portion is not outlined and the lower portion was.  I prefer to outline but I don’t dislike the look when it’s not.



Here’s my cactus for my daily Watercolor month last July. 



My front door with a potted plant that stayed strong the entire summer!



My Christmas tree sans ornaments.



Here’s a truck from a flower farmer (@floretflower) that I follow on instagram.  Drawn from my ipad feed.



And most recently, my precious plant that was given to me a few years ago.  Grown from a cut off of my grandmothers stock.  A most interesting house plant that can handle my neglect.

Now, I’m off to enjoy this nice weather!

Plein Air….Birds-n-Bridges

Lets hear it for Friday!!!



I have a thing for Cardinals, so during the July World Watercolor Challenge, I drew this candle holder.



On another day in July, I drew this bluejay off of an image on the internet.



You got me!!! This is not a bird, but she’s a bit of a beast!  A lovely beast….Our City has many artistic horses throughout town in honor of Horse Country or Derby…not sure which?  The program is called Gallopalooza.  Life size horse statues are painted colorfully and are bought by individuals or cooperations.



Took myself out to dinner last winter and found the perfect spot!



Bridges can be intimidating….but…the trick is to “see the patterns”, cuz they are there.



That same bridge, but on the Indiana side!  Beautiful day for drawing too

Block Color Subjects

Saw this picture on Instagram and I immediately wanted to draw it.



First….I made a grid for the blocks of color….Then I drew the contour of the subject.



I adjusted a few things, and played with the watercolor.  A good simple exercise to get me back in line to draw people in watercolor.



On another day…I didn’t want to think about drawing, but I wanted to paint.  So I made a bunch of random squares and rectangles, then proceeded to color them in.





Zoned out to Adele….



This quote has stuck with me.  I know there’s One that wants me at my best… 

Plein Air….Beaches and Boats

Mid-February in the Ohio Valley has me daydreaming of warmer days!



Brought my moleskine out to the beach one day last summer!   Watercoloring in this environment is a lot harder than I thought it would be…..Sand is always shifting and winds are always blowing.



Had a nice meal at a beach-side pub one afternoon. Then I ran out of time to really get my watercolor on.



Hung out at a marina another morning before it got too hot.



On this outing, I stepped back to try and capture all the boats under a covered dock.



Apparently I only saw the left side of boats on this drawing day.



And last, the great lawn of a popular local restaurant with all these fun chairs.

En Plein Air....Catch up

En plein air is a phrase borrowed from the French equivalent meaning "open (in full) air". It is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors, or  ("painting of the object(s) or what the eye actually sees"), where a painter reproduces the actual visual conditions seen at the time of the painting. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules.

(picture from @jannerobinson on instagram)

And this “en plein air” is what I’ve been up to lately.  Putting my house on the market last fall didn’t leave much time, energy and space to work on big projects before the house sold.  And lets just say….space has become an issue since the the house sold.  But alas…..where there’s a will there’s a way.

Saw this girl on pinterest…and decided to draw off of the monitor.

That hair was just fun to color!!

Only used watercolor here.

Then one day I had some time to kill, so I hung out at Starbucks.  Easier to draw ppl when their back is to you and you know you won’t get caught!! Haha

And another day I went back to Starbucks…..

On this day in Starbucks…not many people present…so I attempted to draw the above scene.

Lots of repetition going on here.

Then I ran out of time….Fun exercise!

Later…I hung out at Barnes and Noble.  This guy was cool….cuz he stuck around awhile.

On another visit to Barnes and Noble I was inspired to draw the people sitting in the café with me.

But….they didn’t stay long.  Frustrating!

This child holding his water bottle had very nice features.  And, I should’ve let his mouth be what it was in the earlier stages…but I got to tinkering!! And I did a number on his lips!  Note-to-Self…”Less is More”

I’ve been posting so much on Instagram lately and forgetting to document my art here.  It’s always better to get those pictures off my phone and organized on my computer.  Blogging helped me to do that.  I need to get back into that habit.


Happy New Year friends!!