Finally, some work started. This beautiful creature (male? female? under-carriage unavailable) was photographed in France recently by my talented cousin, Shelley Keele Harynuk. I fell in love with it as much because of the creamy palette of not only the horse but of the background. That prompted me to paint it on an unstained wooden panel and to leave the surrounding wood grain exposed. I drew it first in chalk, then painted a red oxide mid-tone on the horse, and, finally, finished the white section of the value underpainting. Tomorrow I hope to add the dark values. Then I will decide how far to go.
"Le Cheval Francais" 18 x 24 oil on wood panel
Deciding how far to go turns out to be crucial, and not only to teenagers. When learning the technique from Kathy Marlene Bailey, all of us struggled with infatuations. Right now, I am besotted with the combination of red oxide and white. Tomorrow I shall have changed my mind and fallen for a full value underpainting. And the three days after that, no doubt I shall want to walk away when the three primary glazes are finished. Some of us decide to stop there and occasionally I do. Let's find out. In the meantime I have a good digital of Stage One, which I can bemoan IF I GO TOO FAR.
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