Painting of the Day, “Summer Pasture”

“Summer Pasture,” 7” x 9” mixed watermedia on cold press illustration board.
Copyright, Sara Light-Waller, 2015

“Summer Pasture” is a mixed media painting with an underpainting of acrylic, then overpainted with watercolor and gouache.

“Underpainting” refers to the laying down of an initial wash of color before the rest of the painting (which I’ll refer to here as “overpainting.”)  It's a traditional way of unifying a composition through color.

For the underpainting in "Summer Pasture" I used a graded wash of yellow to yellow-orange acrylic. When this was dry I did the overpainting in watercolor and gouache. Because acrylic won’t move when dry, I was able to lift off color bringing back the original yellow/yellow-orange color as needed.

I’m pleased with “Summer Pasture.” The underpainting pulls the composition together, giving the feeling of warmth and strong sun. Though the colors are somewhat unrealistic, they imply realism, which I like. I find the juxtaposition of translucent color (gouache) next to transparent watercolor satisfying. And the brightness of the gouache adds interesting “pop” to the painting.

Sketch of the day

"Paddocks with Buster" graphite, Sara Light-Waller, 2014

I took advantage of the break in the weather (after ten days of down-pouring rain!!) by doing some outdoor sketching this afternoon. This is one of the paddocks at Chez Jacroux, the farm where I keep my horse. The horse in the paddock is named Buster and he posed for me briefly before heading into the shelter.

Next time, I might sketch some of the farm's chickens, who were quite ready to act as artist models today.  

Three Scenes from My Life with Percy: Done in a Paul Brown style

Yesterday, I challenged myself to do some drawings in a mid-20^th century pen & ink style. Before starting, I took a close look at the works of Paul Brown (1893-1958). Brown was a respected children’s illustrator, well-known for his horse art. Brown’s line work is typical of the time. accurate but fast, with most of his lines being gestural, rather than decorative. The sparseness of his line work typifies the black & white illustration and advertising art of the 1930’s through 1960’s - very “modern” and streamlined.

from what I can tell, Brown preferred a brush to a pen for his ink drawings. This is clear to me from the variation of line widths and the types of marks he used in his drawings. His people tended to be pretty generic, but his horses and ponies showed great character. 

Horse illustration by Paul Brown

I decided to treat my drawings as if part of a children’s book called, “My Life with Percy.” All are done in brush and ink. True to the style, I left the people generic, and made my colorful horse the star of the drawings.Ultimately, I tinted them to make them look like they were from an old children's book.

My Life with Percy: Dad visits and brings a bag of apples.

My Life with Percy: Ayla takes Percy for a ride.

My Life with Percy: Percy and I go to a dressage clinic and are stars.

Having started the illustrations for "My Life with Percy," I suppose I should consider actually writing the book. Might be fun, at that. *chuckle*

On Understanding the Works of Other Artists

A Thelwell cartoon I chose to study

My freehand copy, made with an eye towards understanding Thelwell's line work.

One of the most challenging things about drawing or painting in another artist's style, is finding the correct rhythm of the artwork. For example, I am very well-versed in pen & ink. However, every masterful artist does a pen & ink drawing a little bit differently. In order to study the work of another artist, one must try to understand how they placed their lines and other marks on the page. It's an interesting challenge, and greatly expanding of your skill set. By expanding your artistic viewpoint you can also enhance your artistic voice, making it more educated and facile. At least, that's the way it works for me. ;-)

Horse Life 21

I recently happened upon a very old copy of The Ladies Home Journal in a used bookstore I know. It seems that in 1913 there was still a rather heated debate going on about whether or not it was healthful and proper for women to ride astride in “men’s” saddles.

This debate made me consider the changes in riding apparel over the subsequent years – from side-saddle “habits” to the baggy-thighed breeches of the 1920’s, all the way up to the modern paraphernalia we’ve developed for riders today.

It’s to this long progression of equestrienne fashions that I dedicate Horse Life 21– we’ve come a long way baby!

Click here to see Horse Life 21 on my website.

Still on silhouettes but currently looking for a change

My watercolor exercises are proceeding nicely. As I’ve been working on essentially the same subject for the past few weeks now – sunrise or sunset colored skies with foreground objects in silhouette - I've decided it's now time to move on to some other exercises. Although I've still got tons of good exercises left to do in my current watercolor book, I also have a few new watercolor books waiting for me at the library (including some by watercolorist David Bellamy!!!) that have me pretty excited.

I’ve chosen to use two spiral-bound Stillman and Birn Delta sketchbooks (9”x12” and 6”x7”) for this series of painting exercises. By keeping my paintings in bound books I’m finding it much easier to keep track of any sequential improvements to my painting. It's also kind of like keeping a watercolor painting journal that will be fun to refere back to later one. ;-)

Here are my most recent paintings.

"Peaceful Evening," watercolor 6"x7"

"Willow Weeps at Night," watercolor 9"x12"

This last painting is a little bit different. I missed pen and ink and one night started doodling a tree. I've been experimenting with brush marks and had some fun adding color to my little drawing after the ink was dry.  

"Tree," pen and ink and watercolor
(This last one is just because I like trees.)

Rodney’s Saga Blog Illustrations

http://rodneyssaga.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/that-other-horse/

I’m delighted to report that another of my illustrations has appeared on Katherine Walcott’s Rodney’s Saga blog. Please check out her wonderful articles on barn and horse-life.

Of the entire series of illustrations, this one is my favorite. In it I tried to capture that “lighter than air quality” horses get when they’re being very, very naughty. Even the heaviest steppers somehow turn into balloons at times and launch themselves off the ground. I myself have been launched many times. Fortunately for me, my current horse is a bit too heavy and gentlemanly for sustained launches. All the same, after years of riding Thoroughbreds, I certainly know how it goes. My best advice, from my old eventing days, is to hold on tight and kick for all you’re worth! Cheers everyone!

Rodney’s Saga Blog Illustrations - Horse Dreams

http://rodneyssaga.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/horse-dreams/

Oh my it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything here! I would say that this is a sad turn of events but it actually isn’t. For the past few weeks I’ve been working VERY hard on a new creative project that I am extremely happy about. It’s still all very hush-hush and so no news of it here yet. But I can tell you that when it's revealed later this year, there will be balloons and ice cream. It’ll be a regular party! ;-)

I had good news of another sort when I received word that Katherine Walcott featured another my illustrations in her blog, "Rodney’s Saga" on August 19^th. (Thank you Katherine!) This entry is called “Horse Dreams.” You can see it here: http://rodneyssaga.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/horse-dreams/

She brings up an interesting point, do you think that our pets dream? My opinion on that topic has evolved over time. At one time I would have said yes, of course. But now I’m not so sure. Perhaps to them this world is all they can (or do) contemplate. But if they have lessons to work out then I can well imagine they do dream, as a method of integration and resolution.

But, I suppose we’ll not know as long as we can’t speak with them directly. I look forward to the day when we can. It’d be interesting to follow their opinion on this one. *wink*

Winnie

"Winnie," Tombow and Pitt Pens in a Moleskin Journal

This is Winnie, a lovely Quarter Pony owned by Eva Jacroux. Winnie is one of those super-star ponies who has seen and done everything. As all old horsepeople know, these are the kinds of ponies that are worth their weight in gold. :-)