Having Reached the Turning Point

Yesterday afternoon was spent sequestered in my studio, under my wonderful LED daylight lighting, completing the painting begun during our stay in Stanford. It felt wonderful to be in the comfort and security of my studio, immersed in painting and letting go of all stress and worry as the artistic spirit overtook me once again.

Here is the completed jump racing picture, a photo of it in an intermediate stage and a photo of the start of the painting in the hotel room. Even though I began this painting only about a week ago, it feels like a century has passed!

Having Reached the Turning Point / oil on linen panel / 14 x 18

Intermediate stage

Hotel room beginning

A Haze of Possibilities and the Way a Horse Sees

A Haze of Possibilities / oil on linen panel / 16x20

Having painted this composition with a trio of horse and jockey combinations before without satisfaction, I determined to try it again.

I learned some quite interesting facts about equine vision this week. Horses do not see the same way humans do - they have only color receptors for the blue and green spectrum and cannot discriminate reds - apparently much the same as a person with red-green color blindness. The theory is that this may cause the horse to rely more on contrast to judge distance to and height of an obstacle when calculating take off. When a horse is approaching a jump he will see it in sharp focus, but will lose this focus around 3 meters away and may not be able to accurately judge distance to the jump. He will perceive the jump differently from his rider not only because of the difference in color perception but also because he has a much wider field of vision due to his eye placement. This adds to the importance of the connection between the horse and rider as they approach a jump.

Having long been fascinated by the interaction, partnerships  and cooperation that are established between man and beast as they interact together during moments of great intensity, it is part of my underlying drive to paint steeplechase as a way of expressing this relationship.

Focused with Uncanny Authority

Focused With Uncanny Authority / oil on canvas panel / 18x24

Sold!

Final Approach / 18 x 24

One of my favorite steeplechase paintings was sold to a buyer in Florida! Makes me so happy!

Untitled Oil

Unusual color for me! Oil on linen panel / 16 x 20 / untitled as yet. The bottom photo is a close up of a section of the larger piece.

A Vagary of Happenstance - finished

A few final tweaks and highlights and I will call this done. The color in this piece is somewhat unusual and was foremost in my mind once I captured the gesture of horse and rider in my initial oil sketch and then connected them to their spot in the landscape. I wanted the painting to be mostly high key and developed a palette of soft warm whites surrounding the cool, crisper whites of the horse. The orange and lavenders in the landscape and the lowering blue of the sky suggested themselves as I moved forward. Thank you to Susan Roux http://susanroux.blogspot.com/ for her comment in the previous post concerning color - I do love color and am constantly fascinated how color, value, form all play their role in translating the artistist vision in the mind to the final observable rendition. I think oil paint is a purely magical medium that allows me to place on canvas a glimpse into otherwise unobservable realities. Art and creativity is such a joy!

Work in Progress

Untitled so far - 18x24 oil on linen.