Equine art on the easel

Many  layers of pastel were needed to create the dappling effect on this horse neck. I will most likely go back and tone down several areas...or not...I'll  have a better idea once the chest area is completed. Stay tuned!

 

Horse portrait painting in pastel update

After spending nearly all afternoon working on the mane, I am pretty happy with what I have achieved so far. I will leave the muscular neck for another day (and the shadow below the mane) as I decided to move on to the forehead section of the horse. I love the spiral pattern of the fur on the forehead, also called a cowlick.  You can see the pattern more clearly upon enlargement of the image.

Horse Portrait Commission in progress

Being Halloween, I guess I could be painting the headless horseman and his horse but I must get caught up on my commissions so....

I am working on a larger horse portrait and finding it a bit challenging to work with not-so-good shots, but unfortunately, that's all I have.

I decided to use medium gray velour board for this piece because one can effortlessly achieve a soft look with pastels.

Work in Progress Horse Pastel Painting

I am quite happy at how much I was able to accomplish today on this horse portrait. It seems that finding the right colors (pure or blended) is always the most difficult part of a painting, esp. when using pastels. I find it useful to write down or sort which pastels I use for a particular painting, or even a section of a painting.

Foal and mare horse portrait, update

I've been painting again today and got most of the foal done. I decided to stop when I got upset when my white Rembrant pastel (from my new set) went rolling off the table and crashing to the hardwood floor. GRRRR. It didn't look pretty when I picked up the pieces but managed to have one good size piece left to work with.

Close up of foal (click to enlarge):