Happy Year of the Horse

 MAY YOUR YEAR BE AUSPICIOUS

BLISS BE UPON YOU

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Horsing around in color, continued

I’ve decided to change the perspective of my 4th horse in the painting.  I intend to portray it more convincingly as the trailing horse in the pack by presenting a shorter side profile and a more frontal view  the hope that the viewer will sense the horse emerging rather then just traversing across the field.

Adding the 5th horse which is mostly obscured and in the background, I have my pack of five,

The current arrangement conveys more drama and movement by taking advantage of the size differences between front and back, and the lean of the leading horse.

Time to color them.  Whinny for me, horses!

I must admit, my horses are more convincing now, 

I'll pay you more if you paint me one in color

Years ago during an Open Studio event a visitor came to my home to view my works and was interested in one that was done in black and white.  

Black and white paintings, or photography for that matter, convey a somewhat artistic interpretation. Firstly, the association to objects through the conventional color scheme is virtually eliminated. Ambiance and composition assume a more critical role. Works created with ink brushes on Xuan paper additionally rely on the nuances of the brushstroke to guide the viewer not only into the artistic aspect but also into the craftsmanship of the painting. I surmise that appreciating and enjoying black and white works of art necessitates a certain level of sophistication and imagination, not mere personal preference.

So the visitor posed a proposition, "Could you do the same painting but in color?  I'll pay you more".

The reason I'm bring this up is not because I am being a snob or needing to stand on my high horse by implying a lack of erudition from that visitor, but I actually want to try to paint my horses in color.  Same players, same arrangements.

After all, I am just horsing around.  

Here comes the leader of the pack,

Next up,

My leading horse is leaning in more aggressively now, and is painted bigger to give it more of a proximity presence.

Now comes the third horse, 

Making it better

I like my painting better after I applied the multitude versus singles alteration to the grouping of my horses.  However I still find some glaring booboos, one of which is this particular animal,

I must have expanded its chest as an afterthought, attempting to make the horse appear more robust.  The right front leg is now out of place.  In the attempt to line-up the leg with the chest by adding to what I had painted, I inadvertently created a fearsome arm wrestler with uneven arm sizes.

The more I look at it the more I notice this annoying glitch.  It is like when we are told not to look at someone's huge zit on the forehead, that's the only thing we land our eyes on.

After days of brainstorming, I come up with a clever solution.  I think.

I am going to add some dilapidated fencing around the horses, as if they are held in a pen.  I am using the fence posts and the crossbars to hide my mistakes and to divert attention.

The yelping dog is an afterthought.  The agitating canine is reacting to the equine pack trying to escape the broken corral, lending a hand to the storyline of this painting. 

And my friend digitizes my painting to this,

I love it!