The finished Watercolor!

The finished watercolor portrait.  I am pleased with the way it came out and particularly like the way the horse's coat shines. I hope my client will be pleased... I know this photo means a lot to her as did the horse depicted in it. 

Watercolor Painting - adding the initial washes...

Here you can see I have put in the soft background tones and started on the horse and rider. I like to keep the background somewhat muted so as to not distract from the main subject.

Watercolor Painting

This is the beginning stages of my latest commission - a 7"x10" watercolor portrait. I start by lightly drawing in  a contour drawing. This was a great photo to work from...

Last year I did a photo shoot of this gorgeous Arabian stallion "Aur Elijah" - this is one of the photos with him and his new pasture friend smelling noses. I just love this photo! The photographs I took actually became published in an article by NW HorseSource magazine see it here: http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1k47i/NWHSJanuary2010/resources/10.htm

I decided I wanted to do a watercolor painting from this photo which I have entitled "Friends".... I will post it on my blog shortly.

Chester

The finished portrait of Chester. I decided to paint him in watercolors. Every time I use watercolors I am amazed at it's beauty but also somewhat frustrated by it's difficulty too - it's certainly not a forgiving medium! Anyway, the portrait came out vibrant and was a lot of fun to paint!

To Receive is a Blessing... to Give is an Honor.

I have just been blessed with a new (to me) painting easel from a lovely couple in Blaine. It's just exactly what I need right now and will enable me to really exploit my painting skills and create some beautiful big paintings.

As a thank you for the great easel I received, I am going to paint this lovely kitty cat that belonged to the couple who gave me the easel. I have decided to paint it in watercolor and I hope they will treasure the portrait for many years to come.

Stay tuned for it's progress....

The finished watercolor painting of my beautiful horse Tristan. He was just a baby in this picture and it was a bright and beautiful winter snowy day. I'm pleased with the finished result - it's been a while since I have worked with watercolors and I really enjoyed painting this piece. I use only the highest quality paints Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolors on Arches Watercolor Press Paper. I hope you like it! 

Depending upon popularity of this piece I am considering making prints of the original and also Christmas cards.

The beginning stages of my watercolor painting. Watercolor is in my opinion the hardest medium to use - it is completely unforgiving - once you have put the paint down you have to act quickly to move it around the paper before it dries. It's also a bit of a guessing game as you never know what you'll get until you've applied the paint - the upside to this is that it makes for an exciting experience with many happy surprises.