Meet "Stumpy"!

Cute horse, huh? Vanny's Thunder, aka "Stumpy", is a 5 year old Quarter Horse gelding, owned by John Champey and leased by Lucas Dimsdale - the rider in this photo. Lucas has been riding him since he was about 2 or 3, showing him extensively in 4H and Quarter Horse Association shows.
I loved this shot, because of the wild mane flying, the expression on Stumpy's face, and the great forward motion. I decided to hone in on just Stumpy to focus attention to all those elements. He looks like he's smiling, doesn't he? And, even though his ears are back slightly, I think it's due to his speed and attention on his rider, rather than 'attitude'.
Now that I have an image for January's painting, I work on the composition of the preliminary drawing. I often draw the image in an 81/2" x 11" format, working out all the design elements and refining my drawing at this stage, so that I can scan it into my computer. That way, I have the option to enlarge it to any size after that point.

I make decisions on what to put in - or leave out of my drawing; such as the bridle in this instance. It just did not really add to the overall composition all that much, so I took it out! When this first stage of drawing is complete, I am ready to transfer it to the silk that I have already stretched on standard canvas bars with push pins. I like for the drawing to show even in the completed piece, so I transfer my design with permanent marker. Even at this stage, I refer back to the photo, adding more detail to my original.

Here, you can see the completed design transferred to the silk.

The next step in my painting is the application of gutta lines on the surface of the silk. Gutta is a latex -based substance used in the French Serti Method of silk painting. It is known as a resist - which means that it repels the dyes underneath its surface (so it shows up as white lines,unless it has had color added to it)as well as kind of holds the boundaries between dye areas. "Serti" means "fence" in French, which helps to explain how it works. Mastering thin, even lines with no blobs takes quite a bit of practice, and you have to be careful not to drag your hand across the surface until it is completely dry or it smears also. But, it brings another depth and quality to the painting it would not otherwise have. The dye colors bleed up against it, forming rich areas of color that add so much to the shading - it's one of my favorite things about silk painting.

At this point, I have probably spent anywhere from 4 to 6 hours on the piece - and we haven't even made and choices about color yet! I do love the drawing stage, though...
Over the next few weeks, as I progress with this first painting, I'll share more with you about the actual nuts and bolts of painting on silk. After that time, folks who join us later can read the past blogs for the technical info - we'll be on to other things!
Thanks to everyone who sent in photos of their horses - keep sending them and pass the word along! I did have some trouble with my E mail link last month, so here it is again. The E mail address is correct, so I'm not sure what glitched. It's www.LibbyPaintMyPony@gmail.com
Next Post: Color, color and more color... or Don't you just LOVE the rainbow?