January's Pony is Painted!

I did it! Stumpy is now a finished painting. What do you think? It took me a couple of days to get it photographed to put on my blog. I like to shoot in natural (northern) light and it's been raining, so I had to wait it out. As you can see from the last time I posted, I added more darks and finished the mane - I think it turned out as one of my favorite parts of the painting. The last step in a silk painting is steam setting the dyes - it makes them vibrant - and permanent. You can even wash it after steam setting. So,here it is, the 'big reveal' - send me your comments!

I even have another painting that I was working on at the studio at the same time that is almost completed as well, so I'm really excited about that.
On to the next challenge - here is February's painting subject. This is "Snoopy" aka MBB Spotless. Snoopy is a 13-ish year old breeding stock Paint (that's where the spotless in his name comes from!), who is loved and been ridden for the past 4 years by Jessie Privett. Jessie happens to be my daughter's best friend - horsey or otherwise and they are in 4H together. Jessie wanted to submit a photo - but it just so happens that I took this photo of her and Snoop at a local open show. I often "frame" my shots for paintings in my camera, since I have photography experience as well as artistic. I like this shot; the angle of Snoopy's face, his mane - I like the design element of Jessie's leg - so I decided to use the composition as is. Jessie loves the colors green and blue, so that's what I'll be using. Below is the photo of Snoopy, and I'll show you the drawing and first painting steps. Thanks for stopping in!