"Snoopy" takes shape

I got a little bit carried away and started painting this piece before I photographed it for the blog. Good thing I caught myself in time, though! You can still see about all of the drawing here. I really like the strong diagonal composition elements in this; Jesse's knee, the reins moving down into the bridle and up the cheekpiece and around again. It's the first time, I think, that I have worked with a horse in full winter coat, so Snoopy is a bit fuzzy. I haven't decided whether to actively highlight that feature or not yet. There would then be a sharp difference in the treatment of the tall black boot and the black of Snoopy's fur and I am not sure that is an element that I am interested in introducing into this painting. Something to ponder, anyway.

Since Jesse's favorite colors are blue and green, I am developing a color scheme where the highlights will be green and she shadows blue, with variations blending throughout the middle values. As always, the eyes are very important - and even though there is only a partial eye visible, I still want it to be a point of interest where the viewer's eyes rest as well.

The background will remain simple and exactly that - the background. Of course, there needs to be some textural interest - a flat background would not complement the horse very much. However, I do not want it so busy that your eye wanders there and stays.

So that's my plan for the next stages of the painting. It's fun working with blues and greens in the midst of winter's browns and greys outside all around - keeps me looking forward to warmer weather!