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Updated 5/23/08
Western Horses, Rodeo, Trail Horses, Packing and Cowboys/Cowgirls
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Busy day today! In the morning after breakfast, the three artists gathered to paint the cremello horse (he is SO pretty!) a couple of times while at the barns. It was great fun to exercise the muscles of color on a white horse lit from above and behind. I share with you one of the two paintings I did, hoping that you'll enjoy the entourage of colors that march across the white hide of a white horse in sunlight! This is just a study, not a finished painting, so there is less concern about cutting off anatomy, or not finishing other parts of the image. I was focusing on the shadow patterns and the colors on the white horse... but I did spend a bit of time on my saddle!! Here's a picture of Sabino from which we worked. 12x9 US $300 Contact Elin or
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On July 21, I will be enjoying some premier country music under the oak trees at Liberty Oaks Ranch up in Tenaja, along with many others who are interested in supporting the education program for the Santa Rosa Ecological Preserve. The Foundation brings hundreds of third graders each school year for field trips to learn about the habitat of early California, and the pressures on current wildlife. For many of these 8-year-olds, it is the first time they've been outside a city park! I support it avidly, and will be set up to present my western work the sales of which will benefit this program. One night only--magic music and poetry!
Here is a 12 x 9 acrylic painted specifically for the event, and hopefully it will sell that night. Called "Trail Time" I present it hoping for a good percentage of sales benefiting those kids. I have good hopes.
On another note, the Acrylic DVD is finished, but I have too much footage!! I want to share so much, and have about 6.5 gigabytes to fit on a 4.7 gigabyte master. So now instead of editing for content, I'm cutting clips and resizing the lessons to fit into that 4.7 gig format. Three, no four, complete paintings done in lessons, a slide show, outtakes, supplies for both beginning and advanced... whew! There's just SO much on it. But it WILL be out! US $300 Contact Elin or
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Sometimes there are just those few brush strokes that need to be added to make a good painting into something really special. I spent about an hour today on "The Quest", the advanced/intermediate lesson painting in the Acrylics Fast and Loose DVD, and those few brush strokes take that painting to a new level. If you'll compare this one with the one on the blog from a few days ago, you just might notice a wee tad difference. US $850 Contact Elin or
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I finished the lesson painting in acrylics, spending most of the work on the details and glazing over to create the illusion of atmosphere and dust. These horses are in a drylot, which means dust and no grass--just hay in the feeder. I enjoyed making the highlights on each of the horses a slightly different color, and then unifying the complementary colors with the glazes using gel medium and thinned colors. I hope you enjoy it! 11x14 US $400 Contact Elin or
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Back at our "ranch" now, and yet I'm still thinking about the ride on the sides of Haleakela, and those paniolo cowboys with their rich traditions and history. This is an acrylic, OH! Did I mention that my pill boxes came through the trip just fine, including being in checked baggage? I had some minor leakage around the lids, but all-in-all, the one set of pill boxes lasted me 10 days with refills only on the white and ultramarine blue. Even painting every day! Now I know (and you do too!) that you can travel without tubes of paint!
Now where was I? Oh, yes, cowboys and color. One thing I mentioned about Haleakela and the clarity of the air in Hawaii is the brilliant sunshine. I've tried to capture it in this painting, simple in design, with a complementary color scheme of yellow green and red violet, and pushing the values so that the lights are lighter and the darks are darker. That creates more drama which I'm hoping creates that feel of brilliant light.
The painting is 10 x 20 on board, over handmade paper, and I might hold it for the Hawaiian market. There's a gallery there that wants to carry any paniolo paintings I do. This is the first. US $400 Contact Elin or
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"Trail Friends" Here is the finished version of the 10 x 20 lesson painting I started earlier in the voyage. As you can see from the changes that are reflected in this finished version, it has come to be more yellow and more green than the earlier underlayers. But the blue greens and blues still peek through in essential places! Finished for $400
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"Drink in the Riverbed" A six by six inch canvas, with just a ton of detail and brushwork. This is the Norco Riverbed, near the city of the same name, where hundreds of riders ride on weekends. A good way to spend a day. $100
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December 15
"Lunch Break #2" This is a quick color study for a possible larger painting of horses that were tied up on a trail ride up in the desert canyons near Palm Springs. Lunch time, and the riders are off eating, while the horses wait, enjoying the rest after the hours on the trail. No place to go if they did get loose. Original oil, 6 x 6 inches on gallery-wrap canvas. Yes, the right hand horse is painted around the edge!
 to a new collector in Poway, California.
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"Finished: Memories of the Ride" Here's the finished painting, with all the changes, details, edges foundn and lost, and the great fun of putting the finishing touches on this 12 x 16 oil. you can see how I "knitted together" the distant shore and the clumps of grasses by the taller verticals, both on the right and left sides. I had a LOT of fun with the water, too, adding the sparkles and the reflections that break the rules. The riders in the foreground have had all the details added without changing the inherent values of the underpainting (squint your eyes at the earlier versions and this one to see how one must honor values throughout painting). The sky had another layer added to make it alightly bluer, since now I know just how much (or how little) blue wad needed. Now, what can you tell me about the working methods you've seen here? What's important to remember, and what doesn't get painted until the last?
Available for $450 unframed by clicking the button:
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From the back of a horse, I tend to find perspective in a lot of things. Today I was on the back of a horse for about four hours (on Raindance), singing Christmas carols on the streets of Norco with a bunch of friends from my riding club. The horses were decked out in garlands, bells and tree skirts made into rump blankets, and we were all dressed in red and green. My camera's still out in the trailer, so I don't know if there are any good pictures for you. But riding the horse seems to keep me sane. There's always a lot on one's plate during the holidays, and so I find it quite easy to combine the horse experience with escaping, and that's the reason for this painting. A rider with a pack horse, heading off through the high aspen country, in the middle of summer, sounds like a good escape to me. I'm waiting for a few decisions on commission work, so that's why painting something as nice as this little 5 x 7 acrylic is a true escape! $95 which includes the 20% December discount
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"Extreme Makeover, Maybe Not" I ended up painting tonight rather late, so instead of beginning a new canvas, I took one of my older ones, and tweaked it--been meaning to do this for some time to this one, because although the initial idea of the painting was strong (it was/is called "The Conversation"), the overall abstract design and color bothered me. Now I like the way it focuses the attention where I want it to be--between the man and horse. I've attached the older version as well, so you can compare the two. I sure hope you prefer this version!
Available for $440 unframed by clicking the button:
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"Babysittin' a Better Way "I used to babysit for the neighbor's children, and if I could have done that job with calves instead of kids, I sure would have been happier--especially on the back of a good horse!" Original oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches $550 unframed. Contact Elin or
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"Ready for Work" This one from reference material I took at the now defunct Hemet Cattle Drive back in the 80s. A 12 x 16 original oil for today's effort, shown at the juried Norco Western Art Show. $475
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"Relooping the Rope, Sunrise" This piece started as a demonstration for the Temecula Art Association, and I brought it home and finished it in the studio. It is an original oil, 16 x 20 inches, featuring the Color System that Elin is using to create dynamic images, and is available for $650. Contact Elin or
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"Daddy's Hands" From father to son (it could be his daughter!) my friend who used to shoe and trim my horses is showing his smallest boy the skills of shoeing. That's my black Paso being trimmed. I am very pleased with the story in this painting. Original oil on canvas, 16 x 16 inches, scheduled for exhibition at the American Academy of Equine Art this September. US $ 950 Contact Elin or
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"Aerial Shoeing" This is one painting I am very proud of. Why? Because it takes a routine subject for many horse owners and puts a totally different and new cast on it. I climbed up our water windmill tower and took the source material photographs for this painting, and I'm just really pleased with it. "Aerial Shoeing" is scheduled for exhibition at the Fall Show of the American Academy of Equine Art in Lexington. Original Oil on canvas, 12 x 24 inches, US $ 950 Contact Elin or
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"Moonlight Pause" This is the painting that was done for my fourth video and first DVD on color "Colorful Oil Painting #1" and is a wonderful example of how I uses color to depict a moonlight scene. Original oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches. US $ 900 Contact Elin or
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"Success, Heading In" In going through the hundreds of paintings Elin has in inventory now, sometimes one just asks for more paint. This is one of those paintings, updated with the new color showing late afternoon light. It shows a man riding a mule, leading another pack mule, with the trophy antlers of a successful elk hunt on the panniers. Original oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches US $675 Contact Elin or
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"Del Mar Wait" I enjoyed painting this cowgirl on her well-put-together quarter horse as she waited to compete at Del Mar, in the team penning competition. Original oil on canvas board, 12 x 12 inches, US $ 425. Contact Elin or
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"All Tied Up" This smaller version of "Hobbles" is done in oils, and the horse is looking at the viewer. Walter Foster wanted me to depict a story with this painting, and it will spell out how I make the relationship between horse and rider come to life in my work. Original acrylic on canvas, 16 x 16 inches, US $ 1000 Contact Elin or
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"Moonlight Mood" As an example of how value is such an important part of the design of good paintings, Elin painted this mid-range and dark valued painting for the purpose of instruction. She'll take it with her to Lexington in June. However, it can be purchased for US $550. Contact Elin or
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"Two Hitched, Idyllwild" On location for the Idyllwild Plein Air painting event, Elin naturally headed for the horses. These two models were tied up with the beautiful mountiain light coming through the trees. Currently on display at Two Babes in the Woods, in Idyllwild, California. Contact Elin or
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"Backlit Beer Break" Using Elin's newfound knowledge in color, she painted this piece for the Equine Art Guild's "Works in Progress" forum. Late morning, beer break, and this Bud's for YOU. Original oil on board -backed canvas, 15 x 20 inches. US $ 1100 Contact Elin or
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"On the Lake Trail at Dusk" Brillant color and deep values depict a scene of constant serenity, seen many times by packers with their strings of mules on their way through the high country. Original oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches US $ 1200 Contact Elin or
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"Team Pen Tension" Elin was at the Team Penning event at Del Mar during the Del Mar Fair, and captured the tension as a team of three riders awaits the number for the calves they are to sort. Original oil on gallery-wrap canvas, 12 x 24 inches, painted on all sides US $950 Contact Elin or
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"On the Ridge" One of Elin's friends stopped his horse on the ridge overlooking the trail to the west. With intricate detailing on the figure and expressive brushwork and collage paper with glazes on the balance of the piece, this is truly a fine painting. Original acrylic collage on canvas, 24 x 18 US$ 440 Contact Elin or
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"Pause in the Rain" After a rest in this open area between the forests, the rider mounts up again, the horse patiently awaiting instruction. Original acrylic painting, 24 x 30 inches. US$ 720 Contact Elin or
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