Buggy Horse Portrait 'Work in Progress' part II

I apologize for the delay in getting this next installment posted. This ‘Work in Progress’ of Amish Buggy Horse Portrait in mixed media/ watercolor is moving along. I mixed in a little tiny bit of acrylic paint, some graphite and some watercolor pencil in this piece. I can feel the tension in where to find the balance I want between loose and detailed in this painting as I see where I am so far with it. I found myself getting a little hung up on the mane- wanting to get overly ‘tight’ so I tried to make myself keep moving! In artists terms being tight or loose is not necessarily negative or positive but a description of either painting with lots of detail and very intricate (tight) and painting with more of a free flow and broad strokes (loose). What I personally like best in a painting is a mixture of both. The paintings I enjoy have an aspect of the little details I love but then things kind of veer off into more of a suggestion which allows the viewer to fill in the details in their own mind. I like it best when I can achieve both of these in a painting. I do like in this painting the expression and the eye closest to the viewer but also the opposite eye with the grey/lavender/heather shading which is rather ‘loose’ that suggests the texture of the hair. I will leave that as is. I do need to finish the lower face, the tack, and muzzle obviously. I also need to clean up the background. I usually save a final layer over the background for last.

I will be making prints of this piece and selling it at Mac-Worthington Gallery in Columbus. As soon as I send in my CD they will also have some work of mine up on their web site. To see the gallery go to: http://www.macworthington.com/ I will be working on an acrylic, slightly abstract, colorful horse painting for a Feb. show at this gallery so stay tuned for more!