Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Nibble or Stretch - My Latest Thoroughbred Painting


ARTIST'S NOTE February 1th, 2008: This one was a long time in the making. I didn't rush things, as I did not want to compromise my inner vision. I waited to gain an understanding of certain techniques before tackling them on this painting, and I believe that my patience paid out. The painting is done, and currently on display at Margot's Gallery. "Stretch," 42" x 16," gallery stretched acrylic on canvas, thoroughbred portrait, available for purchase: inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .


After a week of dealing with fevers and flu and laundry, I finally got to load the kids on the school bus this morning. It felt like coming home after a long torturous vacation when I stepped into the studio this morning.

My goal for today was to continue work on a couple of pet portraits that were already in process, but also to lay the ground work for a painting demonstration I’m doing this evening at the Orion Art Center.

I had already chosen my image, one taken of a chestnut thoroughbred stallion during this summer’s visit to Lexington. I cropped and made some basic modifications in photoshop, trying to reduce the contrast and pull more detail into the shadowed areas. Essentially trying to turn my reference photo into a closer approximation of what my eyes saw for themselves.

Then I stretched a 42” x 16” canvas. That’s right, this guy will be lifesize.

I worked slowly, taking notes as I progressed, so that I could talk coherently to the group tonight about the beginning stages of the painting process. I would like to illustrate and eventually publish these notes on my website, as I think a fully detailed work in process would be interesting for some.

This time I switched out my titanium white for titan buff. I had read about some tinted whites that were commercially available for oil paints, and how they achieved a warmer tone when mixed, so thought I would give it a try. So far, I’m liking the warmth that the lighter, sun-kissed values have in my piece, but I’ll keep you posted on how it works in the long run.

So I’m off to make a hearty pot of chili for dinner, then will brave the cold rain and head over to the art center for continued work on this painting. I promise to update this entry with an image when the sun shines here in MI again (don’t hold your breath, though, as we may not see any sunshine until spring now!) and I can get better lighting.

Thanks, as always, for your time!

Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

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1 Comments:

Blogger MaryAnn Cleary said...

Very nice painting! A winner!

8:58 AM  

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