Mother's Day Rose on Copper, 5x7

This is a quick painting I did today, my first try at painting on copper as a support. I likely didn't prep it the best--just sanded and wiped it--but I liked the feel of my brush on it, and thinner parts look neat with the copper showing through (for the moment at least, don't know how it will hold up with corrosion, though perhaps varnish will help...)

Mangalarga Marchador, oil on canvas, 9x12

The other day I did probably the best drawing I have ever done. Then I decided to do a larger version of the drawing. Then I decided heck why not paint it, too? (Now I guess all I have left is to do a sculpture of it, lol.) Ta da, the best drawing I have done to date might also be the best horse I've ever painted. I guess I'm on a roll!

Baby Zebra 6

After working a bit more on this, I asked for some advice from more experienced equestrians and got an excellent suggestion to solve the unhappiness I had with the colt's legs. I was always uncertain of them (having pulled this composition together from various references) and I don't think I would have been able to fix it previously without my recent drawing/anatomy experience this year. (I'm very pleased to know that I've been learning and can apply some of that knowledge!) I am *much* happier with the direction this is going, in fact I'm rather ecstatic. The change in the legs creates a lot more energy and is more in keeping with the atmosphere I would like to achieve here. I'm very excited!

Baby Zebra 5!

So this has been unfinished now for a year and a half. I finally got some motivation to work on it this last weekend! (It helps that I've been sketching zebras at the zoo lately, complete with little babies! So I feel a little more prepared to do something with this now...also it helps that I had company coming over and I didn't want anyone to see this in the terrible state it was in!) Sorry there has been a good bit of progress since the last photo I took, but a lot of the big changes were this weekend when I was carefully fiddling with the background and still was not happy with it, so in frustration I cursed and started literally slapping paint on...and voila, I felt a whole lot better about this. :p Nothing is finished here by any means.

The Queen's Bay, 20x24, oil on linen

This is a copy of a portrait of Queen Victoria by Francis Grant. I cropped the image from the original because as you might guess, it was her horse that I was interested in, and wanted to get it as large on the canvas as possible. :) I learned an awful lot painting this. (And yes, I want a horse just like this one!)

Red Rose 1

Study from life, work in progress, 6x12 oil on canvas