We are into February! Which means the color focus has changed! Though I am trying to stick to horses mainly, I am going to work with different colors and this month is purple/lavender!
I know its been a week since I posted last, this whole posting 4-5 times a week commitment is really hard! But I think I can get back on track here now that my class ended (and paper is done) along with relatively healthy kiddos now (they were both under the weather earlier this week). So without further ado, lets get started on the month.
Alright I know, what you are really wanting to know is why is there a painting of a purple pony posted here. You might have the purple part figured out (I did just say that was the color of the month) but maybe not the pony part. One of my goals for this year is to do a bit more observation of life and paint a bit more without a lot of prep work. I chose to do a still life for each month. January's got pushed to the side, but I'm still going to do one this weekend for it. To keep it fun I thought I'd do toys....and what toys do I have tons of? That is right, ponies! My Little Ponies to be exact. I had quite the collection when I was younger (and even a bit older than I care to admit). I thought they might be fun with all the colors I could play with. I don't get to experiment with bright green, lemon yellow, hot pink and purple all that often.
Now for the artistic reason, flexing those observational skills. Painting from a photo takes a certain set of skills. You have to make a 2-dimensional figure look 3-dimesional on a 2-dimensional surface. Painting from life allows you to work your mind in a different way. You are going 3D to 3D on a 2D surface. Still life pieces allow the artist to experiment with lighting, shadows, reflections, etc. Painting horses from life would be ideal, but at least these ponies don't move!
Also, one of my biggest handicaps (or just different method I suppose) is that I sketch out everything prior to painting. My sketches onto the canvas are done completely by hand and are not immaculately detailed, but they are more of a guide than a blank canvas. I don't want to ever find myself in a position where I am intimidated by that blank canvas. Instead I want to be able to say that I too can conquer that canvas with simply a brush and paint if I desire. Yes, my first horse painting ever was done this way. It took me a whole year to try again because I thought I couldn't paint horses. I don't want to feel like that again.
So this piece was done simply with my brush and paints, observing how the 3D pony looked in the lighting I had set up as my still life for the month. To say I am happy with it would be an understatement! Sometimes you just don't know what you can do until you try....and sometimes try again and again until it happens!
I told you I was going to do that spunky little Appaloosa and I am. In fact he'll be done tonight and ready for posting tomorrow! Till then enjoy my little toy pony piece.
Remember, most of these pieces are listed on eBay starting at the $0.99 bid. If you see something that must be in your collection or you want to start a collection, don't forget to follow the link at the bottom of the page and place your bids!
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