horses on silk

The weather has changed, and so I have painted these mustangs running in excitement as horses do when the wind brings in a new weather system. Horses have long been a standard in Chinese art, representing both freedom and strength combined with grace.

This painting is sold.

I have added color although it is much bluer, less green, than it appears here. I might darken the colors somewhat, but am not yet sure that it is a good idea to make the clouds stand out more.

sumi horses painted on Chinese silk

I am now working on a commission and trying to paint something similar to a painting that sold last May. Many people expressed interest in the painting and one has asked for one like it. I normally don't accept commissions, but this is for a friend of a friend, and so...I will try. I often paint what I think of as wild horses, or mustangs, running free, though one of these paintings looks more like two ponies just running in for their dinner. I love horses and painting on silk is a departure for me; it is quite different from painting on rice paper because it is heavily sized and that makes it tough to get the soft grays I usually strive for. It is good to experiment, however.

And so I will continue to paint horses on silk for a while...

8-8-08

Today's ditty, painted while working at the gallery. A light-hearted watercolor sketch on rag paper done in the midst of a bustling crowd of tourists. Colts playing at the beach...

Here is a sketch of the beach view I enjoyed last week. It was misty and rainy and so the sky stayed pale most of the time instead of the intense summer blue it can be at the ocean.

Back from a week at the beach where it rained a lot, but I did manage to complete one small painting of the wild fushia bushes which feed the rufous hummingbirds.

Ritual sumi warmup

This is as far as I got today; I hope to have some paintings to post when I return from vacation at the coast. I had planned to paint some horses, but too many interruptions waylaid that plan.