A Girl and Her Horse

My niece loves horseback riding. The freedom and peace she finds when she is out riding is the feeling that I hoped to capture in my painting.

I have looked for quite some time for a reference photo that might do that happiness justice and landed upon this one. But I thought it might be something I would want to attempt later, when I had more painting experience.

I came across this photo again and decided to give it a go. Things were going pretty well until the second morning of painting when I received a phone call. I reached for the phone, bumping my paints and sent the blue/black paint pan sailing through the air in a perfectly executed somersault,

over my painting,

over my desk,

landing upside down

on the carpet...sigh.

I flew into action, grabbing carpet cleaner, bucket and sponges and managed to get most of it up. The carpet is gray so at least it is now barely noticeable. I turned back to my desk and what did I see? Oh No! As the paint pan made its trajectory leap over my desk, it splotched paint all over the bottom of my painting! It was still wet, so I blotted off as much as I could and just shut the door and walked away. My thoughts were to let it dry completely before coming back to see if I could fix it. I was fortunate that the paint splotches landed on the jacket or I don't think I would have been able to salvage it. But as it turned out, I think I managed to mostly cover up my mess.

I enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and painting not only the horse, but the little girl. I loved her pearl earring and used Daniel Smith Pearlescent White to give it a bit of shimmer. Other colors used were:

Black mix comprised of Indigo Blue and Lamp Black, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Indigo, Gray Mix comprised of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Potters Pink, Brown, Quinacridone Rose, Leaf Green, and Lemon Yellow. Painted on Arches Watercolor Board, 300 lb. and 9 in x 12 in.

Back to birds of the garden next week and I have my eye on a steer I would love to paint.

Happy Trails!

Helen

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American Bald Eagle