Canine Watercolors from March and April 2010

Chihuahua-watercolor--3x4.5 inches--Couldn't resist this one. He was in a bag which a girl had looped over her saddle horn at a horse expo. I did not exaggerate the size of the ears at all.

Another image of the Bassett Hound, "Woodie"--8x10.5 inches watercolor of good old Woodie, doing what he does best...tracking. The colors are brighter in the original. I gave this to Woodie's owner to thank him for the 2 horses he brought down for me to use.

The next 5 images are what I call Warmup Exercises. Most of them are about 3.5x5 inches. I read about warmup on another artist's, Robert Burridge, website (no affiliation). It is a fun way to work, just devil may care attitude, get it down with not worries, experiment with images, composition, and color.

"St. B" again--Watercolor--3.5X5 inches watercolor. Part of my little dog series.

Two more warm-ups of a little French Bulldog.

That funny little Chihuahua again.

Bernese Mountain Dog--watercolor--3.5x5 inches

Bernese Mountain Dog--3.5x5 inches----playing with warm and cool colors on these 2

2010 Watercolors January through March

Gypsy--14"x10" -- on 140 lb. cold press.

St. B--Watercolor, 4.5"X3"- Strathmore cold press.

Bassett Hound, "Woodie"--Done on reused water color paper. 3.5 X 4 inches on 140 lb Strathmore cold press.

Cob--3.5X 4 inches on Strathmore 140 lb. cold press.

Art Work from 2009

Learning more and more.

Halflinger--Watercolor--4.5"x3"--Strathmore Cold Press paper

Arab--Watercolor--5"x3.5"--Strathmore Cold Press paper

Border Terrier, "Tater"--Watercolor--4.5"x3"--Strathmore Cold Press paper

I gave this painting to my cousin, Lesley, who raises Border Terriers.

Chihuahua--Watercolor--4.5"x3"--Strathmore Cold Press paper

Saw this little dog at a dog show and couldn't resist the wall-eyed face.

Australian Shepard, "Hannah"--Watercolor--9.5"x7.5"--Arches Cold Press paper

I painted this pretty girl for my neighbors, who helped me bury my little pony, Red, last year.

Jack Russell Terrier, "Monty"--Watercolor--5"x3.5"--Strathmore Cold Press paper

Monty is owned by a women who lives in a town near here. Jack Russells have such great attitudes and energy.

The next 3 images are different views of the "Trojan Horse" I made in ceramics class last year. He was about 15.5"x13". My style of building ceramics horses takes weeks to finish, but the effects are great. This one was stolen from the ceramics studio at school. I guess it would be called an underhanded compliment.

2008 Ceramics Projects

Spring of 2008, I took a class in ceramics. Started using horses as a motif. 

The reclaimed stoneware came out looking almost like granite in the first 4 images below. The pinch pot was perfect for cave art, something I have been fascinated by for years. The pinch pot is about 10.5" wide, and 7.5" tall.

The above 2 images I call "Rosanante" after Don Quixote's horse. She's about 8.5" tall and 12" long.

More from 2008

More sketches and watercolor paintings from 2008. These are taken from some of my stuff done from February through June. The first 3 were sketches from life which I did while Gayle and I were camping up in the Sierras.

Horses don't stand still for long. These are of Gayle's Arab, Shazam.

This is not a momma and baby horse. It is just a couple of horses which were waiting for breakfast.

This is a couple of studies of my pony, Red.

The two above are experiments which I tried. Watercolor-10"x14"-140lb cold press

Fjord-14"x10"-140lb cold press

Donkey-10"x14"-140lb cold press

Watercolor pencil sketch of little Red boy. 

Watercolor pencil sketch of little Red boy done during lunch stop on a trail ride.

Watercolor pencil sketch of Missy the mule. Done on a trail ride lunch break.

Watercolor pencil sketch of someone's horse. Done on a trail ride lunch break.

Watercolor pencil sketch of Little Red boy standing in his barn. 

Watercolor pencil study of little Red boy.

Sketches from January 2009

It was January of 2008 and I was practicing more on drawing and painting. The first 3 images were done on one of our trail riding excursions. During lunch, I like to pull out my watercolor pencils, waterbrush, and sketchbook. My riding buddy, Gayle, is patient and likes to relax while I play with the pencils, etc. 

The first sketch is always like a warmup.

Once I have looked things over, I can get more into what goes on with my subjects.

During the week long power outage in early January 2008, I had few distractions, so was able to play with my sketching and painting. The next 5 images were done using some of my photographs as sources. 

Little Red Boy was always a favorite source for me. He is gone now, but I still have those photos for inspiration.

The horses in the back field are also there for me to draw (g) from. 

Then there are my outdoor cats. I will be using them in future sketches from life. 

This is one of the lamps we use during power outages. Drawn from the source directly.