animals, dogs, horses, cats, people

Horseshoeing Day

horseshoeing-day-web

When the farrier comes to the ranch, it’s a happy day.  This watercolor tells the story of one such hard working shoer who tends to his horses and does the job well.  The horses like the attention and very often, they seem to feel better with a nice trim.  The owners are happy because it’s the healthy thing to do and they know they are fending off problems with their animals and keeping them healthy and happy.
Drawing and painting horses and complete story-telling scenes is a lifelong challenge.  Whenever I do one, it feels good but at the same time it makes me a little tired.  Painting single images, like an apple or a tree is an exercise I view as a quick challenge to get the information down with feeling and as quickly as possible.  After it is done, I always ask myself, “was this a clear image?”  “could I have done this better,  and was it worth the effort, etc. etc.  Well, I think there is a little conclusion to this that makes sense to me and it’s this:   I think storytelling images need to be big.  I don’t think they read well when they are small and intimate.  Well, onward and I won’t belabor it.

 

 

 

animals, dogs, horses, cats, Illustrations

Horseshoeing Day is Here

horseshoeing-day-web

When the farrier comes it’s a happy day.  Horses are happy because they get a nice trim and love the attention.  Horse owners are happy because all the problems will be taken care of and it feels so good to have a nice trim.  The farrier is happy because he gets paid. It’s a win-win for everybody.

This is a watercolor that I did partly from a photo and partly from life.  Painting horses is always a challenge but it’s also rewarding.

Here’s the work in my online store.

animals, dogs, horses, cats, Illustrations

2 cats, best buddies, version 3

cats-bestbuds-charcoal-web

Here is the 3rd and most likely the last version of the 2 cats, best buddies. I have been dreaming about doing charcoal.  This one is on watercolor paper and it had too many peaks and valleys in the texture to be good for vine charcoal.  I now have a charcoal pad and I will be playing more with the medium.

So here are the 3 altogether.  I think it is fascinating to draw and paint the same subject from different points of view.  The background of course was made up on the spot and I got a kick out of doing it.  I love the moon as you can probably tell.  It’s in so much of my art.feline-buddies-web

cats-best-buds-wc-web

Here is the charcoal version on a bed blanket

dogs, horses, cats, fantasy illustration, Illustrations, kids

Two Cats are Best Buddies, version 2

cats-best-buds-wc-web

Here is another version of Two Cats Buds.  This one is done in india ink using a speedball nib and colored in watercolor pencils.  I enjoy playing with doing the same art in many variations.  It is a great treat to be able to enjoy these disciplines.

                                   Here is the version #1

Here is the link to see version #2 on product.

feline-buddies-web

animals, dogs, horses, cats, Illustrations, Pen and Ink Drawing

2 cats are “best buds”, version 1

feline-buddies-web

My lovely friend Marta took a picture of 2 cats at the cat shelter here in Mexico, where she volunteers.  They have a lot of kittens, and cats and sr. citizen cats.  I drew these two and got carried away with the stripes and lines.   I fell in love with them and this is the first of a few treatments of these two sweethearts.  I drew them freehand in pen and ink and played a little bit in photoshop.  I will do another few paintings of them and let’s see how they will turn out.

What I love is their little body language.   Here they are on a big zipper pouch.