Rena the Bay Mare

I recently had the pleasure of painting Rena, an endurance horse owned by Debra J., from MN.   If I remember correctly, Rena was a rescue horse, who had some issues that were tough to overcome, but look at her now!   A beautiful deep bay with sparkling eyes!     Thank you Ms. Debra for the honor of painting this lovely mare!

Here's the start, on a piece of chocolate brown Colorfix paper.   I transferred my sketch, added a deep background with blues, browns and purples.   I hit the highlights and areas where her coat is the most rich in color.   And tagged on her tail, which she often has flipped to this side, love a mare with some 'tude!




Here's a close up of her face, almost done.  I went back in and worked her eyes a bit more, adding some sparkle.  

And the (almost)final.   I went back once more and added some definition around her muzzle, and yet again, didn't take another photo.   ugh, I would love to quit making that mistake!!     This painting has since made it to Debra, who was pleased.      Can I paint your critter?    Paintings are easy to ship and I've never heard anyone claim buyer's remorse from getting original artwork!!

Rena's Ready!

This mare is a real lovely lady from Minnesota.  Her name is Rena and her owner is Deb, and they do long distance riding.   Deb sent me photos to work from and with those and her input, I created this portrait.   Its 16x20 on dark brown sanded paper. 

Here's the block in---The outline is there, the highlights are there, and a hint of the background.   Just to mention, this is the second time I started this.  The first start was all wrong.  and I just couldn't ignore it and move on, it had to get fixed.   So I washed it down with mineral spirits, creating part of the dark background Deb had asked for.   then re-sketched Rena and this time, it was right. 

here's a close up of her lovely deep eyes.   IRL (in real life) the eye is much more dark, guess I'll never make a good photographer!   

 The finished Rena, and will be on her way to Deb very soon!