Irish Cream

This is a long way from finished.  When done, it will be a portrait of a beautiful pair of Irish Draught Horses, a winning team from Tralee Stables.



I began as usual, with several photographs.  I chose this one to use for the pose, but I will need to refer to many others in order to get the harness correct.  There are so many buckles and straps that all fit together and they have to be exactly right, so one photo doesn't give me all the information I need.  This is often the case, and the reason I take so many when painting from references.  For example, one horse has his eyes half shut.  I'll need another photo to get the eyes right.

I started out with a pencil sketch.  I'll trace out the general shape of the pose, and then fill in with detail as I define shapes, overlaps and areas of greatest interest.  It's at this stage that I make most of the decisions that will result in the overall image...where to place each element, how big each piece is, and how they all relate to each other.

Sometimes, I do this in the computer, as it's easier to move things around and change their sizes and relationships in Photoshop than it is with bits of tracing paper...not to mention a LOT cleaner!

Once I have the general layout the way I want it, I begin laying in some basic colour in transparent washes, so I can see how the lights and darks are going to work together.

This painting is acrylic, so it takes a long time to build up the colours in the glazing technique I use.  I've put in some of the basic undertones, and have begun to work over them to get closer to the final image.  Some of the details are completed, but once the whole piece has been done, I will go back and sharpen or blur them, and play with the values to make sure that the main areas of interest are the most detailed, while those of less importance are less focused.

I hope to have this done by the beginning of October, 2007, for my first show in California.