Rapture.. The Latest Painting by Deborah O'Sullivan

     This gorgeous weather has found me outside the studio working on my plein air skills. It has become quite an addiction! I adore getting out there with the watercolors and seeking out great painting spots.
     I always have two or three pieces going in the studio and I thoroughly enjoy working late into night with my music and Border Collie to keep me company. I have always been a bit of a night owl and find it easier to just get in the zone at night.
     I started  on this latest painting a while back and just hit a wall as to where I was going with it. So I let it sit in a spot where I could constantly just look at it to see what I could come up with. A few nights ago I just popped it onto the easel and literally with no plan just started throwing paint at it.  Literally!  I LOVE the drips on the bottom right and the way the rider just fades away. The horse is my focal point and I just wanted her to pop and not compete with the rider.
     This is much larger than I usually work. Almost a full sheet of Arches Hot Press 140lb paper. Available for sale unframed. The price will go up when I have it framed. MUCH more affordable to ship unframed! $850 includes shipping and insurance.  If you would like to give Rapture a home or would like more photos drop me an email! email  I will be happy to give you the details.Or click here to purchase

 Rapture

All the best,

Deborah

Piaffing Dressage Horse WIP

I had a nice long session in the studio last night and I thought I would post the results of my watercolor painting. This is a WIP of a dressage horse piaffing (or trotting on the spot).. WIP stands for Work-In-Progress. I am at the stage where I will look at it for a couple of days and then I will make changes or additions. This is 10 x 8 on Arches Cold Press. I usually work on hot press but I thought I would give the cp a go. I found that I couldn't push the paint and water around as easily. I used a pretty limited palette of cobalt, ult. blue, yellow ochre, aliz crimson and Payne's grey then azo, sap green and black(for the greens). All images are clickable for an enlarged view.

I worked wet on wet on the background just dropping paint and pushing it around.


Just laying down glazes. Not sure how I wil finish the rider's face. I don't want much detail on his face. So this is one of the things I need to figure out..



Still laying in glazes and playing around with the colors..



This is where I have ended up. I am pretty happy with it so far. I need to work on the bridle, the horse's eye and the rider's face,shirt and boot. Then do some softening of the lines where the colors come together. I don't want to overwork this.

And as always it has no title so suggestions are most happily welcomed! Naming paintings is harder for me that painting them!

Half Pass Dressage Painting

I had a super productive day in the studio today. I had the whole day to myself and I just got into the zone. I am calling this one done...theoretically speaking of course. I may find something that needs tweaking here or there. I struggled with this painting a bit because I went into it without a plan what-so-ever. This is a horse doing a half pass across the diagonal. This is a larger painting..refreshing for me since I have been doing so many small pieces lately. This is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas and measures 18 x 14. It is available for sale! Time to do a new watercolor.. comments always welcome! The image has a bit of glare on it. I apologize for that. Don't forget that all images are clickable for an enlarged view!

Dressaeg Work In Progress

I am posting several images of the progression of this acrylic Dressage painting. I went into this painting without any sort of plan what so ever. Not a good idea...it has gone through many changes and has been a bit of a compositional challenge. I need to get rid of that low fence line..I have added a planter of flowers to break up the line... I need to stare at it for a while. You never know where this one will end up! I welcome discussion or thoughts on where to go compositionaly on this! All images are clickable for an enlarged view

Dressage Watercolor WIP

I have been feeling compelled to do Dressage paintings these days. Here is a WIP (Work In Progress) of a horse in half pass. It is part of my Training Scale series. This one I think will be titled Supple. I have completed Connection and Collection. Next will be Forward and Straight. Voila the training scale! You Dressage people know what I am talking about. I naturally did this one so that is slightly too large for my scanner! I have his ears and tail cut off and a few inches from the bottom. But you can get the idea. I plan to finish this tonight. So will post the final this weekend.

I have had so many wonderful comments on my Baroque ACEO that I decided to go ahead and paint it in acrylics. I am very happy with the result. Titled Baroque 3 (for want of a better name) I am very pleased with the result. I am looking for a better title so feel free to suggest a new name in the comments area of the blog! Available fo sale on my website.
Acrylic on canvas board
unframed
12 x 8
$250

Click for details!

To Purchase Baroque3

Some new art!

Well, I have been BUSY creating new art! When I am painting I get behind on updating my blog! This newest paintin is acrylics on gallery wrapped canvas,measures 11 x 14 and it is titled Midnight Rendezvous. This is a very manly stallion that we brought a mare to. We had a late start and arrived up at Saratoga around midnight. When the mare was being prepped for breeding I caught a glimpse of this very handsome boy peering out at us from his backlit stall watching us. I thought it would make a wonderful impromptu painting. So here it is. Prints are available on EBAY by clicking here Prints on Ebay!
The original is available for sale
Price - $450
For a safe, secure purchase click

Art in the works

I have been getting quite a few requests for large pieces of art. I have several in the works right now. One is a watercolor Dressage piece on a full sheet of watercolor paper and measures 23 x 30. I will post a photo of it if I can keep my 8 year old son from stealing the camara batteries! :-) The second is a large acrylic piece of a show jumper. Photos coming. So for those of you who have requested show jumping art .....it is on the way! After all show jumping used to be my first love ...then I discovered dressage. The third one I am working on is a polo piece in acrylic and it is a riot of color that I hope conveys the excitement of the game. Again "MUST FIND BATTERIES!"
So photos coming. Keep the inquiries coming and feel free to post comments! If you have questions or would like to be added to mailing list ,please, feel free to pop me an email. I am very approachable and thoroughly enjoy hearing from fellow horse and art enthusiasts!

New ACEO

And yet another ACEO card. This is called Baroque 2 and is acrylics on Arches cold press paper. It measures 2.5 x 3.5. Here is an opportunity to own an original piece of artwork. To learn more about ACEO check out this link (will open on a different window) Art Cards and Originals

To purchase this card click on the Ebay link..
SOLD!

Here is the Final...New Dressage Painting

Here is the final for my latest Dressage painting.This is second in this Dressage series and titled Collection! It measures 11 x 14 and is painted with M Graham watercolors on Arches Hot Press. Be sure to click on the image to see the painting enlarged ! Giclee prints now available on Ebay!


Click to Purchase Print

Original available unframed $650
To buy now using Paypal or a major credit click the buy now button