WIP #2 Herding Border Collie Painting

Here is the next installment on this little Border Collie painting. I am working on the perspective trying to achieve the correct depth between the dog and the sheep. I am having a bit of time with the sheep due to poor reference photos! Does anyone have any good reference photos of sheep coming towards you that I could you use? Drop me a comment or an email at deborah@deborahosullivan.com I would be eternally grateful! :)Thanks!
This quite a bit more to be done on it. It is a small 10 x 8 acrylic on gessoed hardboard.

Herding Dog Art - A Work In Progress

The dog paintings are flowing off the paintbrush these days. This painting is a combination of images brought together. I am using my own ref photos of Ireland, my Border Collie herding and separate sheep photos. I brought them together to create this little painting. Keep in mind that this is very much a work in progress. Now that the mainn ideas are blocked in I will start to work on deepening the values to create depth and interest. I am fascinated with working Border Collies...and I am hoping to catch that fascination and excitement in this painting. This is a 10 x 8 acrylic on gessoed board. Image is clickable for an enlarged view!

Don't forget the March Studio Sale at my Etsy shop. Some really nice original pieces available at very affordable prices! Epona Etsy Shop

Another Border Collie Painting Completed

Boy, I have sure been going to the dogs lately! No worries though, finishing up a large dressage painting and have another smaller horse painting in the works. This watercolor is the final painting from the series of WIPS (Works In Progress) that I have posted here on the blog. Scroll down to see the painting come together. I am pretty much calling it done. It gets to sit about my studio for a bit where I may tweak it a bit here or there. In fact, I see a little something right now that needs to be tweaked! It's all in a days work. :-) This is 12 x 10 watercolor on Arches 140Hot Press, most favorite watercolor support. As always it is untitled! So ideas are welcome! Image is clickable for an enlarged view!

Celebrating Tess

I was organizing my computer and found some photos of Tess, my beautiful Border Collie, and me playing on the agility course. Next to herding sheep (and Guinea Hens) and playing ball.. agility is one of Tess's most enjoyed activities. She is intense super,super fast ( I have to work very hard to keep up on course and place myself strategically so she doesn't have to wait for me) and she just never stops smiling! So for fun I thought I'd post a few photos of us having some fun! For those of you who don't know about Tess. I got her from a Border Collie rescue here in the North East. With her previous owner she spent the first year of her life locked in a crate for most of the day because of her intensity level. I am incredibly lucky to have her. She is the most amazing dog, incredibly smart, trusting and just so much fun. She always makes me laugh. She is always so joyful..We can learn a thing or two from our dogs in that regards. So without further ado here is Tess and I having some fun!


Here I am trying to remember the course... she is so fast that I have to know exactly where I am going! There is no time to even think...Tess is rolling her eyes! I always get lost on course!



Case in point...the rocket is out of the tunnel......and where am I?



Tess up on the dog walk...I am staying with her here to try and get her to slow down a bit so she won't miss her contact on the ramp down.


Now she is supposed to be holding her stay her at the start of the course so I can get a nice big lead in. I can then send her and KEEP UP!! :-) However, if you look closely..Little Miss Let's Get On With This has her butt off the ground and is creeping to the first jump!



My happy girlie!



So there you have it!

I do have some updates from the art end of things. I received notification last week that 2 pieces of my horse art have been accepted for cover art for The Chronicle of The Horse magazine. I am very excited about that. I have also been invited to participate in an artist Slide Slam here in New York. There will 10 artists altogether and we each have 10 minutes to show slides of our work and (lord help me) talk about the art... I hate public speaking... Other that that I really don't know what to expect and will know more when we do a trial run through. If any of you folks have ever done or been to a Slide Slam can you pop me a comment and let me know more about them? Off to the studio to earn a living! Enjoy!

Some more paintings

Last night's painting session has resulted in this Border Collie playing in the water. I really enjoyed painting this one. This is an 8 x 10 acrylic on gessoed hardboard.
I have also enjoyed the reasonably warm weather and took my pochade out and did a small plein air painting. This is our barn painted from the driveway...still cold..stil some snow. I really enjoy painting outside. This one is a small 5 x7 ,acrylics on canvas panel.

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

March Studio Sale!

Time to think spring and take stock of my studio inventory and make room for my new paintings. So now is your chance to take advantage and get the piece you have your eye on! I offered several pieces of ORIGINAL artwork for sale for the month of March in my Etsy store! Feel free to make offers AND I offer a layaway plan offer artwork with price tags over $100. Details at my shop site! My store is at Epona Studio

I am also very excited to announce that I heave been invited to join the Etsy Whoa Horse Artist Group. Whoa Blog

Foal Painting

I want to give a warm thanks to all of the folks who have purchased my artwork and for the emails of kind praise . Thank you for helping me stay in business and appreciating the art that I so lovingly create. It is much appreciated! In these tough economic times I will be offering a lot more small, affordable works so that you may have the opportunity to purchase an original piece of artwork at an affordable cost. Nothing brightens your wall better than an original painting that touches your heart.
I completed this painting last evening. Here an adorable foal sketch done in acrylics. I just love his long eyelashes! This a 10 x 8 gem done on canvas panel. It is ready to pop into a stock frame and hang on your wall. As always title suggestions are welcome!! Available for purchase. Click here to purchase .

Border Collie Puppy update

I have put some more painting time into this so time for a new update. I have added quite few more glazes of Ult Blue, Perm Alizarian Crimson and Davey's Grey. I am trying to find the darks and balance at this point. I have a ratty old brush that I use to do fur. I need to do bit of lifting next and some more glazes on the nose for the next step. I am pretty happy with this so far. Watercolor, 14 x 11 on Arches Hot Press

Playing with my paints!

I homeschool my son with a Waldorf style curriculum and we do a lot of watercolor painting. So yesterday I joined him in one of his wet-on-wet projects and just played with my watercolors. This was unbelievably freeing (and fun)! I didn't know where it was going but out of the mingling colors I found interesting shapes and themes that are very familiar to me. This quite large..18 x 24...I usually work 11 x 16 or smaller. If you have been stuck or used to working in a certain way I highly recommend trying something like this and just letting loose. It was quite intimidating at first! I had no plan.... just a jar of water, a big sheet of white paper and a big brush..... untitled, M Graham watercolors on Arches CP paper. It is a bit washed out from the flash. I apologize for that. The colors are much more vibrant and brilliant IRL.

New Border Collie Painting WIP

I have been doing so much acrylic work lately that I've been itching to get back to my watercolors. WC's are my most favorite medium and I particularly enjoying painting dogs with them. This posted image is my latest effort. I found this really cute BC pup in the Wet Canvas reference library. I am using a very limited palette for this painting..6 colors. Aliz. Crimson, Yellow Ochre, Cobalt, Payne's Grey, Indigo and Gamboge. This is the early stages of many glazes. I work wet on wet at this point just buillding up layers, mixing color on the paper and pushing the paint around. I just get in the zone, listening to Jack Johnson and playing with my watercolors! No title as of yet so I would love some suggestions. I am really bad at coming up with titles!:-)
This painting measures 14 x 11 on Arches Hot Press, M Grahams.

Tess, my Border Collie

This one was so much fun to paint. I have a GREAT photo of my Border Collie, Tess, that has a bit of distortion and makes her nose big! I decided to run with it and paint this because it just captures her with her most delightful smile. I need to brighten the whites on the top of head a bit more but it is pretty much done. Tess can almost always be found with me, involved with whatever I happen to be doing or not doing! She is my best girl. This one is not for sale...it will be hanging up in my studio. Need a title for this... so comments welcomed! This is acrylic, 8 x10 on masonite panel.

I have 4 more paintings that are almost finished so I will getting those posted this week. But now I am going make my way down (across the ice) to the barn,feed the chickens and get the locked up for the night before Mr. Fox pays a visit!

Pochade Box

It has been freezing cold here in the North East and what better time to be hitting the studio. We are starting to get a bit of cabin fever and I am so looking forward to getting outside to paint again. On that note I thought I would post about my newest addition to the studio. This was a Christmas gift from my husband. It is an Alla Prima Pochade box. I have a small 6 x 8 Guerilla Thumbox which I adore (I have the acrylic set up) and is perfect for 5 x7 and 6 x 8 panels and is so easy to take along. But I have been wanting something for the slightly bigger panels. I love working with 8 x 10's and 11 x 14s.
These gorgeous Alla Prima boxes are handmade here in the U.S. by Ben Haggert. This model is the 11 x 14 Bitterroot and it perfect for my 8 x 10 and 11 x 14 panels. It also has a plate for a tripod. I LOVE it!!! And Ben is a real pleasure to do business with. Highly recommended. Here is the link for more info Bitterroot Pochade.
Off to finish that little foal painting sitting on the pochade!
Stay warm!

Gypsy Vanner, and Daily Painting

As promised here are 2 new paintings. The first is from the Daily Riding Essential collection titled Mane Comb. This is 6 x 8 acrylic on canvas panel.

The second painting I actually started a while ago and got stuck with it. I dusted it off and and completed it this week. I really like painting these Gypsy Vanners. This one is un-titled so suggestions are most welcome! This is acrylic, 14 x 11 on gallery wrapped canvas. Both paintngs are available for sale. Images are clickable for enlarged view.

Back to Work!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I took a bit of a break from blogging and now it is back to work or as my son says "back to fun"! I have been busy painting. Later today I will post a new Daily Riding Essentials painting and a larger Gypsy Vanner.

I am thrilled to announce that my husband ,Brian,(that's him pictured above with our Doberman, Joey) has joined me in my business to help promote and market my artwork. I call this his Andy Warhol pic!He is a horseman and one of my biggest fans! :-) So feel free to welcome him in the comments area!

I have big plans for my newsletter this year. As some of you already know I have spent most of my life teaching riders and training horse. My specialty is equine and rider biomechanics. I can help riders learn how to really ride using non traditional methods that really work! Since so many of my subscribers are horsepeople I have decided to include articles on riding/training, horsemanship and holistic horse care in my studio newsletter. To subscribe to the on-line newsletter go to Email Newsletter Sign-up . Your information will never be shared and NO SPAM EVER! If you prefer to get the newsletter by snail mail fill out my contact for form and enter you mailing address in the comments area. Again your info will never be shared!
Snail Mail Sign-up

This morning I have been listening to the SmARTist Telesummit Free Pre-event audio downloads this morning. Click here for Audio Download. I highly recommend them to all working artists, particularly, Alyson Stanfield's marketing audio. Tomorrow night is a free teleconference on using Facebook to market your artwork. You have to sign up here.

Lots of catching up to do!! So more later!

Happy Holidays!

I want to wish everyone happy holidays and healthy and prosperous new year!

Warmest regards,

Deborah
www.ArtoftheHorse.net

New Daily Riding Essentials Paintings

Okay, as promised! Here are three new little paintings. These make awesome little groupings for tack rooms or trainer/client gifts. These cute little gems will also become available as notecards and prints in the new year. So sign up for my newsletter for updates. Epona Studio Newsletter
This is a great opportunity to own an ORIGINAL ArtOfTheHorse.net painting at a super affordable price! I, also, wanted to mention that on several occasions I have had buyers miss out on purchasing a particular painting because someon got to it first. If this happens I can recreate a very similar painting, remember , these ARE originals to complete a vignette. So let me know if one of the paintings is gone and you would like the similar one and I would be happy to paint another one!
The first painting is titled Pony Brush (pictured above). This is my son's little, well used P'ferde brush for his pony, Ruby. Thats the cute little lady with my son a few years back at their first horse show!



This little gem of a painting measures 6 x 8 and is ready to pop into a frame. Acrylic on canvas panel so no glass needed! $12 + $4.65 for Priority Mail shipping guarantees holiday delivery. I can fit several of these into one envelope so I am more than happy to combine shipping!
Just click on the Buy Now button and you will be directed to Paypal for safe, secure shopping.

SOLD



The second offering is titled Hoof Pick. This is familiar item for us horse people. At least it better be! ;-) This measures 6 x 8, acrylic on canvas panel. Offered for $12 + $4.65 Priority Mail shipping.

SOLD



This final original painting titled Bucket& Scraper is, surprisingly :-), of a bath bucket and sweat scraper on a bright,sunny day. You can almost smell the Vetrolin! I really love the colors in this one. This is painted on a 6 x 8 inch canvas panel with acrylics. Offered for $12 plus $4.65 Priority Mail shipping.

SOLD

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The final order of the day are gift certificates. I have gotten several requests for portraits but I cannot fit in anymore portraits in time for holiday delivery. I CAN offer Gift certificates. These will,also, be available on my website. The Certificates offered here are for an 11 x 14 acrylic on canvas, single horse or dog (head/neck) portrait from your photo. Price is $380 and include shipping and insurance. If you need a different size, samples and/or more info please contact me at deborah@artofthehorse.net

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!!!!

Update

One week left til Christmas! My son is chomping at the bit!! :-) I wanted to thank all of my new collectors ! I have been so busy trying to keep up with orders so my posting has gotten a bit backed up!
Tomorrow I will post 3 new small Daily Riding Essential paintings. You can pick them up with plenty of time to receive them for holiday gift giving! I have been getting requests for portraits for Christmas gifts. I do not have any spots open to have paintings completed in time for the holidays but I DO have gift certificates available! If you need one now drop me an email. Otherwise, I will post PayPal Gift Certificate button here on the blog and on my website tomorrow. I must hit that easel tonight but I did want to post an update since I have had so any inquiries! Hoe everyone is making merry and enjoying the season!

Sporthorse and Bullmastiff

I have 2 more little framed prints for sale today! The first is a titled Sporthorse and is a print of a original watercolor painted by moi.The image measures 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches with a 1 1/2 inch cream mat. The frame is a thin black laquer frame. It comes complete and ready to hang or stand on a tabletop. Price is $18 + $8.00 shipping.
Click on the Buy Now button to be directed to Paypal for safe,secure shopping.

This would make a wonderful gift for that horse person in your life!

The second print is not a horse but a Bullmastiff. This is titled Waiting and is a print from a watercolor original. This image measures 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches with a 1 1/2 inch cream mat. The frame is a thin black laquer frame. It comes complete and ready to hang or stand on a tabletop. Price is $18 + $8.00 shipping.
Click on the Buy Now button to be directed to Paypal for safe,secure shopping!

Happy shopping and Happy Holidays!

The Lip

Today's offered image is a print of an original watercolor painting titled The Lip. I so love this expression! This print comes framed in a black enameled metal frame,is behind glass and matted. The frame has a stand for propping up on a table or you can hang it. Ready for gift giving!
SOLD!