The final rendition. It looks better in reality than what my camera captured. In about a week or so I will scan it and add it to my works under oils. That will be a more true representation of the painting.

I apologize for the small size of my blog images. They just won't go any bigger. I thought it might be nice to explain a little bit about how I paint many of my backgrounds and foregrounds with grasses.
I like to make the backgrounds like an out of focus photo. I just hint that there are trees or brush. I have barely started this background but it really needs to be done wet in wet. I start with loosely brushing in the dark shapes, then I will add lighter colors making soft edges between lights and darks. Then the magic happens...with a paper towel I softly blend and actually remove some of the paint. You will see the results later on.
The foreground paint is laid in with a brush or pallet knife. I rough the edges and add texture with the flat bottom of the pallet knife sometimes drawing paint up into more distinct grass shapes with the edge of the knife. After it dries a day or so, I then sometimes use a sea sponge to add more distinct brush and bushes.
So much for this. I have to get back at it before my paint gets too dry.

This piece has really taken a turn away from my usual realistic style to a more contemporary feel. I am having more fun than ever with it. I started by laying in the light grey on the rear horse. The rider in the photo reference was wearing a ball cap and so was the guy in the background. So, I looked through my endless photos of cowboys and found some facing the same way as the ones in my painting. As many of you know cowboy hats are often an indicator of a cowboy's general location. I chose some fairly generic styles that work just about anywhere.

Now, I have a question for you. Does my rider on the bay in the lead look at all like an Indian?

I'm talking about a modern youth. If I made him in traditional costume, I'd have to remove the blue wraps on the horses ankles, and I really like them. That's why I decided to make this contemporary. I'm afraid if I make his hair long, which some young Indians do wear these days, he'd look like a girl.

Also, you may notice he's got two whips. I'll be covering one when I do the background.

This session was done the same day as session one. Late afternoons get pretty warm in my second floor studio, but I just had to add some color. I laid in my darks in session two. It looks pretty blah at this stage and it was hard to stop, but when sweat starts dripping into your eyes it's time to shut 'er down.

Finally, I've started a new painting and I'm so excited about it! Ken and I have gone to a couple of stampede-type of cross country horse races the last two weeks and we have some great photos for me to paint from. Horses and riders charging downhill, running flat out cross country, and splashing across rivers!

This is just my preliminary drawing and will likely change some as I begin painting. The guy in the lead is an Indian from Omak, Wash. who won the race. I've never seen anyone ride like this kid. He was absolutely without fear, and his horse was no less committed to winning. I will probably paint them again as they plunged into the river.

I chose to paint on a shallow but wide 12X30 canvas to exaggerate the stretched out leading horse. It's fun doing something like that once in awhile.

Hopefully, I won't be so distracted the rest of the month, so I can update you on my progress more often.