Third Polo Pony!

Began a new painting yesterday, though I didn't go with the square format as originally planned.  I really like these tight crops, and this one is even tighter, and larger.  At 18x24 it's the biggest piece so far.  I often shy away from large paintings, but it's good to challenge yourself now and then.

I actually really like how it looks at the moment.  I'm just blocking in the light and dark, giving the horse and rider form, but there's something about the loose brushstrokes that really appeals.  I'm much more carefree with the paint when blocking in the undercoat, something that I wish I could do with the final touches.  I sometimes get too "precious", as one of my art teachers used to say.  I think with this larger piece, because there's more information, more area to cover, I could attempt a looser, less controlled look.  That's the plan anyway.

Second Polo Pony finished

 Polo Pony II - 12x16"

I got back into my studio yesterday after a short hiatus.  Hurricane Sandy turned off the power for 24 hours last week, and put a bit of a damper on my motivation to paint, but I'm back into the swing of things again.  I count myself lucky that's all that happened.  I know a lot of people in Rhode Island were in the dark for several days, and of course there are those along the coast who lost their homes completely.  Terrible stuff.

Anyway, I'm still not 100% sold on this painting.  Maybe too much detail, which I'm trying to avoid.  But then it sometimes takes me a while to mentally and emotionally distance myself from a painting and see it from a different perspective.  Like a large piece I painted a few years ago of a grouping of houses on the Cape.  The moment I completed it I decided I hated how it looked, then a year or so later I rediscovered it in my studio and realized it wasn't so bad after all.  It's now hanging in my sun room, and I look at it every day.  If I can live with a painting and not get bored of looking at it, then I feel I've done a good job.

I plan to start on my third polo pony this afternoon.  I haven't finalized the composition, but I feel another square painting coming on.  It'll be fun to play around with ideas.