Friday, April 19, 2013

Light of Foot


 'Light of Foot' 
9 x 12 inches oil on gesso board 
$275 plus $10 US shipping, or $20 International 
 
“When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes. ”
― William Shakespeare, Henry V 


This is the largest oil painting that I've ever done so far and it was a lot of fun. The funny thing is that as I was painting it, it didn't seem that much bigger than my 5 x 7's. I wonder at what point I'll be able to feel a difference? Four feet by four feet maybe? Har har, I jest. ;)

 With watercolors I can always tell a difference right away when I go up in size, because the timing and control of your water all needs to change when you have a larger area to cover. 
In any case my goal with this painting was to give an impression of speed and power. I painted the horse's body very quickly, and I tried really hard not to go back in once I had put a stroke of paint down, hoping that the energy of my brushstroke would show through in the power of the horse.

I hope you all have a great weekend! It's a grey, chilly day here in Utah but hopefully tomorrow will be different.

Reference photo, with thanks, by Limit of Gold on deviantART

11 comments:

  1. Wow! Just incredible! The movement, the lighting, the color--just wow!

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  2. beautifully done crystal!!! such movement and strength! you are incredible!

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  3. Lovely! I like the quote too.

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  4. Hi Crystal,
    Have not been able to visit blogger for a while. So I missed a lot I guess. But I am loving everything you have posted in these days. Your oils also have the glow of watercolors. And of course your paintings have Cook written all over it. :) I am amazed again.

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  5. I love this painting, Crystal and was surprised to read oil painting!..I first thought it was watercolor...Gorgeous work!!!

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  6. You do catch the spirit of horses beautifully. I too am amazed when I seem how adept at oils you are as well as with pastels. Awesome (to use an over-used word), but true.

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  7. Bags of bold action and bold strokes really dynamic, Crystal. I haven't tried anything but acrylics yet ... are you still numbering your oil paintings?

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  8. De la puissance dans ce cheval, c'est vraiment extraordinaire.
    J'aime la belle ondulation de sa crinière et de sa queue et les étonnantes nuances de couleurs avec ce bleu qui illumine votre équidé et lui apporte ce petit "truc électrique" qui suggère encore plus de mouvement et de fluidité.
    Une très jolie oeuvre.

    Un très grand merci pour votre gentillesse et vos mots délicats laissés sur mon blog. Ils me touchent beaucoup et m'apportent un grand réconfort. Mille mercis encore.
    Gros bisous à vous.

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  9. When I saw the thumbnail I thought it was watercolor and thought "wow", then came to check out the big image and see it's oils and am still thinking "WOW", it really has a lot of energy

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  10. Love the color, the movement, the light and the energy in the painting! Er -everything about it :)

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  11. I think it is absolutely beautiful! And you really have captured the speed and power of the horse. And the sunlit coat against the dark background just sings out!! :0))

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment they really do mean so much to me! Because not all bloggers have their email enabled so I can reply directly through email I will try to reply here in the comments. If I don't please forgive me, life must have been hectic that day! :)) Huzzah!!

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