Progression Post for "Rack On"

I finished this painting today and thought I'd add a quick post to show some of the progression shots I took that may give an idea of the development of it.


1-The sketch. Some paintings I start with a blank canvas and do not sketch the scene or figure. However, when the entire focus is on a particular subject, I like to get the framework down first before starting to paint.As you can see by the original, I did some fiddling with the rider before going on to the painting stage. When I did the original sketch I was thinking about an old trainer of mine who had this trick of making his hat fly off whenever the signal for Rack On was called in the ring. It gave the impression of more power... and often worked. I also did some perspective work on the horse's legs, and decided to get rid of the background fencing in favor of no background scenery at all.

2-The values. Starting out, I just did black and white contrasts to show the shadow areas. In this piece, because the final color of the horse and rider's suit are black, I went just a little further and added some grays. The black parts can be as subdued or strong in the final piece as I need them to be, but some of it will always come through as a shadow. In this painting, however, the animal is black, the suit and hat worn by the rider is black and the saddle is black. On top of that, I made the background dark with some black in it (later on). That made it very important to find the values right at the start, so highlights to help the different areas stand out. I apologize for not getting a picture of the values stage. It's pretty close to the next picture, just minus the tan areas.

3-The 1st wash. This is a shade applied over all or some parts of a painting to shade in the upper color areas of the values. This first wash was a brown wash applied to the entire painting. In retrospect, I would have only washed the horse and rider, and left the background untouched by this layer. Both wash layers darkened the background a lot, and made it darker than I would have liked as a contrast in the final piece.

4-Second wash. This is a dark blue wash over the entire piece. Again, in retrospect I would have only washed the horse and rider's suit and hat. I didn't wash the blue wash over the rider's skin.



5-Final Wash- Black wash. Over horse only. I did not get a picture of this stage. Sorry. It would have been helpful to see how dark it could get after using a black wash, but it was an important stage for a black animal. Highlights are what bring out the horse, not shadows as in some paintings.

The final painting after all the highlighting and fine parts are added like bridal, ribbons, reins and stirrups.

Original 9x12 acrylic on canvas pad available for sale: $270. Email me for payment options.

Prints available HERE