Front Field II - Lone Pony

Today I am painting with the Buckhorn Artists' Group and I decided to work in pen and ink.

I pulled out this drawing that I had started a number of years ago (see posts on 18 June and 19 July 2017, 13 January and 10 May 2020) and decided that it was about time it was completed.











At lunchtime the Group decided that we would be able to hold our 30th Annual "Shades of Summer" Art Show and Sale again on 12-14 August (provided it doesn't get cancelled due to a rise in Covid-19 cases).

This drawing once it has been matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $45.00.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today Christine, Kyle and Aaron came over for an Easter egg hunt for Aaron and to let him ride on his lawn mower before having Easter supper.















When they came into the house I gave Aaron his first clue to find his Easter eggs.

He had to follow the clues in the house first.

From there he had to go outside and find more "treasure" around the house first and then onto the barn.

He stopped before going into the main barn to make friends with Tai, who wasn't sure at first if he wanted to get to know this strange person he hadn't seen in a while.

It wasn't long before he decided he wanted the attention and made friends with Aaron.

From there Aaron found more Easter surprises in the main barn before heading upstairs into the workshop and the hay loft.

The clues then had him going outside to check the various vehicles for more Easter treats.

Followed by returning back to the house for more places on both sides of the house up and down the stairs.

Once the last treat was found, Aaron wanted to see if he had grown tall enough to be able to reach the brake on the lawn mower so he could drive it on his own. Unfortunately, he still needs to grow a little taller.















 It was soon time to come in for supper and we had an enjoyable meal before they had to leave to go back home.

Pinto News Illustration September 1981

I came across a copy of the September 1981 Pinto News, which features on the cover the logo I designed for them (see post on 24 November 2015) and one of my illustrations of Pinto horses.

This one was a head study of a horse with a Western Snaffle Bridle.

















I don't remember how many of these illustrations I did for the Ontario Pinto Horse Association for their Newsletter, but then again they were created in 1980 which is 40 years ago.

So, it will be interesting to see if I come across any more of them.

Front Field II - Lone Pony - A Work in Progress

Today I wanted to continue with this pen and ink drawing that I had been working on earlier this year (see posts on 18 June and 19 July 2017 and 13 January 2020).

I started by putting the trees into the background, followed by the lower bushes.

Next, I completed the background by adding in the grasses at the base of the trees.











I put a bush into the middle area on the left side and added some clumps of grass around it.

Lastly, I added a few details to the pony.

I will post this drawing at a later date as more work on it is completed.

Medieval Times

Today we went to Medieval Times at 10 Dufferin Street, in Toronto, Ontario for my birthday. It is the first time I have been back since I broke my femur just before my birthday in 2017.















After getting our photograph taken with the master falconer and Lady Guinevere a Lanark peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus peregrinus), we went into the main hall and I was pleasantly surprised that Ron and Christine invited the all of the family and my friends to attend my birthday celebration with us.
















It didn't take very long before it was time for us to head into the dinning area and be seated at our tables. We were in the green section and high enough up that we had a wonderful view of the arena.















Once everyone was seated the lights dimmed and the Queen welcomed her guests to the court and the Master of Ceremonies entered the arena on a Friesian stallion. After greeting us he proceeded to introduce each of the knights starting with the yellow knight, followed by the blue knight who were both at the far end of the arena, then the black and white knight and the red and yellow knight who were in the middle of the arena and lastly the red knight and our knight the green knight.













While we were served the first course of our meal, we were entertained by four Andalusian stallions being exhibited on the long lines. Each horse came out separately and performed a different movement, the Spanish walk, the passage, the levade and the capriole. At the end of the performance the horses bowed to the audience.















Then, we were treated to a display of falconry using one of their three peregrine falcons. The bird flew about the arena, often coming very close to the people seated in the stands. This is probably why before the bird was released from the glove everyone was cautioned to not raise their hands in case the bird thought they had bait. At the end the falconer allowed the bird to take the lure and have her meal before leaving the arena.













As the second course was being served, we were entertained by a quadrille performed by six of the Royal Guards. The quadrille is a choreographed dressage ride, which is often compared to an equestrian ballet, where the horses perform movements together.  I was pleased to see a number of the more advanced movements in the performance such as flying changes of lead, half-passes, the passage, shoulder-ins and travers.














As the third course arrived, we enjoyed one of the Andalusian stallions performing a liberty routine with his handler. This was followed by the knights being called back to the arena to compete in various mounted games including, capturing a small hanging, ring on the lance, hitting a small target with the lance at a gallop and a flag toss between two riders. I received a carnation which was tossed to me by the green knight.















After reading out all the birthday and celebration notices, the Master of the Horse brought out one of the Andalusian stallions and performed a dressage routine which included, flying changes of lead every stride, passage, piaffe, and the levade.














The last course was served as once more the knights were called out; this time to engage in a joust. The squires remained in the arena with them to be able to serve their knights by bringing weapons to them for the battle on the ground once they had been unhorsed.












The final battle between the green knight and the red knight was fought first by two passes of the joust where neither rider was unhorsed. Then a battle on horse until one was knocked off the horse.













This was followed by a battle on the ground until there was only one winner, in this case, the red knight.

This was a wonderful birthday celebration.

Pinto News Illustration May 1981

Today is another hot, 91F (33C) and extremely humid 104F (40C) day. So, I thought I would stay inside in the air conditioning and sort through some old files to see which would be shredded, saved or recycled.

I came across a copy of the May 1981 Pinto News, which features on the cover the logo I designed for them (see post on 24 November 2015). It also had an illustration of a Pinto that I did for them.
















This was a head study of and overo Hunter type Pinto wearing an English snaffle bridle.

I don't remember how many of these illustrations I did for them over the years, so it is nice to come across these as I go through these old files.

Riverview Pines and Horses I - A Work in Progress

Today was a little on the cool side with the high being 7F (-13.9C) and the wind chill making it feel like -17F (-27.2C).

I pulled out this sketch that I did while we were bringing in hay during the summer (see post on 06 August 2017).

I wanted to do a little more work on this drawing and thought I would start on the foreground and put in some grasses and growies.

I will get my photos of their horses for reference.

I will post this drawing at a later date as more work on the horses are completed.

Rural Outlook Exhibit

Today my co-conveners Cindy Allan and Norma MacEachern and I measured out the wall space in the Gallery for each of the fourteen exhibitors and then we could start hanging our work in our assigned spaces.















The first thing I did was hanging my featured painting in the centre of my space and then set out paintings on the floor to fill the remaining space.













It took a little while to get the paintings hung on the wall, when I realized that I need another painting to balance my display.

I put the tablecloth on my table and then headed home to get a couple more small paintings to see which one would make a good fit on the wall.

When I returned I finished hanging the paintings on the wall and made up the name cards.

I cleaned the glass on the paintings to remove any finger prints.

Next I picked up all the cartons and put them out in the car to take back home.















I then brought in my print rack from the car and placed it on the table.















Lastly, I sorted the matted and shrink wrapped paintings and put them in the print rack.

Now it was time to go home and relax.

Front Field II - Lone Pony - A Work in Progress

I had a little bit of time and I wanted to work on one of my drawings and I chose this one that I had started last month (see post on 18 June 2017).

Looking out my living room window down toward where I did the original drawing, I thought I would add a pony into the field between the two stands of trees.

I started with the tree trunks of the stand of trees in the foreground and then added shadows from them into the grasses at their base.















Next, I started to add some of the shadowed grasses below the further back treeline and before I could go any further on this drawing, I had friends arrive.

I will post this drawing at a later date once more work on it is completed.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.

Winter Creek 2 and 3 - Two Works in Progress

Last night Environment Canada posted a Meteorological Alert for freezing rain.

The storm began early this morning and is to continue into tomorrow afternoon.

Today I spent most of the day in the barn making sure Tai and Chi would be comfortable in deeply bedded stalls, with full buckets of water and plenty of hay to keep them occupied since they would be inside for the next couple of days.

Since I wasn't going to go out anywhere today I thought I would work on these two paintings that I had started last year (see post on 15 September 2016).














For the first one I used French ultramarine blue for the sky leaving a few areas of white paper for clouds.

Next I darkened the blue slightly and added a little bit of Antwerp blue and then brushed it in the water.

I also used it for the sky in the second painting.

I added a touch of burnt sienna to the blue mixture to grey the colour slightly and added a few horizontal streaks of this colour into the water.

I changed the name of this painting from River 1 to Winter Creek 3

Then I set this painting aside to dry.














I changed the name of this painting from River 2 to Winter Creek 2.

Next I added a touch of alizarin crimson to the grey mix and painted in the distant hills and the water.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once they have been completed.

Extended Trot

Today I was watching a program on Dressage and watched the various movements of the horses during a dressage competition.














It wasn't long before I got out my sketchbook and did this drawing of a horse doing an extended trot.

Invitation for Black & White Plus One Colour

Today I was informed that my image of The Standardbred was chosen for one of the invitations for the Black & White Plus One Colour Art Show coming up later this month.

For the full image of the black and white drawing of The Standardbred please go to my post on 01 April 2013.

It is of a Standardbred stallion, Remlap Joe that my parents owned and raced back in the mid 70's.

He sired two foals that also made it to the racetrack.

When they retired from racing they were exhibited in Roadster classes in many of the local Fairs and Exhibitions in the area where they won many awards for their speed in the show ring.

If you have a chance please come out for the show at the Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio. It runs from 24 Aug - 11 Sep 16, with the opening reception on 28 Aug 16 from 1-4pm.

Trotting 1

Earlier this month I did a sketch of a Standardbred trotting and today I am going to work on a sketch of an Arabian trotting because there is a program on television about training Arabians.

In the program it showed a number of their horses running on pasture as well as their two stallions at liberty in their indoor arena.

















I started with the head and worked my way through the body and finally added the legs and tail.

I have the basics blocked in and I will post this sketch at a later date once more work on it has been completed.

Trotting

It is another nice sunny day with the temperature slightly above seasonal at 74F (23C)

After working in the garden most of the morning I decided to take a break and watch a program on Standardbreds after lunch.

I wanted to do some quick sketches and did this trotter while I watched the program.
















It still needs a lot more work before it is a completed drawing but, I have the basics down.

The back is too long, the body is off kilter and it needs a lot more detail.

I will post it again at a later date once more work on it has been completed.

Pinto News Illustration November 1980

Today, I was going through a box of old magazines and I came across a copy of the November 1980 Pinto News which featured the logo I designed for them (see post on 24 November 2015) on the cover.

As I went through the News letter I came across the names of people that I had competed against.

I exhibited my first horse Tom (Freedom's Mr. Thomas) in Halter, Driving, English and Western Pleasure, Conformation Hunter Under Saddle and Over Fences, Reining, Trail, Barrel Race, Pole Bending, Flag Race and Costume classes.

I was surprised to come across a drawing of my other horse Freedom's Lady Anne that I would exhibit in Reining and Western Riding, while Ron would show her in Halter, Trail, Barrel Racing and Flag Race.

Cross Roads - Spring

Today is my daughter's birthday and it is also the coldest day of this winter season with the temperature at -18F (-27.8C) and the wind making it feel like -43F (-41.7C).

Last night as the temperature dropped you could hear the nails in the wood sounding like gunshots as they contracted against the wood due to the cold.

















I wanted to do a sketch of a crossroad, with each of the roads being in a different season and having different kinds of horses. I started with Spring and using riding horses.

I will post this drawing at a later date once I have added more details to the horses and the background.

My First Horse Head

I came across this drawing that was in some of my Mom's old files that I am slowly going through before they are shredded.

On the back of the drawing is the date I drew it, which was 11 November 1961.

I can still remember when I did this drawing while laying on the floor in the living room, with my crayons and paper in front of the television watching Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" on Saturday afternoon.

I had also did another horse drawing of a Bucking Bronco with Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" and sent it to the Uncle Bobby Show (which was a Canadian children's show that aired from 1964 to 1979) and that drawing appeared on his show in 1964.

For Christmas that year, Mom got me Jon Gnagy's Learn to Draw kit.

My Mom, who painted wall murals in acrylic and miniature paintings in watercolour as a hobby, always encouraged me to draw and paint. She also made sure that I had all the art supplies I needed.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and enjoy the artwork.

Ontario Pinto Horse Association Logo

It is cooler this morning at 21F (-6.1C) and we have freezing fog this morning which makes the trees and grasses look lovely with their soft white coating of frost.

The horse trough in the barn yard had a thick coating of ice that I had to break through and remove, although Tai did help by putting his front feet into the trough to create the first hole in the ice.

Today, I wanted to go through a box of old sketches and ideas for paintings and see if I wanted to develop them further, file them away for the future or discard them as not something I was no longer interested in doing anymore.

I was very surprised to find the original outline sketches for the Ontario Pinto Horse Association logo that I did in 1979.

Around that time, the two Pinto Horse Groups in Ontario (Great Lakes Pinto Horse Association and the Maple Leaf Pinto Horse Association) joined together to have larger numbers of horses for shows and to remain financially solvent.

It was decided that we would use the name Ontario Pinto Horse Association, but I wanted to keep both groups in the logo, so I included the Great Lakes in the map and added the Maple Leaf with the Province of Ontario. 

Next, I did outline sketches of each of the four types of Pinto horses.

Stock type, which is a Western horse of predominately Quarter Horse or Paint breeding and conformation.

Pleasure type, which is of Arabian, Andalusian or Morgan breeding and conformation.

Hunter type, which is an English horse generally having some Thoroughbred breeding and conformation.

Saddle type, which is a gaited horse having American Saddlebred, Tennessee Walking Horse or Hackney breeding and conformation.


















From there I moved the outline drawing of each of the four types around on the map of Ontario until I was pleased with their location and transferred the images onto the map. 

I also wanted to have the two pattern types represented as well, so I made the Hunter type at the top of the map an Overo. The pattern looks like a solid coloured horse with white markings and having jagged spots of white that usually starts on the horse's sides or underbelly spreading toward the back, legs, neck and tail. The white almost never crosses the back.


















The remaining three Pintos I did as Tobianos. In this pattern the coat appears to be white with large, flowing patches of colour often overlapping. The spots of colour usually originate from the head, neck, chest, flank and buttock, often including the tail.

When I was about to darken the Great Lakes, I realized that I had to move the Maple Leaf to give it a more prominent position. Lastly, I put a circle around the logo and in capital letters put the new name.

I looked online to see if the Ontario Pinto Horse Association was still around and I was pleased to see they are and my logo is still being used with a few changes.

Carousel Horse II - A Work in Progress

I wasn't in the mood to paint today so I decided to just doodle and see if anything productive happened.

It didn't take long and I had a carousel horse in the making.

I moved the position of the legs around until I was pleased with them. They will have to be changed later to get them in the proper proportion.

Next I lightly drew in the forelock, mane and tail just to get a feel for how they would flow.














I added a little detail onto the horse's head and then I blocked in the body and added the saddle, the breechings and started the bridle and breastplate.

Lastly, I lightly indicated the pole that would balance the horse and before I knew it I had to go to the Executive meeting at KAGS.

I will post this drawing at a later date once more of it has been completed.

Pacer 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

Last night we went to Kawartha Downs for the Harness Racing. We haven't been to the track for quite a while.














Pacer 3

They have drastically cut back on the number of race dates at the track from 95 races in 2012 to 20 in 2013 when the track almost closed to 18 days in 2014 and now 21 days for this year. It is just sad that the government is trying to destroy a local industry that supported so many people.














Pacer 2

I was able to get three sketches of the Standardbreds doing their warm up and training miles prior to their actual races.

All of them are of pacers as there are usually only two trotting races on the card compared to the eight races for pacers.















Pacer 1

When I develop the sketches into outline drawings I will post them again at a later date.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.

Today I am on my way to the Knoepfli Inn located at 5484 Highway 124, Magnetawan, Ontario for a couple of days to paint with some of the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Group.