Horse portraits

[smkie]

how long have you been drawing and painting? I am just hands down so amzed, this is beyond proffesional work. Have you entered any compititions?

[Zoom]

Those are absolutly AMAZING!!!

And that story exemplifies why I want to buy a Morgan when I get some acreage to call my own. I love horses almost as much as dogs, and while I can't draw them very well, I love being around them, riding them, petting them and watching them.

And 51, holy cow! That's got to be some sort of record!

[jess2416]

Those are beautiful pictures...

[tempura tantrum]

Cool! Fraternal or identical? Ever been to the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio?

We're identical. You?

We have always talked about how we wanted to go to the Twins Festival at least once in our lives- it just seems so Twilight Zone-weird to be surrounded by so many twins! Have you been? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

BTW- I love the one of Rusty- he looks so real that it's almost as if you could reach out and pet him.

[Snark]

Originally Posted by smkie

how long have you been drawing and painting? I am just hands down so amzed, this is beyond proffesional work. Have you entered any compititions?

Well, I started out as a child... Lol! Seriously, I've been drawing (pencil, charcoal, pen&ink) most of my life but didn't really get into pastels until high school; many, many, many, many moons ago (a little over thirty years). I don't paint very well, all of those portraits are done with pastel chalk (I like NuPastels, much less dust and they can hold a fine line without crumbling.)

I tried entering a couple of competitions when I was younger, but art judges don't care for vignettes very much. I was told I might as well just take a photo of the horse and be done with it. Stopped entering after that...

Tempura Tantrum: The doctor who delivered us said we're fraternal, but they didn't have DNA testing back in the Stone Ages, so we'd really have to get that done to know for sure. (We look very similiar, but there are some differences in appearance. We also do the non-verbal communication, trade headaches back and forth, finish each other's sentences, etc., which is more identical twin behavior than fraternal. We share a house, work at the same company in the same department and I can't think about the outfit I want to wear because Sis will grab it before I can get to it. Lol!)
We've gone to the Twins Festival for ten years. It really is Twilight Zone weird... Last time we went, they had 2700 sets of twins registered and nearly 100,000 spectators. It's the only time my sister and I dress alike. You can't turn around that weekend without running into a set of twins or four or five, and it's fun to talk to other twins about 'twin' things. We used to take our 'twin' dogs with us (dogs aren't allowed on the Festival grounds, but we could walk in the Double Take parade that kicks off the weekend.) Both dogs have since gone over to the Rainbow Bridge. This is a photo of them:

Patch (on the left) was dumped near our property and four years later, Sam showed up as Pet of the Week in the newspaper. He'd been taken from an area near us (a 'collector' had him with 50 other dogs in a house). Anyway, Sam was the same age as Patch and she's the only dog he ever got along with. We guessed they had to be littermates. I think a lot of twins from the Festival have pics of Sam and Patch and our knees. Lol!

[Renee750il]

This is just a great thread for all sorts of reasons

[smkie]

well i am just in love with your work..the softness of ginger, that incredible velevety dusky feel could never ever be recreated in a photo, that came with a special addition of an artist's soul attached..and to see it with the opposite of bold and sharp high light..ahhhh well what ever person said that didn't know squat, your just awesome. I cant get to square one with pastels, tho i work in acrylic and hate it with a passion for it's limitations, i am slowly getting a handle on it. I hope you will share more in the future. LOve your twin dogs too!!!!!!!

[dobiegirl]

WOW! Beautiful Job! Jackson and the background match good. I love how you matched the ears with how their faces look!

[tempura tantrum]

Yeah- my twin and I almost never dress alike (unless we're trying to freak someone out). I really do think we need to go to that twin festival- how fun to be surrounded by so many people who know EXACTLY what kind of a bond twinship entails!

Oh the dogs are adorable! They really do bear a striking resemblance to one another...and it's so interesting how they both came to you! Definitely a case of fate I think.

[Selkhet]

Beautiful horses! What rich color!
I also draw horses, and have drawn them since I was a child. But I have to admit, I was never much good at pastels. How do you keep them from smudging? I used a workable fixative, but that didn't always keep me from smearing something. I work mostly in pencil now, anyways.