WORK IN PROGRESS
I am now busy preparing work for a solo exhibition in May 2010, at the Ripley Art Centre, Bromley, UK. I will be posting pieces as I work to show the progress. There will be about 23 pictures in all.
Six Characters in Search of an Author
August '09: Chilean huasos (cowboys) competing in a rodeo. They compete in pairs and their task is to steer a bull around the perimeter of the semi-circular arena, one behind driving the bull forward, the other on the inside of the animal to prevent it from turning into the arena and/or running too far ahead. The horse on the inside moves continuously sideways. For more details of Chilean Rodeos click here. They are riding Chilean Corraleros whose origins are in the Spanish Horse. A pure Chilean horse originated in the beginning of the 19th century and the Chilean Corralero appeared by the end of the 19th century. The original use for the Chilean Corralero was working cattle. Today, it is used in the Chilean rodeo. I was sitting up in the stands and managed to take a photo of them as they passed beneath me. This is being drawn on Murano pastel paper with graphite and coloured charcoal pencils.
The
original
foto
taken
at
a
Chilean
Rodeo
in
Temuco
Aug
28:
First
preliminary
sketch
Aug
29:
after
about
12
hours
work
Aug
31:
I've
lost
count
of
the
hours
now!
Sept
1:
another
6
hours
done.
Just
details
on
bridles
and
hands
to
complete
Sept
2:
I
done
it,
I
done
it
-
can
I
have
a
sweetie?
For
some
obscure
reason
tones
seem
to
change
with
scans
so
for
this
one
the
background
seems
lighter.
Never
mind,
the
important
thing
is
that
it's
done!
On
to
the
next
one
...
Original
foto
Sept
2009:
Initial
sketch
Jan
2010:
Back
to
work
on
this
one
-
another
couple
of
days
work
and
it
should
be
finished.
Have
completed
2
others
since
Christmas.
Only
10
more
to
go!!
Feb
2010:
This
is
now
finished.
November: For the moment have put aside the pic above as I have this commission to finish for Christmas. Two images of the same horse and rider engaged in different disciplines. Similar to ones above this is done on tinted pastel Murano paper using graphite, coloured charcoal pencils and white chalk.
November
2009:
First
stages,
about
10
hours
work
15.11.09:
I've
done
more
work
on
the
dark
tones.
Not
much
more
to
do
-
just
have
to
turn
the
horse
into
a
grey,
add
ground
shadows
and
clean
up
the
edges.
27.11.09:
More
or
less
finished
-
just
needs
a
bit
more
cleaning
up
around
the
edges-
but
I'm
going
to
put
it
away
for
a
few
days
and
then
look
at
it
again
with
fresh
eyes.
In between times I've been com-pleting a couple of commissions - both acrylic on canvas.
Ann's
Hydrangeas
This is a piece inspired by the Edward Thomas poem "As The Team's Head-Brass". I'm using acrylic paints on canvas. As I don't do much painting you'll see that I'm having to feel my way and work things out as I go along. Once I've safely attached the horses to the ploughman via the plough I'll work on the grass and the poet sitting on the fallen elm. Was finding the ploughed furrows a problem but went to France in Feb and came upon some freshly ploughed land to photograph which has certainly helped. Also did some research on horse ploughing and found out that furrows are meant to be only 7 inches apart so had to make some swift adjustments - 5 furrows became 10!! But that was a bit de trop so replaced some furrows with more yellow charlock, which in turn means I have to adjust the grass headland ...
13.02.10:
Had
to
put
this
aside
for
a
week
or
so
as
it
just
wasn't
working
for
me.
In
the
meantime
I've
done
the
one
below.
Now
working
on
this
one
again
today
and
it's
started
to
come
together
at
last.
This
is
really
hard
work!
If
you've
managed
to
read
the
poem
you'll
see
that
the
lovers
walking
out
of
the
wood
have
been
added
top
right
and
the
poet/narrator
is
sitting
on
the
fallen
elm
(with
the
woodpecker's
hole)
lower
left.
Next
step
is
to
sort
out
the
grass
and
detail
in
the
foreground
which
does
not
look
good
at
the
moment.
Have
decided
that
this
is
now
finished
-
very
illustrative
and
not
very
artistic
but
it
has
achieved
its
purpose.
13 February 2010: Wow, I seem to be cooking with gas at the moment - completed this one in a week! This is graphite and coloured pencil on tinted Fabriano pastel paper.
Initial
sketch
-
but
a
foto
so
not
very
clear.
Finished
article
-
this
time
it's
been
scanned.
13 February 2010: And yet two more that have been completed since Christmas. These are graphite and chalk on tinted Fabriano pastel paper. I didn't take any shots of the work stages on these two - or if I did I can't find them.
Muntaj
Twist
22 February: Started this one yesterday and so far so good!!
This
is
watercolour
and
giving
me
a
break
from
the
ploughing
picture.
Pigs
in
Chard
28 Feb: Have now moved right out of my comfort zone - working on a large canvas in acrylic (48" x 30").
This will be quite different to the detailed, tonal drawings - will be concentrating on movement and colour, ignoring detail.
This
is
how
it
began
...
At
the
end
of
the
second
day
most
of
the
jockeys
have
been
blocked
in.
This
isn't
as
scarey
as
I
thought
it'd
be
-
quite
fun,
in
fact.
Having
done
a
bit
of
searching
on
the
net
I'm
going
to
change
the
colours
of
some
of
the
silks
to
recognisable
ones.
Not
sure
how
I'm
going
to
tackle
all
those
hind
legs
-
maybe
blur
them?
Today
I've
changed
some
of
the
silks,
tried
some
more
shading
on
the
jockeys'
britches
to
emphasise
their
foreshortened,
crouching
position
and
added
a
tree
on
the
left.
Took
a
deep
breath
and
started
to
sort
out
all
those
legs
...
Nearly
finished
-
now
to
put
a
shine
on
their
coats
...
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©Wendy Fraser 2007-2010 |