Black and White

It has been a while since I have done a paper cutting, but this one was finished a week or so ago. It is called " Riding Like A Lady", and it already has a home to go to. In this scene the hunt stops as a very lady-like equestrian joins the field, in her side-saddle and fancy attire. Even the hounds are interested in this rider.

I have always liked the challenge of composing a work in just black and white, where you can capture depth and motion, all simple... and direct. I think I have achieved it here.

Now...... back to a watercolor of a Standard Poodle for a client! This is such a nice to day to be working in my loft.My barn chores are done for now and the snow piles up outside, while the horses nap in their stalls in the warm barn.

Winter blankets Morrill, Maine.

What I Do When I Procrastinate

After taking care of our four horses, walking the Corgi and shoveling the snow that was steadily accumulating, I headed up to my studio with a cup of hot tea and "whipped" out this pen and ink on illustration board. It is of two horses who were taking part in a Civil War reenactment. Their bridles are like what the army used back then...........but this was an reenactment...I am NOT old enough to have seen the real thing!!! The photo reference of these horses came from a fellow Equine Art Guild member.

But doing this sketch gave me a needed break from the paper cutting I am working on.... a hunt scene with very small detail. I get so "into" a zone when I do paper cutting, that I forget the time and very often I also forget what I am supposed to be doing. Today was not a good day to be cutting. But it turned out to be a good day for a small [ about 7 1/2 by 8 1/2" ] pen and ink rendering.
I will be putting this work onto my mixed media gallery page on my website.