Saturday, April 11, 2009

An occasain for rain





Usually, I paint horses en Plein air on Saturday mornings, but we had a welcome rain today. So, I took the opportunity to paint a small horse portrait in the Studio. This oil painting has a very intimate feel to it, and the cool colors in the coat are very subtle. The sky color is subdued, much as it was outside as I painted it. The horse in this painting is my Palomino, Adobe, who has been through allot this year. (Sarcoids, cancer, an eye infection and a hoof abscess) I hope that the bond I have for him comes through in this small portrait.





The Horsemanship Connection. I have been thinking about the process of making the right thing obvious when teaching a horse something new. The best example I could think of was teaching Comanche to pick his feet up. When I got him, at 15 months old, he did not know how to pick his feet up. I wanted to set him up to succeed, and teach him as much as I could. So, I taught him to back up one step at a time. I then picked up the foot that was poised to come off the ground next. This way his weight was already shifted onto his other three legs and he is set up to balance. Comanche is willing to pick up his feet for me without being pulled, pushed or jerked around. I know this concept of release will also translate into requests to pick up his feet while under saddle.

8 comments:

Debbie Lamey-MacDonald said...

Hi Karen,
This is so soulful! Yes,you can feel your emotional connection to this guy. He sure was through a lot. He is lucky to have you!

Karen McLain said...

Thanks Debbie, he is a great trail horse and has really become an affectionate horse this past year.

Jennifer MacNeill said...

Lovely painting, love the colors:)

Karen McLain said...

Thanks Jennifer!

Lori Skoog said...

Karen...thanks for finding my Journal. I just looked at all your posts...Painting the Budweiser horses from life had to be quite a treat. I will stop back again!

Anonymous said...

While it would be more appropriate for me to comment on the gorgeous horse in your portrait, I'd like to say that I LOVE the background. It perfectly evokes the first few thunderstorms of spring.

Karen McLain said...

Thanks for everyone for your comments!

jc said...

I had problems picking up my horse's feet when I first got him too. With patience, he's now fine. I have enjoyed browsing through your blog.