Enjoy Step by Step Horse Art blog entries for horse art oil painting "Vineyard Canter" by equestrian artist Ivetta Harte.

Oil panting on stretched canvas "Vineyard Canter" 2007 by Ivetta Harte, size 22"x28" is available for sale $3000.

Originally, I painted this equestrian oil painting in 2006. Before releasing the limited edition prints, one of the clients asked to make some changes to it and I was glad to do that. We got together for a lunch and I painted while she was watching and commenting on progress. Thus, the originally called "Vineyard Gallop" became a "Vineyard Canter". You can see the changes in the rider, horse and some background to the left side.

STEP 1

For any of my horse paintings, first I think about the idea and composition for several months. I look around myself and try to remember things that I like and inspire me, the details that make me smile. I then start sketching horses and trying to find the best composition for my equestrian painting: where to do the horizon line, where to place the horse rider and his/her horse, what kind of movement and direction my composition will have, how will I guide the eye of the viewer around the painting? I might spend a couple of weeks just sketching horses, horse riders, environment and changing the composition. At the same time, I start thinking about the palette for my horse painting: again, I try to look around me and find the colors that I like. I take a lot of photos on the horses shows and local horse barns. I attach all of those to my easel or make an inspirational collage - they will help me to stay on track and true to the chosen color palette.  

STEP 2

I'm ready to start my equestrian paining called "Vineyard Canter" - I always have the name before I start any of my horse art. That gives my horse art more focus. First, I take a diluted oil color and start sketching my composition to the canvas. The color is very faint and transparent; it almost looks like I'm paining with watercolors on a canvas. Oil is so watery and diluted that it runs down my canvas, but I don't care, I just want to have something on my white canvas - I'm scared of plain canvases, so I always try to cover them with paint as soon as I can. I don't use pencils or chocks on canvas: first they smear and also can puncture the canvas or just stretch it too deep from the pensile pressure. By using diluted oil, I can see how the composition is playing out in the large size and I can easily paint over it, if it will not work. That's the reason why I'm using diluted oils.

STEP 3

At this step I start actually painting with normal (not diluted) oils. I always start from the top of the canvas and try to find the right sky, the right mood for my equestrian paining. For equestrian painting "Vineyard Canter"", I wanted to show a lot of fun and strong color. As you can see, originally, my sky had much more yellow and emerald colors, but I decided that they are competing with the foreground and decided to sink the sky and the mountains in to the background more with the calmer and darker colors.

STEP 4

I continue to work on the sky and the background drop of . I try to avoid the straight lines in the horizon and give vineyard hills interesting movements. The middle ground line to the closer vineyards is very important - it will stand out, so I work very hard to give it the dynamic movement for equestrian painting "Vineyard Canter".

STEP 5

As soon as I painted the big shapes for the background on equestrian painting "Vineyard Canter", I move on to paint the foreground and middle ground. I'll come back to the background latter and I'll work on the details more, but for now, I need to fill the whole canvas with life, so I can see how the color and composition plays out.

STEP 6

It's time to work on the middle ground on equestrian painting "Vineyard Canter". It'll be lighter and more detailed than the background. I'll lift the haze from it and give it some vibrant colors. As you can see, accidentally, I’m starting to smear wet oils on the painting with my hand - it's hard to paint above the wet paint, I have to hold my hand in the air, so I will not smear my hard work. I also started to paint the horse rider.

STEP 7

I'm still working on the middle ground for equestrian painting "Vineyard Canter". I'd like to have a variation of the details even in the middle ground from right to left: the right side I want more detailed, colorful and vibrant. The left side I want to fade away, so it'll give even more dramatic contract with the foreground vineyards.

STEP 8

This is the time that I painted enough of that canvas to see that I'm not happy with the background of equestrian painting "Vineyard Canter"". It looks too disorganized and busy. I absolutely loved how I painted the brown trees that separate 2 vineyards, I tried to preserve them, but unfortunately they have to be repainted in much darker color. Composition of my color and movement of that paining depends on them. Look how I repainted the dark background to the right - and look how the middle vineyards POP now. That really gave the needed dimension. I also simplified the horizon line and painted down the little barn, now it blends in with the rest of the scenery.

STEP 9

With background and middle ground finished, I concentrate on the foreground and the most fun part: the galloping horse and rider! Originally I wanted the horse to be a dark bay, but when I started to paint it, it just didn't look right; the color was too quiet compare to the vibrant and fun colors of the equestrian painting "Vineyard Canter". I picked up some colors form the ground of the vineyards and the horse and a horse rider came to life! Now it's time for this painting to dry for a couple of days, so I can paint the details with out smearing the rest of this horse art.

STEP 10

Oil is never considered dry. When oil painting dries up, then it cracks - that's the sign of dry oil painting It takes a long time for oil to dry to be safely handled. It can take up to 6 months. I let it dry for several days before paining the details. That gives oil enough time not to smear from the touch of my brush, and I have to paint over the thick brushstrokes with the smaller brush strokes to do the details. Look for the added details in the foreground of the equestrian painting "Vineyard Canter". This is the time that you can call the paining to be done. I prefer to put it away for a couple of weeks and let it dry and let my eyes rest. After that, with the fresh critical eyes, I paint the final details and correct anything that needed to be corrected. After that - it is the time for me to sell the paining or to loan it away: I can't keep my hands away from he paintings that I keep in my studio and they become never-ending perfection that I can't finish... sometimes even paint over them or destroy them.