Friday, March 9, 2012

Turk

We walked down to the farm yesterday, and Turk, the Belgian draft horse, was in a calm mood. He had eaten his morning hay, and stood quietly at the edge of the paddock with the other draft horses, looking across the pond.

He still has a thick winter coat, and like all the animals on the farm, appreciates a good brushing this time of year.

For this impromptu portrait, I used watercolor pencils, black and clear water brushes, and a little gouache in a watercolor sketchbook.

12 comments:

  1. One of your best sketches. Wonderful. I want to feel those whiskers.

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  2. A wonderful continuation of the horses found in the Chauvet cave drawings and then later in Marc Chagall's work. Shows me that nature is and always has been the real instructor.

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  3. This is primo work James. I agree with Turk.

    And, by the way, for my money there are few animals more majestic than the draft horse.

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  4. I just bought my firs set of Niji water brushes (2 medium and 1 fine). I'd had another brand and it was far inferior, so I'll offer this advice to anyone looking for water brushes: these are worth the price. Beware of imitations!

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  5. Wonderful sketch, James. I can almost see, feel and taste all that shedded hair floating around.

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  6. Lovely - and you've given him (?) personality!

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  7. Hello James. Beautiful sketch! Lucky you with those lovely horses en living in such a beautiful place!!

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  8. Great sketch. So fluffy!

    I assume by blank water brush you mean filled with ink? Do you fill them with sumi or something else? I might have a different brand of water brush, but it keeps dripping. Do I just need to get a better brand or is there a way I should store the water brush pen to keep it from tending to drip?

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  9. Angela -
    Per my earlier comment, I bet you don't have a Niji brush. I had a differnt (cheaper) brand initially, and the difference is night and day. The first brushes I got dripped like yours, but the Niji has a tight fit and a secure cap.

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  10. Curious how you use your gauche when you work sketching, do you touch it up later with the tube stufff. Or do you work with it in a pen form/or in a niji? I wish there was a gauche brush pen, it would make taking it along easier.

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  11. Thanks, everybody.

    Gloria, I usually bring a tube of gouache with me when I go sketching, and generally use it to fix things I didn't get right with watercolor alone.

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