Advanced Placement Studio Art's online test commenced Friday the 8th of May. My concentration was the relationship between horse and human shown through color. In a series of 10 works, I used the color magenta to show all kinds of conditions of that special relationship.
I began with blatant symbolism in an acrylic on canvas piece that depicts a blue girl on a stormy day crouching in the mud with her head resting on crossed arms over knees. Before her, a horse that is glowing in magenta magnificence is looking at her with concern. A nearby shelter has lone horse laying down in it and there are several horses standing out in the reflective pasture. However, the glow from the horse is being reflected by the horses, the sky, the shelter, the water, the background hills, and the girl. The magenta symbolically overcomes the gloom. This piece represents the the affect that a horse has on the sorrow of the human spirit. It is quite significant that the horse has chosen to stand over his human because horses tend to prefer to be with other horses if there is such a choice; all the other horses standing off from the two legged being illustrates this. The girl casts a shadow on the ground behind her, which represents the lingering pain that she feels from the sorrows which have brought her to this state. Seeing my horses is almost never enough for me to completely lose myself in them: I must touch their nose, dance with them in the pasture, feed them a handful of grass. Thus, the shadow.
In technical conversation, I was very unhappy with this piece for the longest time because I delight in vibrancy of color, and this, for the longest time, was not vibrant. I finally got the push I needed and I am satisfied with it now--satisfied enough to leave it as is for a month or two before going back into it. The focus on light is very strong and important. Unfortunately, the subjects are very small and not placed with composition in mind. I had planned to have the angle of the rain, Blu's neck, and the barn roof all be the same, but I doubt if any of that happened. Linearity did remain an element of interest, though: look at the treatment of the focal horse, the barn, the sky, the water: LINES! Fortunately, the eye is lead around a bit by the magenta reflections and the yellow shining through the clouds. My favorite part of this piece is the reflected horse figures in the middle ground, an idea inspired by the breathtaking Journey Series by Kathleen Conover (a notable artist folks, check that woman out!)
The models for this painting are me and my 4 year old, inquisitive QH Appendix Paint gelding, Blu. No matter what, when he sees me, he comes walking over to greet me. Taking the picture was quite difficult because he kept getting to close to me and putting his nose by me. Luckily, I did not fall in the mud! Luckily, I have a horse like him so I can know how marvelous it is to feel that special feeling you get when you know that you have a place in a horse's heart.
