Chronology of IF WISHES WERE HORSES

By Tamanna Sagar

Well,amigos, let me start with how this theme came into my mind! I have been having visions and dreams of horses running on water since I was a kid. I have always been a total fairy tale kid, and many of my imaginations and themes stem from there.

Apart from this, I do have a fear of deep water,which have often led to dreams of being swept away by floods or falling off boats in the middle of a dark sea..etc.

The horse is a symbol of power, and for it to run over water ,does mean that I wish I could be like him – I wish I could overcome this fear.

That done, we can get to the technical’ step by step’ of my painting.

The first step, is always choosing the right canvas–whether I want the painting to be laid horizontally or vertically. Seascapes lay best on wide horizontal surfaces-for the spread–out look !.

I have a wide collection of reference photographs of horses,oceans,boats, mountains..etc. etc. I select a reference photo of close -up waves and of some horses. Finally I settle down on one painting just one horse .I mentally decide how much of these pics am I going to be using,what needs to be included, how the canvas will be oriented.

I start with covering the canvas with diluted oil colour-get a rough sketch of the sky and the waters ready. The colour is faint and transparent like watercolour. This colourwash sets the tone for the piece. And also makes me feel quite satisfied that I am done with the first coating.:-)

From here on,I keep the photo aside and let the painting and the colour take off totally in my way!

I ,as a rule , normally start the details from the back to front, but in this case, I dont know why my hands itched to do the ocean first.Maybe because deep water is a real challenge for me, to paint. And also because I am lately loving the cool colours like blue and green, on my canvas.

Blues include many shades-cobalt, Prussian, ultramarine, pthalo, cerulean etc…in oils!

So I choose ultramarine blue,viridian green , zinc white and purple[which I mixed].

For the second coating on the water, I abandon the brush. I start to use my fingers for smearing and blending the colours on the waves. Well, I do end up burning my fingers in the process , due to continous contact with turpentine oil and the rough canvas[they are ok now]Actually the brushes were making lines on the water…hence the fingers!

To create an illusion of depth,evey artist has a trick . Mine is “the burnt fingers”

Well, I can , by now sense the shape ..but I need to work on the texture more,after it dries a bit.

You know, colours can be very seductive-pulling you in as you paint! SO I like to keep a check on the tones in the painting .

I have done some study on colours and their effects.I also have found the “Munsell Value Studies” very handy for learning and for judging colours. I like to achieve tonal variation by using few colours in my painting-I think it gives an overall unity to the piece!

The next day, I apply darker glazes to the waves,to create a rich contrast..I paint light purple before I add the spluttering sprinkling foam on the rolling waves.Quite a lot of work is required on the water reflections as well.

Next I move on to the sky. Since I have used blues, greens and purples in the water..i need to do the same on the sky as water has the reflection of the sky.

You can see, I paint the moon in the the centre at first…I have not placed the horse yet.

I give the sky a green coating first as the clouds need a smooth background to float on.

I paint the clouds with my fingers using circular movements. I use darker colours at the corners of the painting as it helps tp focus on the focal point.

I handle the sky and the clouds softly to maintain the distance and perspective.

Next day is the time to paint my favourite-a horse! A realistic horse is the most diffuclt to paint.. and I don’t claim to be an expert in painting horses-but I am striving to become better .

I always want my painting to tell a story- and this one was incomplete without a horse.!I decided to have the horse running towards the centre on the flat shift of waves,

I want to paint the horse in a way that it guides the eye of the viewer around the painting.

I give the horse somewhat , abstract tones-without much clarity. The horse being in the distance helps me escape the finer details required in a close up .I had picked up some technical details about painting a horse some years back,one being to give the base shade of greyish green -as this adds to the ultimate colour later.

I chose dull abstract shades for the horse for the simple reason that too many bright objects in a painting hurt the eyes.