"Ready to Compete" stage 1

"Ready to Compete" oil on 36"x 24" canvas

Here is a challenge for me, 7 horses with riders all getting ready to compete, and on a 24" x 36" canvas!
This is the drawing layout, that in itself too ages, but now I'm ready to start painting in the tonal values in thin Burnt Sienna.
It's a complex composition I only hope it works, time & patience will tell!
The reference photo is one I took last September at the Caledon Equestrian park.
Wish me luck!
John

PS to see the picture better just click it to enlarge.

Casper the Donkey

Casper, oil on 11 x14 board

This is Casper the miniature donkey owned by Kai-Liis Mcinnes an animal lover and artist:

See her at http://www.kai-liis.com/

Kai-Liis says of Casper: "I bought him as a 4-year-old in 2006 - he was living with a potter.   He looks adorable, like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh - so he came here, to be a companion to my llama, Everest.  But Everest didn't like him, so, as Birkir and Erling were here, Casper went in with them, and Erling acted as a protector for him for the first while."

Bikir and Erling are Icelandic horses that I painted for Kai-Liis recently.

Casper was another challenge he was actually running away from John when the photo was taken, he was rushing to join the two horses. His fur is in between winter and summer so a bit disheveled!

Babs