There's A Horse Out There?

I live on about 2 acres and right now the grass really needs to be cut - especially the pasture. This point was made even more clear to me when I was driving home the other day.

On the main road, near my home, there is a clearing where I have about 3 seconds to try to spot my horse in the pasture. It's kind of a game I play with myself - seeing how quickly I can see him. Usually I catch a glimpse of him right before the trees obscure my view. On those days that I can't see him from the road my heart beats a little faster in anticipation of getting home just to make sure he is OK. When I pull up in my drive and go through the gate I can usually spot him right off, doing fine, just grazing. I smile at the sight of him and go in the house to change clothes to go and feed him.

One day recently, I didn't spot him from the road - or my driveway - or when I peeked through my bedroom window - or when I went out in my backyard! I was almost in a panic and started walking quickly to the gate to the pasture but then I looked even harder towards the back and there he was along the fence line grazing. With his head down and with the grass so tall just the top line of him was visible - but what a relief to my heart! Two seconds later he popped his head up acknowledging I was home.

Here is a 6"x4" pastel of that beautiful top line of Billy Bob that I saw that day.

Plein Air Pastel

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve had time to sit down to draw, much less write anything. I’ve been getting ready for my show this weekend – the Buda Fine Arts Festival. I’ve been printing, packing, pricing, taking inventory, getting pieces matted and framed, updating my signage and commission book. Whew! I’m tired. Thank goodness my sister and her husband have been helping out – it’s a long and involved process.

I did, however, take a break this weekend and did my first plein air pastel. Well sort of. I started it outside but when the tree I was sitting under dropped sap on the paper I went inside. It was a rather rough drawing. I was ready to throw it away but my sister encouraged me to keep at it saying that I quit to soon. So thinking about what she had said and that day I finished it tonight.

I did a rough sketch of my horse Billy Bob while he was in the pasture grazing in the tall grass. It really was a rather pretty morning. The sun had come out from behind the clouds but hadn’t gotten hot yet. The grass was moving with the breeze and the seed heads glowed in the sun. Billy Bob is a beautiful bay Appaloosa and when the sun shines on him he has wonderful range copper and mahogany colors throughout his coat. I’m not sure I captured all of that but I enjoyed being outside drawing even though I found I was easily distracted. There was a lot to take in and I was unsure of how detailed I should go with my drawing – it is only 10"x8" and I wanted to take in the open look of the pasture with Billy Bob standing in the tall grass.

At one point I had been sitting out there quietly drawing and I think Billy Bob had forgotten all about me being there. He all of a sudden got spooked when I moved and couldn’t quite figure out what in the world I was doing out there in his pasture if I wasn’t mowing the grass. I had a good laugh and that made it all worth while – so I think I’ll try it again soon.