Progression of an oil painting…

“Show Day”; Oil on 8” x 10” wrapped canvas.

Periodically I remember to take pictures along the way of my progress while painting or drawing.

Luckily, for this one I had a few pics prior to completing the piece so I can share them with you. I had a reference photo to replicate for this piece in which I free handed a pencil sketch onto stretched canvas. You can actually see where I erased some lines and re-drew them to move my subject in different directions until I was satisfied with the placement. I know going into paintings which medias will cover my sketch lines and which won’t, so I wasn’t worried about my under-sketch being messy.

From there I began with the base colors of the horse and rider, following that I went into details and then completed the background.

This canvas is only an 8 x 10 so the details are pretty small, lending me to use many different brush sizes along the way.

Scroll down to see the piece framed and on the wall. I opted for a 1930’s antique frame which compliments the painting perfectly. There are small flaws in the frame itself, but I actually love it’s imperfections too.

Final painting of “Show Day”; 8 × 10 oil on stretched canvas.