New Watercolors in Progress, Pistols, Calves, and a Roping Cowgirl! by Debbie Flood

Well, the year is winding down, but I sure am not! I’m getting ready to ring in a fantastic 2012!

My commissions of 2011 are all finished, 2 have been shipped off and have arrived at their destination. The 3rd painting is packed up, and will ship out to New Mexico the 1st week of January 2012.

What’s on my studio watercolor table???

It’s a watercolor of a Pistol, Cowboy Hat, Holster, and an old black and white photo of a cowboy and horse. The pistol is a family member (so to speak, ha ha) and I was given some great reference images of it. The hat is from some of my own photos I have taken, and the barn board walls are from my memory of what the old boards look like. The old photo, is thrown in for some story telling nostalgia. Notice the coffee ring stain on the corner of the photo?

Now, Onto some others that are works in progress:

This watercolor (above) is Learnin` the ropes. I took the reference image for this painting in Sedona, Arizona. I went there, with a couple other artists for a day of horse back riding, eating some awesome cowboy breakfast, and learnin` to rope! I was surprised at how stiff the roping rope is. One definitely needs gloves when working seriously with this rope.

Most of the progress on this painting was done on the right side of the painting, back there in the mountains and distant landscape.

Another work in Progress is this very fresh new start:

This is the bare bones of this painting. I have sketches, two different ones, that I am moving around and working with to create a pleasing composition. The calves, are Hereford. Pretty red and white calves, nestled in the sage brush. I took reference photos of them, while I was in Taos, NM. The horse is from a photo I took here in Maine, back in 2010. A great example of East meets West! I’m looking forward to this painting, with the complimentary colors of sage brush and the reds of the animals.

And, some other works that are still on my table, waiting for my attention:

This is a fun watercolor, with running and jumping wild horses, and the cowgirl can sit and watch in delight. In her mind, she’s got the best life, and this is how she enjoys her down time.

Thank you for taking a look and reading what I’m up to in the studio.

I wish for you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Happy trails!

Debbie

http://www.debfloodart.com

Technorati Tags: Pistol,gun,western pistol,Holster,Hereford,cattle,calves,Western art,southwest art,Debbie Flood,cowgirl,cowboy,wild horses,equine,watercolor

‘Riders of the Storm’ Buckskin Horse and Cowgirl, beat the storm, Watercolor by Debbie Flood

                   

This Watercolor is still in Progress. Riders of the storm is 14 x 19 inches and very detailed!

It features those gorgeous canyons of Sedona, Arizona, and the large bird of prey shadow that flickers over the landscape. A lightning strike in the distant dark clouds creates a feeling of urgency to get home or under cover. While out in Arizona, I saw these dark thunder heads move in fast around the canyon walls and Red Rocks. It gets very intense.

Just a week ago, I was Elected and Invited into the International Guild of Realism, IGOR. I’m so honored and proud to have been Elected into this Membership. You can look at the website by following the link. http://realismguild.com 

Thank you,

Debbie Flood

http://www.debfloodart.com

Technorati Tags: International Guild of Realism,IGOR,Buckskin Horse,Cowgirl,Western,Southwest,Art,Watercolor,Debbie Flood,Eagle,Equine,Arizona,Sedona,Thunderstorms,Lightning

 

 

 

 

Inquiries to purchase, and also Gallery Owners who would like to Represent my work should be directed to debflood@debfloodart.com

Thank you,

Debbie Flood

http://www.debfloodart.com 

Technorati Tags: Arizona,Southwest Art,Mustang,Burros,Watercolor,Debbie Flood

'Investigators' Wild Burros featured on Painting a Mustang a Day Challeng Blog

I finished the Watercolor Investigators. This painting is 12 x 16 and depicts two burros who are 'Knoxville' and 'Hood'. This painting was created for another blog, that I was asked to be a guest artist on. The blog is Mustang Challenge A Day by Linda L. Martin. 
There you will learn about Linda's project, as well as the info on the cute Burros and their 'mom' Debra Gulley, who supplied me with images of the two boys.
I enjoyed putting these guys in the Arizona (Sedona) landscape.

Inquiries to purchase, and also Gallery Owners who would like to Represent my work should be directed to debflood@debfloodart.com

Thank you,
Debbie Flood
http://www.debfloodart.com

Three Commission works by Debbie Flood

 

Well, this watercolor just didn’t work out right. The face had too much detail to it, and the client wanted something more obscure and fantasy like, even though still having that ‘essence’ of the girl and horse that it is of.

So, with much discussion, and then some silent thought on my part for a few hours, it hit me! The girl and the horse are too close to the viewer.

Most of my paintings have the subject matter in the middle ground, not the foreground! WOW…I thought! So I pushed the rider and horse back into the landscape more. This is the sketch that has been approved, and I have already gotten it transferred to the watercolor paper and have applied a little bit of paint. The sketch is below here:

Then just recently, like this past weekend, I had a Facebook fan page, fan, commission me to do a Graphite painting of him and his Paso Fino Mare.

Love this image of them! The photo he sent me, is of their full bodies. After a little bit of discussion, we decided to crop in close to them, for a more intimate feel.

He also asked that I change the hat he had on, in the photo, to a cowboy hat. FUN!

Here is an image of today’s work on this Graphite Painting:

 

And, here is a completed commission, done in Watercolor. This one will be shipping out of the studio soon.

It’s been a very busy few weeks here in the studio.

Not only with commission work, but with getting ready for exhibit entries, and hitting deadlines for interviews, and guest artist stuff on other Blogs. And painting new work for the 2012 exhibits.

Happy Holidays!

~Debbie

http://www.debfloodart.com

Technorati Tags: Commission Portrait,Watercolor Portrait,equine portrait,people and horses portraits,Debbie Flood

‘Moon shine run’ Cowboy & black horse race through the Canyon Desert, watercolor by Debbie Flood

 

It was brought to my attention today, how I haven’t posted anything since November 30th! Wow, I’m so sorry to leave you all hanging!

So much work in the studio going on. I think what I’ll do is break down each work of art into it’s own blog post. That way, it will archive and be easy to find later down the road.

I finished Moon shine run. 20 x 16 watercolor on Arches 300lb watercolor paper.

Man, this is one exciting painting! The moon is full, and hey, didn’t we just have one of those this past weekend??. The only light this couple have as they thunder down through the canyon walls, zig zagging in and out and around cactus is the light of the Moon.

I am making Prints of this painting too! This week, I’ll be taking it to the Photographer and a Print run, limited to 50, will be offered. Print #1 is already spoken for. 20 x 16 $100.00 plus shipping.

My next post will be about my commissions of late.

~Debbie

http://www.debfloodart.com

Technorati Tags: Black horse,cowboy,desert,canyon,western art,southwest art,watercolor,moon shine,Debbie Flood,Prints,Limited Edition Prints