A client I remember vividly for various reasons contacted me recently to commission a new horse portrait. You can see the one she commissioned in 2012 here. That one was her grandfather’s horse, and she ordered it really early to have it in time for a Christmas present. Her grandfather is gone now, but the portrait of his horse Fred hangs in her son’s bedroom. I will never forget her telling me that when her grandfather finally saw the portrait, he cried…
Her recent request was for a portrait of her own horse to hang in the same space next to Fred. So I got a pile of reference photos, and I’m putting it together piece by piece. This is Dez, from whom I had to remove all the the tack and the rider (same as I did for Fred) and make up an entirely new background (ditto for Fred).
Here’s the sketch. I have a bit of the first layer painted. I’m thinking as I go. It will reveal itself…
Alli Farkas Artist Adventures 
What a lovely head this horse has. I look forward to seeing your progress with this one Alli.
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The background will be quite interesting. It’s a winter willow tree in front of a frozen pond. My plan (plot?) is to put much more color into it than a typical winter color scheme would have. The photos I have show Dez in sunlight and in a snow scene. His colors are entirely different in each scene. We decided to go with the winter colors. So…., hang in there with me!
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I will be hanging in. I always love your process!
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I remember the wonderful Fred painting! ♥ Excited to see how this one reveals! And, you know that I love your horse paintings…I’ve missed them!
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Yeah, the last one was in December. I have another maybe horsey client, but you don’t know until they actually “pony up” (sorry about the pun).
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That’s such a lovely story about the grandfather crying over your painting of Fred.
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Yup. That’s one reason I will never forget it!
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