Description

“High Horse” 12″ x 16″ Oil and Cold wax on Arches Oil paper, mounted to 1 1/2″ cradled panel. Unframed. The edges are painted white. Buffed to a satin sheen.

As I continue to play with the possibilities of oil & cold wax, this artwork expands on ideas from my recent foal sketch series. I wanted to explore how I could incorporate and preserve my drawing on paper, yet allow parts of it to come through as the many layers of cold wax are continuously added. I applied watercolor masking fluid to the drawing on paper in certain areas of the horse and layered over it with cold wax. Technically, since the fluid is meant for water based media, I wasn’t sure it would work, however I was still able to lift the tacky mask after a couple layers and low and behold there was my drawing!

I masked other areas off with tape and then the painting became about balancing design, texture and color.  Using my brayers yielded soft, semi-transparent layers. I played with hard and soft edges using torn paper and other texture tools to dig into lower layers with different colors below. R & F Pigment sticks and another recent discovery, Sharpie Oil pens, also make appearances.

The title came to me mid-way through the work and I think it can be interpreted in multiple ways, which I will leave for the viewer to choose 😉