September 15 - mini series painting

"Viva México"!
In honor of Méxican Independence Day that officially starts tonight at 11PM.




"Viva México" 7x5" oil on board. Frank Gardner © 2011
SOLD

September 14 - mini series painting

"Cabalgata" 6x6" oil on board. Frank Gardner © 2011
SOLD

September 13 - mini series painting

One mini painting for today.
This is a procesion that passed by up the street from our house. Lots of people walking and on horseback. All in celebration of the Dia de Guadalupe on Dec. 12th.





"Procesion de Guadalupe" 6x6" oil on board. Frank Gardner © 2011
SOLD

"Adelita"

Just finished this painting of a horse out at Rancho del Sol Dorado. Most of the details are concentrated around the horse. The rest is painted pretty loosely, but with careful consideration to the relationships between the values.


"Adelita", 11x14" oil, Frank Gardner © 2010

"Ben"

I spent the morning painting at Rancho del Sol Dorado the other day. I worked on two paintings. A landscape that I am doing some adjustment on in the studio and this painting of a horse that was tied up down at the stables. His name is Ben. Even though he was tied up I knew that he would be moving around on me and the background would stay the same. So as soon as I had my composition drawn in lightly I sketched in Ben while he was in the position that I wanted. He backed out into the sun and never went back to the original spot. Glad I sketched him in first. I had taken a photo that I later used to check my drawing of the horse. I only had to adjust the spacing between his front and back legs just a bit.



"Ben", 6x8" oil, Frank Gardner © 2009
$500. Framed. Available at Windrush Gallery, Sedona, AZ

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I had a little time to kill between basting of the turkey so I thought I would put up a little painting that I did a few months ago.
The sun is shining strong, so we will probably have our feast outside today.
Just thought that I would mention that.
I am thinking of all of you, and am thankful to have you all as friends.
Cheers!


"Horse and Reflections", 6" x 8" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection

"Heading Home"

After a long day of plowing his fields, this guy and his team of horses is heading home.
He puts the plow up on an old tire and it drags along behind the team. I thought that was pretty clever.



"Heading Home", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$720. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner

I always have my camera with me when I go out painting but on this day I was caught without it. My daughter was in a school play that day and my wife had the camera. I was teaching a class and luckily Jane had her camera and took a few shots for me. I don't often paint from someone else's photos but I loved this shot and she was nice enough to let me borrow it for a painting.
Thanks Jane!

"Sitting on Top"

Just couldn't resist trying a few more along these lines. "Violin" was so much fun.
The color in this one is a little more subdued.



"Sitting on Top", 18" x 14" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection

Meet Camino

Recently I was asked to paint a commission.
The first thing that I usually say when someone asks if I paint commissions is, "hmmmm, well... sometimes... It depends on what it is."
The second thing I say is, "It might take a while."
After exchanging a few emails and speaking with the clients at my gallery, we decided to meet at their place so we could further discuss what they were interested in having me paint.

I have been working on several paintings since our meeting and full time since I returned from my painting trip. I wanted to wait before posting any of them here until I had met with my clients to view the progress.
One painting was to be of their horse, Camino. He is a beautiful horse. I got to know him and we had a long photo shoot. Deciding how to portray him in one painting was hard. I decided to start with a few small paintings to get the hang of painting him.
I went for a simple design on these two with three main values. Light, mid tone and dark.


"Camino", 6" x 8" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection


"Camino and Thomas", 6" x 8" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
Not For Sale


Today was the first time they had seen what I had been painting. I need to have everything finished and signed before I leave for vacation next week, so I shared the paintings with them today to see if I was on the right track and to get their feedback. They really liked what I had done.

My client spoke of how much she enjoys her rides on Camino. One of the workers where she boards her horse and the ranch dogs always join her. I wanted to capture that companionship in a painting.
It is not so much a portrait of Camino like the top two. It's more of the overall feeling of the ride, the company, and the location.



"Good Company", 14" x 18" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection

These three were among the paintings I brought out to show them today. They kept "Camino" and "Good Company".
"Camino and Thomas" has made its way into my daughter's growing art collection.

I have more to share with you. I'll try and get another post up tomorrow. Thanks for looking.