Pushing the design into another project

The Easter design on this painting worked out so well I couldn't resist trying it in other ways and different surfaces.

Those of you that follow this blog won't be surprised to find me trying this on a dala horse. The shape always appeals to me and I can't resist trying different designs to see what will and won't work on them. This time I'm starting with a dark background like I used on the football design. It always looks great peeking through the grass at the end of the project.

Knitting theme design for dala horses

Even the most basic design is going to look different each time depending on the shape or size of the item you're painting it on.

As I worked this out I tried a number of different shapes and sizes of brushes as well to see how that would affect results.

So far I like this one best but as I worked I realized that I'm going to need smaller detail brushes in order to make the size of the yarn more believable compared to the size of the knitting needles that I'm able to paint.

Knitting Theme Dala Horse

Quilter's Dala Horse

All of the horses start the same, friends cut them out, my husband and I carve them and as I sand them I'm thinking about who I want to design them for or what I'd like to paint on them.

I've sketched out some quilt blocks, buttons and spools of thread on one of them but am not sure if that will show up in the scanner. I'll be back with more pictures as I begin painting

These two pictures are the same view of the horse but I couldn't resist sending the 2nd picture because it shows just how small this place is. The hand you see in the background is my husband siting on the sofa on the other side of the room.

Sanding horses and painting eagles

People are really liking the landscape horse and asked for more so I'm enjoying the opportunity to really learn to paint eagles. I'd never tried them before so I'm excited to be learning something new and making people happy at the same time.
I'm still sanding and can't wait to get to the painting. It might help to see some real eagles or have a small model to work with but for the time being I'll have to work from photos and will post the results as soon as I have any.

More finished horses

New Horse designs

Sock Monkey and Horses

 I'm doing this drawing with watercolor pencils and ink. I kind of like the results so far, what do you think?

Both sides now

 I guess there's not much I can say about this except that this was the easiest and fastest one yet. No one is going to be looking at both sides at the same time so it left me free to relax and really enjoy the painting.

I'm really happy with the results. Ignore the odd marks on the legs, they're actually marks on my scanner bed because I like to throw all sorts of objects on it while creating designs and I managed to get some scratches on it.

Still Horsing around

 This project feels like it's taking forever!!! The smell from the spray polyurethane takes a long time to dissipate so it will be a while yet before  I'm ready to put the finished ornaments into the box.

 Just 3 yellow and one red horse left to do. Working the yellow designs on top of the red horse took 3 coats to cover completely so that took extra time too.

The rest of this project should move pretty quickly...at least I hope so because there are so many other projects I want to do and just not enough hours in the day to get everything done. On the bright side, with so much to do, boredom hasn't been much of a problem.

All the pretty horses

There are still 3 yellow and one red horse left to paint in order to complete this boxed set of one dozen Christmas ornaments. It's been a long project but an interesting one.
Now that I have a dozen different designs I'll be writing up the instructions for next years calendar so that people can paint a new horse each month and make themselves a set of ornaments too.

The last white horse

 After I came up with the designs for the horses on this box I couldn't resist the idea of carving and painting a matching set of ornaments to go in it. This project has been going on for months and still has a long way to go.

The ornaments are a bit different than the ones on the box because my ideas are always evolving and I never do the same thing twice but I'm hoping that will make this boxed set of ornaments even more special to the people I'm giving them too.

White Horses

Project Update with box and horses

 I've been working on this project for  several months but as you can see, I've got a long way to go before this box is filled.

We decided that it will go to my one of my sister in laws as a wedding gift. She always has the biggest, most amazing Christmas trees and can always use a few more ornaments.
Well, I'm about ready to start painting some of the white horses. I's hard to tell just looking at it but I'm pretty sure that I can get one dozen ornaments into this box so this week I'll be halfway there.
The fun thing is all the good energy going into these by the friend that cut the wood pieces, my husband and I who carved and sanded the horses and of course every thing I put into painting them. I'm hoping they'll bring her good luck.

The Chair's gone, still working on the box

I was so excited when I finished that chair that I ran it right over to my friend and  I didn't realize until later that I'd forgotten to photograph it.
Now I'm back to work on the box and a few ornaments to put in it.
I've also got about 1/2 dozen paintings in progress in various stages on a number of different subjects and themes.
Tomorrow I pan to gather a few flowers from the garden and get some pen and ink drawings done.
Everyday is it's own creative adventure, make yours a good one.

Return of the Dala Horse

You may remember that I was designing and painting a lot of Dala horses last spring (below is a painting that I did for the gentleman that cut out a lot of the wooden horses for me, I thought it made a nice "thank You" gift- don't you?)

I thought this painting got a bit "busy" so I'm trying to simplify things in my current painting which you see at the top of the post.

This time I'm trying to refine a few of my design ideas and confine them to the center of the canvas panel so that I'll be able to use it on products in my Zazzle store when it's finished.

Painted Horse Designs

Working out some of your designs on paper or with your computer can save a lot of time and help you avoid making mistakes in your painting.