Monday 25 February 2013

Built for Dartmoor

Pastel on Pastelcard, 223/4 x 221/2 inches, repainted
 
First version

I painted this gorgeous little guy back in 2011, but decided to take it out of the frame and repaint it. It didn't seem quite to ring true, having done a portrait of the foal, with all of his body and an ethereal background, so I turned it into a landscape with a foal in it, which I think improves the painting.

This painting, along with five others, will be in an exhibition, 'The Power and the Glory' at the Iona House Gallery in Woodstock, with the champagne reception on Saturday 2nd March between 10am - 5pm www.ionahousegallery.org

10 comments:

  1. Although both pictures are excellent I think the new one brings him to life more. Good luck with the exhibition Peter. Ve

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  2. Beautiful foal Peter, Not sure if I should say, but I prefer the original (please don't hit me) The picture is a portrait of the foal and as such I think the scenic background is distracting...beautifully painted though it is. Just my opinion though.

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    1. Thanks Bev. My dearest agrees with you too, but many more on Facebook agree with me, thank goodness! It hasn't sold, so I figured there's something wrong with it, so time to re-assess. We'll see.....!

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  3. Hi Peter.
    Both are lovely paintings. Both could stand well as a portrait of this beautifully painted Donkey. I couldn`t say which I would prefer. All the best peter.
    Vic.

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    1. Thank you Vic, i appreciate your making the time to comment anyway! He's actually a Dartmoor Pony foal, but you're not the first to think he's a Donkey!

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  4. Hi Peter
    You've helped solve a conundrum for me. I abandoned a painting of a racehorse foal because I didn't think that the soft focus portrait background I painted was working but didn't think that Andrew's advice to set the foal in a scene was right either. Sadly it seems he may be right (on this one occasion) so, inspired by your example I shall take up my brush again and paint in a background scene.
    I do think that your first painting works as a portrait of a specific pony but the second version would perhaps appeal to a wider audience.
    Karen

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    1. Hi Karen, glad to be of help, even if it means admitting Andrew's right! I think you've hit it on the head - as he's just a wild foal and not a pet, I think it works better placed in his wild landscape. It hasn't sold in its former guise, so we'll see if this helps! Good luck with your portrait - send me a pic of how it looks now.

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  5. I have just been to The Patchings Barn Gallery Exhibition (30/7/14) & saw this 'Dartmoor Foal' in the re-painted version with the more detailed background & it is absolutely fantastic & was very temped to buy it!! We hope to move to Devon sometime soon to a bigger house & would love to put it on the wall there. Absolutely the best piece of artwork there. Brilliant.

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    1. Thank you Vivi, your comments are much appreciated, and don't let me stop you buying it! I can just see it in your new abode in glorious Devon! It would be nice to think that he had 'gone home'. Thanks again, Peter

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