The Making of "Suena and Azad"

I had one photo of each horse to work with, so I "saw" into shadows as best I could to work up indivual sketches. The challenge then was to position figures and find a background to make a pleasing composition despite the colour contrast between the mother and daughter. I placed the elder slightly higher than the daughter to lead the eye in an angle across the area, and added some extra neck on the senior mare to balance the black one. Initially I tried a shifting sands background to match the black's name, Shaharazad. The client requested something green, so I chose water with the shimmering reflections of trees, including grey patches to pick up the black's highlights, darks which blended with shadows, and a natural green which ofset the chestnut. After the customer approved the digital sketch, I transferred it to a Gessoed board using black pastel. Since it was an oil painting, I had to wait at least a day for each layer of paint to set, but slowly they built into the finished peice. Three weeks later, the paint was set enough for me to scan the work for the client's inspection. She loved it, so when it was safe to package, off it went.

The Process:

Reference photo 1	Reference photo 2
Digital version 1	Digital version 2
Oil portrait, "Suena and Azad"

Copyright Notice

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Wendy E. Stevens (signature name Gamble)
15 Jean St., Saint Basile NB Canada E7C 2K1
+1 506 263 2012 fax +1 506 263 2012
email gambleart@equineartguild.com