"Inside The Tack Room", in progress part 1.

This is a piece that hopefully I'll be able to get to work on in the upcoming weeks. The photo reference for this came from a visit to a friend's barn in rural Connecticut. While taking a look around, I thought setting up a little still life of commonly used riding gear might prove interesting. I like the balance of the objects compositionally, although in order to get a good exposure, I had to flood the area with light. I'm hoping to do it in a style akin to the Flemish painters with a primarily dark, neutral palette. To this end, I toned the canvas with raw umber. I also started drawing in umber oil paint right on the canvas to work out the elements. This looser/painterly approach is something I enjoy as it's easier to block in areas and shapes with the paint rather than having to work it out in line with the pencil. It's also nice because I can keep things fairly loose in the beginning stages, knowing that I'll tighten it up as it goes along. Note also that to help locate the position of the elements, I marked off the half-way and quarter-way points on the edges of the painting. So keep checking back as I hope to show a couple of stages of the progress of this piece. Take care 'til next time.