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Tuesday 29 January 2013

A rescued stag and Challenge no.1



I painted this over a year ago and didn't like it so I thought I'd do a little experiment and try and do a rescue attempt on it - I lifted out the original background and added more washes to the stag and the water reflections underneath and now I quite like it - well it's better than it was anyway!!!!  The original painting was very flat with no tonal value  - It was fun getting out an old painting and seeing if it could be improved upon, it made me realise that my painting has improved a bit over the past year or so!!

After Polly Birchall posted some old school paintings on her blog, I said I would do the same so here are a couple of sketches from my VERY old sketchpad - from 1985!!!  I still kick myself for not continuing with art after I left school and leaving it til now but making up for lost time now!




Even back then my favourite subject to draw was wildlife and portraits.   

And for those of you who are interested in joining in with the monthly painting challenge I've just started on my facebook page here is the first photo - it's one of Gary's and is of 2 greylag geese strutting their stuff in the snow - I think he's captured great character in these geese, why not have a go, any medium, any style, I'd love to see what you artists out there come up with, I'll be having a go as well of course - if you post the result on your blog I'll copy and paste it on to here for everyone to see with a link to your blog and with your permission I'll post it to my facebook page as well - just a bit of fun, happy painting xxx



20 comments:

  1. I love your wildlife paintings so much. You truly are very talented. Thanks for the visit. I have enjoyed the 30 day challenge and have learned a lot about myself. I usually paint something then put it away for awhile to think about it. Can't do that with this challenge. So I bravely had to post many that I wanted to hide away. LOL

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  2. Your work is lovely and I find it amazing that you were able to go back in and correct a piece. Truly stunning piece too. I love the photo you shared and I may well give it a go...

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  3. Very nice reworking and what fun to see your old work! xx

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  4. Sharon, the stag WOW....TATE GALLERY HERE WE COME!!

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  5. quel talent .je suis admirative .je prends note du défi,la photo est si belle

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  6. You've captured this proud stag wonderfully! Thanks for sharing your older pieces as well, not sure I am brave enough to do that!

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  7. I knew you would rescue it,as you know this is one of my all time favourite photos, still remember that still autumn morning, holding my breath whilst the stag waded across the pool right in front of me, scared to press the shutter in case it spooked it, your painting brings it all back...... stunning xx

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  8. Hey Sharon,
    What an amazing painting of the deer. So great to see this pride pose and standing in the water.
    Really One Word: ...Wonderful!!

    Many greetings,
    Marco

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  9. I don't know how it looked before but you've done such a beautiful job revamping that reflection, so fluid, beautiful Sharon, and so brave of you to rework it in the first place! :)

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  10. Another fine post. Lovely stag portrait and super drawings. I love the zebra in particular.

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  11. Wow, you were very talented. There was no-one in my class could touch your work. They are spectacular. Can see why you are good at animals, it was in your soul in the 80's. Wasnt going to post any of mine after seeing yours but hey ho, I said my blog is warts and all, so will post some more of my school pics. The challenge will be a challenge as I very rarely do animals as they have to be so exact otherwise they don't look right, also I am a lazy artist and try to do things the quickest way, so I must slow down! Hope more take up your challenge it's a great idea just 1 a month. Good luck with it and thanks again for sharing your early work.

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  12. You were very talented even at school ... those sketches are wonderful. But that Stag is something else. What a magnificent painting.

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  13. You definitely had skill and talent back then - 1985 doesn't seem that far back, does it, or am I just getting old? ha ha I like this stag - there is something very appealing about all the upward thrust of the background and the antlers playing against the horizontal of the pool and his massive body = well done! I try to go back to some "failed" stuff and rework it but never turn out with anything very good. But I do see I've progressed in the almost 10 years since I started in watercolor - and that's a good thing to know when you get down on yourself. Beautiful photo! Now over to Gary's to see his latest works.

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  14. Great rescue work with the stag.

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  15. You are right to like this painting, Sharon, the stag turned out so alive against the background! I see that the zebra theme goes way back :)

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  16. Sharon I remember this the first time around. Gosh you have come a long way with your skills. It really is fabulous to see. Good luck with your challenge. Great photo of Gary's. xx

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  17. You did a fantastic job on the stag - I saw it on Seeking Artist's Facebook page but didn't make the connection that it was yours! Your zebra painting is fantastic - I can't believe that was from so long ago!!
    I like the idea of the monthly challenge especially if it's of wildlife. I might just have to give that a go as soon as I get all my art stuff properly unpacked from the move!

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  18. Hi Sharon:) Your rescue job went very well. VERY well:) So beautiful. The light is great and the water so realistic I almost tried to touch it.... Love your schoolpaintings, talented already in 1985!
    Love the idea of the challenge. Since I have a lot of time to spend (not) I will join:) Love the photo!

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  20. Great job on the zebra, Sharon. And I love the photo of the geese.

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I love hearing from you, thank you so much for leaving a comment - I will always try to leave a reply and pop over to visit your blog if you have one - although sometimes I may be slower than others, have a wonderful day xx