In autumn of last year, I was asked to be in a group show here in Santa Fe that showcased a variety of works by nervous local artists. The piece I decided to explore was based on a character called Moon Eye.
These were what I ended up with. It was a tough choice and I still think I'd like to paint all of them but ultimately I went with the head one view. It felt more confrontational and more like the story of Old Moon-Eye. The horse was described by Edward Abbey in his book, Desert Solitaire. Old Moon-Eye is a partially blind horse that escapes a ranch and lives in the wild for years until he became sort of a ghost-legend. Edward Abbey encounters the horse under a juniper tree. I wanted to incorporate the juniper in with the description of Moon-Eye's eye; a pale blue like the moon.
This piece was created on paper, mounted on clay board. I sketched the piece out in pencil and then painted it in acrylic. I like to lay in a warm ground first with burnt Sienna. This gives me some sort of value to work from. This initial tone is slightly watered down with plain water. I typically let it dry before moving into the painting.
From there, I begin to block in large forms with opaque paints. I like to work with a large brush first so I make big decisions and don't focus on detail too quickly. As I work, I move around the whole piece, painting in some of the background tone and building up the skull with smaller brushes and more colors. You can see how the burnt Sienna helps the piece feel like it's alive. The reddish tint helps part of the skull glow. After I painted everything using opaque paints, I made a greenish glaze with airbrush fluid and acrylic paint to tint the piece a bit. The final came out great! I am really happy with it and I learned a ton through this piece.
Here's Old Moon-Eye in his frame! He will be up at Hinterland Gallery in Santa Fe starting Friday. You can see more work from the show at hinterland gallery.com. The piece has sold.
