Horse and Lady (44 x 61 cm)

This is a refreshing painting of the artist’s neighbour and her horse, at Plainland.

Yellow-green was one of the artist’s favourite colours and he used it very often. In this painting he has used layers of colour that graduate from bright yellow-green to a softer sky in the distance. The artist’s manipulation of colours has resulted in some interesting perspective in this painting, and the Plainland scrub looks very natural. One special point to be noted about the artist, is that, despite the small area of canvas a human (or animal) face may occupy, he was still able to paint his subjects as expressing feelings.

Here, the lady in vibrant blue, holds the blue reins of her delightfully portrayed horse. They are at the focal point of the canvas, just off centre. The horse has an elongated nose and looks a little shy. The lady’s skin tones are realistic as are the colours of the horse.

Attention has been paid to detail, not only in the background scrub, but in what appears to be animals grazing in that part of the painting. The mood of the painting is a very happy one, and the proud subjects were very trustful of the artist.

Acrylic on Masonite, later career.