Wow! Although I've done this project once before back in 2010 I still find it quite terrifying. The commitment of having to do something for 100 days consecutively is a pretty big deal, especially when you're sharing it to the entire world! 😱 BUT knowing that people are following my progress is really encouraging too and during the difficult days this will be the thing that'll spur me on and help me get through.

So, it's day one and this little chap has emerged. I want to keep it simple for now to ease myself into it so have decided to concentrate on just the head of the horse. It's a mixed media piece on gessoed watercolour paper and combines acrylic paint with charcoal and pastel. It's 26.5cm x 20cm in size. Keeping each piece relatively small will be more manageable for me at the moment especially whilst I'm working on commissions and other work but I may work a little bigger further down the line. 

I'm pretty happy with it but still feel the horse is too detailed. I sensed I was tensing up and getting tighter, wanting to add more and more. I had to tell myself to stop at this point before I went any further. I sometimes look at a piece of work I haven't quite finished yet and get really excited about it but more often than not I continue, add more detail and then ruin it (in my eyes anyway). Sometimes less is more and I want to start getting this into my head.

I'm also really enjoying the scratchy textures across the whole piece including the way in which the application of the paint in the background is coming through the body of the horse. All this adds a unique interest to the piece and helps to unite the subject with its surroundings. Mark making and texture will also be another aspect I'll be exploring all the way through.

I appreciate both abstract and figurative art and my main intention is to combine the two and this is not an easy thing to achieve. I've been so used to working in such fine detail for so many years that to make that switch is taking a lot of time, patience and understanding. Letting the paint flow more freely, leaving out the minute detail that I'm usually used to and only depicting the important parts of the subject through the use of line and contrasts between light and dark, is really tough. I'm hoping that by studying the anatomy of the horse throughout this project it will guide me and help strengthen my current practice.

That's it for today. Only another 99 days to go 🤩 💪

If you have any thoughts, comments or questions please do pop them below 👇