HORSE FISHERMEN

NEW INSPIRATION FOR A HUGE PAINTING OF HORSES

A few weeks ago we went to visit the beach of Belgium for a small holiday trip. 
While we were walking at the beach I did see a horse in the far distance in the cold water. 
When we came nearer I was really hoping he would come out of the water to the beach again and he did!

I was really thrilled to meet the last horse fishermen in the world at the beach. Made a lot of pictures of the horse coming out of the water. They were fishing for shrimps in the old fashioned way. I felt like I had been traveling back in time and it reminded me of the paintings I did see in Skagen of the fishermen in Denmark 100 years ago. 

Started on this big canvas of 80cm x 150cm | 31,5" x 59" inch. Had to hang it on the wall because my easel couldn't  manage this enormous size. Here I share already the start of the painting I am working on right now inspired by the horse fisherman of Oostduinkerke. 
Hope you enjoy my journey working on this for me largest canvas so far. 

fase 1

This is the start of the painting I started with a yellow background to get rid of the white canvas. Then made a sketch of the horse and worked hard to fill in the large canvas. Because of the large size of the canvas had to step back a lot to see if everything is in its right place. Was great fun to work on this large scale it gives a lot of freedom of movement. 

fase 2

In this fase I worked on the water and on the horse to check if everything is in it's right place and to give it more depth. Its always a challenge to ask yourself what does the painting still need? How far do you need to bring it....without loosing the energy of the start of the painting and keeping it vivid and sketchy. Hope this will work and turn out into a great masterpiece. 
Will continue later on and post more pictures. Hope you enjoy the ride as much as I do....? Please leave a comment if you do  :-)