Civil War Soldiers, 2 Hour Challenge by donnaridgway on Blogster

There's an artist group I belong to, where we have a two hour challenge. Each week, a different member posts 4-10 photos. From those photos, each artist chooses which one they want to work from, and the game is, to paint for two hours, then quit and post what you've done to the group.

Last week, I chose to do a painting of two Civil War Soldiers, from a photo taken at a re-enactment. 45 minutes into the painting, it looked like the photo above. I didn't draw the image with a pencil, just began painting. Using two colors, French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna.

This is how they looked an hour and 15 minutes into the project.

Here's where they were at the two hour mark. I posted them to the group like this.

After I'd posted them, I worked on them some more.

Here's my soldiers two and a half hours into the project. I worked on them a little more after this....

Still might work on them a little more, but they're mostly finished. It has a lot of problems, but for something done in two and a half hours, I was happy with it. Especially since I've not done people before! I was always afraid to try them.

This painting is 9X12" on stretched Fredrix canvas. A watercolor, which is unusual for stretched canvas, I know, but it was fun and I'll be doing some more.

Now I feel some cowboy paintings coming on....

There's more horse art on my website.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed the demo on this painting.
donna

5 comments on Civil War Soldiers, 2 Hour Challenge

jondude said 8 months ago
Good work![THUMBUP][THUMBUP][THUMBUP]
donnaridgway said 8 months ago
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
troutbend said 8 months ago
Very Frederic Remington-esque - the colors, the subject, but excellent work! I love it! Thanks for sharing with us.
dragonflyby said 6 months ago
How neat! I paint people, but not animals, and don't think I would dare try horses just yet. This is beautiful! I did my Christmas card with watercolor on canvas. The smoother ones primed for watercolor really do a beautiful job. Watercolor is not my forte either, but I love to experiment with different mediums. What I especially like about this, is the vibrancy you achieved with such a restricted palate.
donnaridgway said 6 months ago
Wow, I appreciate you comment. I was attracted to this because one of the soldiers was so big, the other was so small. I hoped when I finished, they didn't look like I don't know how to paint people because of that! But if they look ok, I'm glad. I was happy with how it turned out. In the two hour challenges, I try anything because it is a challenge after all. :) They're fun. I'd like to see your Chritsmas card. I'll go to your blog...