Tomorrow On Wescover

Check out this listing tomorrow, 4/30: https://www.wescover.com/items?q=catherine%20twomey

“Beaver Skull, Winter Light”, 9/5 X 9/5” Contemporary fresco. Having visited this favored beaver skull before, this time I used a new medium (watercolor), new board (Aquabord) and winter light. For whatever reason, this time the beaver's smile became more apparent. I have a feeling she will be painted again. Framed in a beautiful handmade burlwood frame, ready to hang.

Keywords: animal, animal portrait, fresco, skull, anatomy, animal skull, beaver skull, creative, creativity, catherine twomey, medical illustration, rendering, wash, watercolor, teeth, eye socket, canines, contemporary art, contemporary artist

Annual Equestrian Print Sale in on Now!

NOW is the time to purchase these extraordinary, award winning, accurate equestrian prints. Please click:

ORDER HERE

to take advantage of the annual discount. For more information about the artist, please click:

ABOUT THE  ARTIST
 

Thank you for your interest.

"DaVinci Horse Canter" by C. Twomey, enlargement

A Gift for Every Horse Lover: Walk, Trot and Canter (The Gaits Revealed), by C. Twomey

These completely original, heavily researched and professionally created images are on sale now. You will not find a more creative and beautiful gift for the horse lover in your life.

DaVinci Walk, Trot, Canter and Piaffe Equine Images.

Visit:

https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/830682

or

http://catherine-twomey.pixels.com/collections/horses

"The Horse's Walk Revealed" by C. Twomey, ©2016

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"The Horse's Trot Revealed" by C. Twomey, ©2016

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"The Horse's Canter Revealed" by C. Twomey, ©2016

How all three would appear displayed together:

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These award-winning horse images are from the series by C. Twomey, renowned internationally recognized illustrator featuring accurate and beautifully executed images that will bring joy to every recipient. 

"Commissioned for the cover of the "United States Dressage Federation" magazine Connections, it was inspired by "The Vitruvian Man" by Leaonardo da Vinci circa 1487. This could be considered the "Canon of Proportions" for the horse performing the dressage movement piaffe. It is based on the correlations of ideal horse proportions with geometry. It exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance. 

Winning painting/illustration of the American Horse Publications Annual Awards, First Place in Illustration for "Da Vinci Horse", 2007. This print shows an anatomically accurate transparent horse and skeleton."

Auction "Taylor Jug and Pear" by C. Twomey

"Taylor Jug and Pear" by C. Twomey

Sample framing of "Taylor Jug and Pear"

I collect antique moonshine jugs, and loved the shape, coloring and stenciled letters of the maker on the jug. The pear I chose especially to go with the pottery, which I thought gave it a run for the money in terms of fabulous color.

This is an original oil painting, done alla prima (in one sitting - a long day!). The painting is on archival board and is unframed, 8 X 10". 

Award Winning: "Beaver Skull 1" Auction Ending

Auction ending today! Visit the auction for bidding on this fine specimen:

Beaver Skull 1

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/208077

Please visit /catherinetwomeyart/p/about.html to learn about my international awards and history.

Found a beautiful beaver skull in an antique shop in Cleveland, Ohio. I just had to paint it. There was life behind the empty eyes and frightening teeth. Even the cast shadow had a mystery to it that begged to be rendered. 

It was interesting to be able to balance the skull so it was freestanding. Going to keep going with this anatomical work for a while; it's very satisfying.

The original is oil on 8" X 6" archival linen board. This is how the painting would look framed:

Thanks for your interest.

"Beaver Skull 1" Twomey Original Oil

Just finished this, which will be offered at dailypaintworks.com at auction (#auction) starting tomorrow, Saturday March 15:

Beaver Skull 1

Found a beautiful beaver skull in an antique shop in Cleveland, Ohio. I just had to paint it. There was life behind the empty eyes and frightening teeth. Even the cast shadow had a mystery to it that begged to be rendered. 

It was interesting to be able to balance the skull so it was freestanding. Going to keep going with this anatomical work for a while; it's very satisfying.

The original is oil on 8" X 6" archival linen board.

Beaver Skull 1

Beaver Skull 1

Found this beautiful skull in an antique shop in Cleveland, Ohio. I loved that I could just hold it in my hand and turn it every which way.

It was such a pleasure to stare at it for hours, and I enjoy the menacing, almost alive look to it as I continue to paint. I don't feel it's finished yet, but I wanted it out there - released, ready to chew down a tree.

Don't know if I'm going to sell this yet. I'm definitely going to continue this series; it brought so much pleasure and intensity. There's a deer and horse skull waiting.

DaVinci Horse Print Sale

I am running a little more than half price off sale at:

http://catherine-twomey.artistwebsites.com/

on the "Da Vinci Piaffe" horse print, for a dear horse friend, until August 30, 2012. If you'd like an unprecedented "deal", this is it.

Look under the "Horses" link to the right. There are available a variety of sizes of prints framed on canvas, simple single sheet prints, even greeting cards.

Background:

Description:

Commissioned for the cover of the "United States Dressage Federation" magazine Connections, it was inspired by "The Vitruvian Man" by Leaonardo da Vinci circa 1487. This could be considered the "Canon of Proportions" for the horse performing the dressage movement piaffe. It is based on the correlations of ideal horse proportions with geometry. It exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance. 

Winning painting/illustration of the American Horse Publications Annual Awards, First Place in Illustration for "Da Vinci Horse", 2007. This print shows an anatomically accurate transparent horse and skeleton

Learning By Comparing

Ok, don't jump to conclusions, I am NOT finished with the Wickers portrait on the left! It is, however, slowly getting there, so I thought I'd take a break and show some anatomical landmarks from an actual equine skull, and where they are showing up on the oil painting.

The skull on the right is not Wicker's skull!! She is still alive and happily sleeping since at this moment, here in Virginia it's pretty warm & humid, so the horses are outside grazing overnight and sleeping in their stalls during the day. 

You can see that the skull (right) does not line up perfectly with Wicker's head. For example, Wicker's eye is lower down on her face, whereas her infraorbital foramen is higher. Of course, different ages, sizes and breeds of horses can all influence where features turn up. In addition, there can be anatomic anomalies (see "biology") that get thrown into the mix. 

When you're aiming for accuracy and believability, it helps to identify major bony landmarks to make sure you've included them and to also judge whether or not you are seeing and placing them correctly.

What's Below the Surface?

- There are three areas needing refinement. The artist will see how their location, size and shape affect the horse's surface anatomy (also see photo below).

- The top illustration is the original, and was introduced here. Circles on the above left illustration show the most important areas needing clarification.

- The top red circle (left), the temporomandibular (TMJ) joint,is the hinge between the horse's jaw and skull. On the right illustration, you can now see where the Coronoid Process of the mandible (lower jaw) passes behind the zygomatic arch, thus completing the joint. Take a look at these two images to see how this joint works.

- The middle red circle is the area above and behind the horse's teeth. Here, the mandible starts to slide beneath the maxillary bone. A bump and depression below, on the face's surface (photo left) is the Facial Crest. It can clearly be seen defining the cheek.

- The lowest circle, where the upper and lower teeth meet, illustrates the meeting of the upper and lower teeth where the upper and lower teeth have been defined. Compare the hardness/boniness  of the area around the mouth to the softer skin of the nose and lower face. 

- In the medical illustration on the right above I've labelled other landmark features that can influence the artist's work. We'll get into their importance later; but here you can see important arteries, veins and nerves travelling through these "holes" (foramen) in the skull that can appear on the surface of a painting.

- Some common anatomy terms to help the artist recognize what their function is: 

condyle

foramen

process

Painting What You See and Know

- At this point I want to examine the horse's head and neck anatomy. When I'm painting something I want to be accurate and realistic, it always helps to understand what I'm painting beneath the surface as well as on top.
- I've gotten some real bones (C1 - C3; "C" is cervical) from a great horse buddy to add to the horse skull I already have. 
- I want to know what the shapes are that I'm starting to paint on Wicker's portrait and make sure they're in the right size and place.  
- Compare the oil painting stage of the Wicker's portrait below to the bony landmarks labelled on the left. Although the view is lateral, whereas Wicker's head is slightly turned, I can still see bony landmarks that are important to show and paint correctly.

- To make certain I'm doing this kind of research accurately,I've referred to many equine anatomy books as well as real bones to do the medical illustration above. What's difficult about it is that the reference books are all over the map! I realize all horses are different, so I'm trying to find an acceptable standard.

- Note the location of the poll (occipital crest and C1; anatomically the occipital crest itself is the "poll") labeled above the C1/ atlas. Wickers the Warmblood is an upper level dressage horse, and I can see that she has been ridden correctly because her poll area is well developed and muscular. 

- Incorrect riding ("rollkur") can be seen in the poll of the horse at this link; note that the neck "breaks" further down the neck than it should. This kind of riding can lead to many problems in a horse's anatomy and physiology.