Horse jumping

watercolor, 32 x 23 cm

watercolor, 40 x 30 cm

This will be my last attempt at portraying Olympic sporting events. I have been a little intimidated to try to paint horses, as I have much respect for these animals, but know very little about them. That's why I left this subject for last. I know I didn't do justice to this magnificent animal with my pictures, so, Horses, I promise to make it up to you, with time...

Still at the Olympics

Discus thrower, watercolor, 22 x 32 cm

High jump, watercolor, 32 x 22 cm

Anatomy of a long jump

Anatomy of a long jump, watercolor on arches paper, 56 x 20 cm

I feel that I am learning so much about the movement of the human body while painting these athletes. We think we see how a figure moves when watching these events, but try to reproduce it, and you realize what a complex series of moments is involved. You cannot really see any one stage of it, without running it in slow motion.

Lightning Bolt

Watercolor on arches paper, 40 x 30 cm

Another scene inspired by the Olympic games. This one and the previous watercolor were done without  a pencil drawing, directly with the brush and paint. I started to understand Jean Haines' words that this method gives you more freedom. You build the scene gradually one shape at a time and can change and move things around, not confined by pencil lines. There is a bigger risk of getting the proportions wrong, of course, but it is so much fun when things turn out right.
I'm planning to explore a few more sport disciplines ...

Motion

The sprint, watercolor on arches paper, 30 x 40 cm

watercolor sketch of sprinters

I am still on the subject of motion. And what better time for that!? 

Yesterday I tried to sketch athletes, while watching the games on TV. This proved harder than even sketching moving figures live. Not only the figures were moving very fast, but the camera would change every few seconds and show a different perspective. Even using stick-man figures didn't make the task much easier.

Eventually I saved several good frames from a recorded program and started working from them. These athletes in all kinds of sports present a great opportunity to exercise painting figures and motion and hopefully I keep my enthusiasm for at least a while.

Dervish dance 2

Dancing Dervishes, watercolor, 30 x 23 cm

Dancing Dervish, watercolor, 35 x 25 cm

My Muse, had disappeared somewhere lately, scared by the stress and frustrations at work, I guess. I tried to find her, by revisiting this subject, which I did before in pastel. The bottom one follows the pastel version quite closely, but I made a mess of the background. The top one was done without any drawing or expectations and I think I like it better.
Have a lovely weekend, everyone!