equine art
Will Ersland’s Style
Hunters Moon by Will Ersland, courtesy of Cindy Piper, MFH, Long Lake Hounds (MN) Someone once told Will Ersland, “The horses and people in your paintings have great action—even when they’re standing still!"
Ersland sees himself as a visual journalist. “My paintings record a moment in time,” he says. “They are cropped the way I see the action, and each brush stroke is laid down with confidence and purpose based on my academic background and decades of drawing and painting.”
Ersland’s use of short, flat, planar brush strokes to highlight rounded shapes strikes me as an effective and unique element of his style.
“My style is dictated by the medium—acrylic paints—which dry very fast,” he explained. “I don’t even try to blend them. Instead, I build up form by starting with the darkest values and layering on the lightest values, usually following the form of the object with my brush strokes.
Stubbs Painting Could Fetch $33 Million at Auction
You have until July 5 to save up if you want to bid on Christie’s offering of a George Stubbs portrait of Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath with trainer, stable lad, and jockey. The large painting, which measures more than six feet by three feet, is described by Christie’s senior director John Stainton as “one of the finest sporting pictures ever painted.” Gimcrack was one of the most famous racehorses of the eighteenth century. Valued today at thirty-three million dollars, the painting was last sold in 1951 for less than twenty-one thousand dollars. Posted April 20, 2011
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Equestrian Sports and Oil Paintings: A Traditional Partnership
Bundled at the Races by Linda Volrath, oilPainting is a poetic visual language. One of the most satisfying aspects of creating my paintings is using this language to translate a fleeting moment in a tangible and permanent way.
I’m endlessly inspired and fascinated by the thrilling sports of steeplechase racing and foxhunting and the beautiful countryside that encompasses them. Incredible sights, sounds, and events unfold. Jockeys and grooms, athletic horses, hounds, and wildlife all have their role to play. I see my job as an artist to be the visual storyteller. The passion I have for these equine traditions and rural way of life seems perfectly paired with my passion to paint. It is a gold mine of images for my artistic vision.
Call for Art
I’m anxious to develop FHL’s coverage of sporting art still further, and to that end FHL invites artists to send us a selection of their images along with a brief description of their artistic background, their achievements, goals, and what they try to communicate in their work. Artists, please educate us so that we may better appreciate your work and that of your fellow artists. We will publish your message, and we will post a slide show of your paintings or sculptures along with a link to your website. You need not be an advertiser on this site. If we like your work, we will showcase it for the benefit and appreciation of our subscribers. We will seek out artists we know and repeat this invitation. However, please don’t wait to be contacted. We’ve all heard the familiar quote, “Don’t call us; we’ll call you.” Well, turn that one over. We invite you to call us before we call you!September 26, 2010
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