Caught

Cheetah
10 x 14" watercolor
Arches 140# cold pressed 100% cotton w/c paper

Meet Cheetah, my friend Lynn's horse. I'm not normally drawn to include animals in my art, but Lynn's photo of Cheetah was so wonderfully rendered that I had to try creating it as a painting. I figured she wouldn't mind my appropriation. 

My goal: to render a true likeness of the horse but also to use some juicy washes and let the watercolor take the reins, just like Lynn says feisty Cheetah likes to do. But as you can see, I got caught in the sticky nettles of control and the watercolor magic didn't have a chance. 

I might try to spray out some sections of this and try again, as Sandra Strohschein demo-ed in a workshop awhile back. (Yes, I still plan a post on that workshop very soon.) Or I might just leave it as is and chalk it up to a two-day adventure on this steep learning curve called art.