A Bevy of Burros

I haven't done any mustang paintings in awhile, so recently I visited the online adoption gallery of available horses on the Bureau of Land Management's website. I go through a lot of photos to find the few that 'speak' to me. I look for lighting, for emotion, movement, color, something that will work well in the formats I like to paint in. I went through all the horses, saving a few aside, and then.....there were burros! Lots and lots of burros. Unfortunately most had their photos taken in flat light (either a cloudy day or after the sun went down, so no shadows, nothing to suggest form). That is fine for potential burro adopters, but not so great for me, the painter.  I did find a few, though. Their cute furry burro faces lend themselves well to paintings, don't you agree?

The first, a jenny. Photo reference for this and the next one are courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management. Their description of her is "#4558 - 6 yr old gray jenny, captured 10/2011, from outside an HMA, California". Outside of an HMA-Herd Management Area means technically she is not protected by the Wild Horse and Burro Act, but she has found her way to a facility anyway. I am not sure exactly how that works, though. 

The second painting, this time a jack. His description is "#3952 - 4 yr old gray gelded jack, captured 11/2010, from Cibola-Trigo HMA, Arizona".  Both these, and many other burros, are available for adoption throughout the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse and Burro program

Both of these paintings are 8X8 in soft pastel and are not currently for sale, I am building up inventory for a show at the end of July. After the show any that are not sold will be made available here and elsewhere.

Kiger painting listed to eBay

I have just listed the original pastel painting "Kiger" to eBay. You can view the listing here. The photo reference for this painting came from the Bureau of Land Management's Burns Oregon facility. For those who aren't familiar with Kigers they are a distinct breed or type of mustang from the Steens Mountain region in Oregon, with bloodlines tracing back to the original Spanish horses. Many of them are dun with primitive markings. This particular horse was adopted and is loved, his new owner telling me that her veterinarian said he has some of the best conformation he has ever seen. He was allowed to remain a stallion to make more pretty horses in the future. I wish they all had such happy endings.