I stood with my camera on a 10 foot square deck surrounded on three sides by horses in Medora. In front of me was a big stallion with blond braids blocked by the fence. Noticing that I was taking pictures of the other horses he started stretching and posing for the camera. Meanwhile, I watched this cowgirl hop bareback onto a horse, whistle to her dog, ride around the gate and come back with a bunch of saddled horses for the people who were Heading For The Hills. It was a beautiful day for a ride and they were busy.
From several photographs, I arranged the horses and the girl in an S–curve composition to support movement and get you to see them moving together. There were two sketches where the horses took up most of the painting. By switching out a horse for the one in the foreground the landscape got larger. Most of the bluff was left in shadow but the rock outcropping was lit up around the main character. The black lab happily helped her bring them in.
Original Painting 24″ x 36″ in simple rustic white wood floater frame.