CHIT CHAT in VOLTVILLE

[rave]

Here's my redo. I hope I didn't miss anything or mess anything up.

You really nailed that "tilda"!

There's still something different about the hindquarters. Look at how they are more tucked under him in the photo.

Added: Now I think I see what to do! Bring that dark line dividing the body from the tail down and under him more. That very bottom part is not his body; it's the beginnings of his tail. Also more highlight and dark to show the shape of the hip. You know, the part that's called the stifle in a horse and the knee joint in a human.

This is really a lot better, even though it was great to begin with. But, I disagree with Sandy about the tilda. It's in the wrong spot, and needs to come up more. Dunno if that's possible though. Maybe you could darken the upper edge of it to bring it up? I've tried to show what I mean in red, but I stink at drawing these lines in.



I think that there's still a bit of a problem with the hindquarters as well. For one thing, the base of the tail is too thick. You can bring up shadowing in the fur as I've shown (poorly) in red to change that.

The hindquarters need more shaping too. I've marked some areas that will give it more form including shadowing in just a bit where the tail meets the body. Where the haunch bends at the belly, just some subtle dark strokes and shadowing like what's in the photo will give it more shape too. I shoulda connected to the shadow that you already have there though. *Hindsight* The dome shape that I've drawn that almost goes up to the front leg shows a wide, slightly darker area that shows the musculature of the hind leg. I don't mean that there should be a line there. I'm just showing the location of the dip in the thigh.

Nice job on the whiskers, by the way. I just noticed how well those were done.

Don't be afraid to roughen things up where fur is concerned. It's very rarely perfectly smooth.

 

[rave]

Oh for Pete's sake! In the time that it took me to draw and explain all that, Sandy did it just fine in words.

 

[rave]

Rave...is the Polar Bear a done deal? Please say yes.

That's really up to you, Terry. You're the artist. Only you can say when it's done.

 

[SandySu]

The drawing is fun and I don't mind a few redos but when I see my drawing on my PC I see things I don't see in the original drawing. I don't know why that is and it's very frustrating.

Yeah, the hindquarters was a structural thing. The photo was very small and I had to blow it up so I lost some of the detail but I'm not trying to make excuses. I can see it now.

That happens to me, too. I'll post a picture with the photo, and then I see things I didn't see before. Maybe it's because we're seeing it in a different context. I also see things when someone posts my photo and drawing side-by-side that I didn't see when I posted them one on top of the other. I think when you see something in a different way, different details become apparent. Maybe this is why I've heard advice to hold your artwork up to a mirror to see what's wrong and needs fixing.

 

[tmcase]

This is really a lot better, even though it was great to begin with. But, I disagree with Sandy about the tilda. It's in the wrong spot, and needs to come up more. Dunno if that's possible though. Maybe you could darken the upper edge of it to bring it up? I've tried to show what I mean in red, but I stink at drawing these lines in.



I think that there's still a bit of a problem with the hindquarters as well. For one thing, the base of the tail is too thick. You can bring up shadowing in the fur as I've shown (poorly) in red to change that.

The hindquarters need more shaping too. I've marked some areas that will give it more form including shadowing in just a bit where the tail meets the body. Where the haunch bends at the belly, just some subtle dark strokes and shadowing like what's in the photo will give it more shape too. I shoulda connected to the shadow that you already have there though. *Hindsight* The dome shape that I've drawn that almost goes up to the front leg shows a wide, slightly darker area that shows the musculature of the hind leg. I don't mean that there should be a line there. I'm just showing the location of the dip in the thigh.

Nice job on the whiskers, by the way. I just noticed how well those were done.

Don't be afraid to roughen things up where fur is concerned. It's very rarely perfectly smooth.

Dang Rave! That's a lot of red. I saw this after I fixed the hindquarters now I see I have more to do. Anyway, here is what I have so far.

Oh, about the tilda. If I raise it up then it won't be touching the white above the nose.

 

[SandySu]

Dang Rave! That's a lot of red. I saw this after I fixed the hindquarters now I see I have more to do. Anyway, here is what I have so far.

Oh, about the tilda. If I raise it up then it won't be touching the white above the nose.

Staring at the tilda now, I think the one in the photo is a little broader. Try widening it by doing more of it at the top side.

As for the hindquarters, I think you've got it! That was what disturbed me most from the first. Where the tilda is seems more arbitrary, though who knows? Maybe it's something structural, not just a marking.

 

[Renolizzie]

Love the squirrel but it did kind of go two dimensional with the redo. However, the eye was much nicer on the redo. Keep up the good work, Terry.

Raven - Love the secret life of the woods cam. So cool. Mr. Fox was awesome.

Hi Jerry -.

The trainer got to my house just as I was cleaning the last hoof.

I was totally out of sync on the harnessing due to the fact that someone else was there. We got the harness on and then we decided to leave the halter on underneath the bridle. Steve the Trainer also adjusted the left blinker down a bit. We got the little guy hooked up to the cart and the breeching and the tie wraps done up.

Then, off we went. Wiseguy had to pull two of us but he didn't complain. We did a circle inside the yard on the circular driveway. Wiseguy didn't really want to turn properly but I got him stopped and then we tried it again. We did a walk out to the road then a whoa to let a car go by.

I decided to take Tenth St to the west as it is hard packed road base gravel. Wiseguy did good but was looking for dogs. I did one obstacle which is when we go into an abandoned home that has a U-shaped driveway. In one gate and out the other. Wiseguy then decided he wasn't going to turn to the right but instead, he wanted to turn to the left towards home.

We had a bit of an argument about that [me and the horse, that is]. I backed Wiseguy up as it was clear we were not making the turn back onto the road at that point. I gently convinced Wiseguy we needed to turn to the right by bumping him with the whip. Tap, tap, tap -" oh geez if you are going to irritate me like that I guess I'll do it your way." So, Wiseguy got back on the road.

We turned the corner onto Angel and headed toward the busy road at a trot. That section of road is about 1/4 of a mile. Wiseguy shied at something in the road so I stopped him and made him back up and try it again. After a bit, we figured out it was the cardboard pieces that had blown up against the fence that had him worried.

As we approached the stop sign, I said "Oh, need to move my hands up so I have more room to pull back for the stop." Steve said "I was about to mention that." We slowed Wiseguy to a walk and then did a stop at the stop sign. We got onto Ninth street. Several cars passed by us in both directions but Wiseguy was fine about the vehicles and he did good about pulling onto the dirt and then coming back up onto the roadway.

Wiseguy was very worried when we passed by the statue house. He was even more worried when we passed a house that had another horse in the yard and a dog really barking. Wiseguy kept wanting to trot but I told him we are not running from the dog as we have nothing to fear. Managed to keep him at a walk. Then, back to a trot until we reached the pitbull house.

I had forgotten that the pitbull puppy is sometimes out running the road but fortunately he and his friends were locked behind a fence today. Of course, Wiseguy wanted to trot by there, too, but I told him "Nope, we are going to walk." Success. We went back to a trot until we reached the corner that turns to home.

I decided to have Wiseguy make the corner and then do a circle in the road. I knew this would be a challenge as Wiseguy doesn't always want to turn. I had to tap him with the whip to get him to do the left circle. We waited for a car to go by and then we crossed the road and did another left circle. Now we crossed the road back again and headed home. Once we got inside the gate at home, I made that little horsey do a turn around the driveway island. At first Wiseguy said "I don't think so. I am parking." He then decided to listen. We made it all the way around and then I told the little guy to park it.

Steve says he thinks my reining is fine and that my turn problems are simply Wiseguy being a bad little pony. He thought my style of working through our issues was great. So, that is nice to know. We discussed options when on the trail for getting out of the cart and opening a gate or things like that. He thinks that Wiseguy lacks confidence but more miles will probably fix that. Also, going out with another horse might help.

He was also very impressed at how well Wiseguy backs up. He also thinks Wiseguy listens well.

He's coming over next Tuesday and we will be going to the dry lake bed.

 

[SandySu]

Love the squirrel but it did kind of go two dimensional with the redo. However, the eye was much nicer on the redo. Keep up the good work, Terry.

Raven - Love the secret life of the woods cam. So cool. Mr. Fox was awesome.

Hi Jerry -.

The trainer got to my house just as I was cleaning the last hoof.

I was totally out of sync on the harnessing due to the fact that someone else was there. We got the harness on and then we decided to leave the halter on underneath the bridle. Steve the Trainer also adjusted the left blinker down a bit. We got the little guy hooked up to the cart and the breeching and the tie wraps done up.

Then, off we went. Wiseguy had to pull two of us but he didn't complain. We did a circle inside the yard on the circular driveway. Wiseguy didn't really want to turn properly but I got him stopped and then we tried it again. We did a walk out to the road then a whoa to let a car go by.

I decided to take Tenth St to the west as it is hard packed road base gravel. Wiseguy did good but was looking for dogs. I did one obstacle which is when we go into an abandoned home that has a U-shaped driveway. In one gate and out the other. Wiseguy then decided he wasn't going to turn to the right but instead, he wanted to turn to the left towards home.

We had a bit of an argument about that [me and the horse, that is]. I backed Wiseguy up as it was clear we were not making the turn back onto the road at that point. I gently convinced Wiseguy we needed to turn to the right by bumping him with the whip. Tap, tap, tap -" oh geez if you are going to irritate me like that I guess I'll do it your way." So, Wiseguy got back on the road.

We turned the corner onto Angel and headed toward the busy road at a trot. That section of road is about 1/4 of a mile. Wiseguy shied at something in the road so I stopped him and made him back up and try it again. After a bit, we figured out it was the cardboard pieces that had blown up against the fence that had him worried.

As we approached the stop sign, I said "Oh, need to move my hands up so I have more room to pull back for the stop." Steve said "I was about to mention that." We slowed Wiseguy to a walk and then did a stop at the stop sign. We got onto Ninth street. Several cars passed by us in both directions but Wiseguy was fine about the vehicles and he did good about pulling onto the dirt and then coming back up onto the roadway.

Wiseguy was very worried when we passed by the statue house. He was even more worried when we passed a house that had another horse in the yard and a dog really barking. Wiseguy kept wanting to trot but I told him we are not running from the dog as we have nothing to fear. Managed to keep him at a walk. Then, back to a trot until we reached the pitbull house.

I had forgotten that the pitbull puppy is sometimes out running the road but fortunately he and his friends were locked behind a fence today. Of course, Wiseguy wanted to trot by there, too, but I told him "Nope, we are going to walk." Success. We went back to a trot until we reached the corner that turns to home.

I decided to have Wiseguy make the corner and then do a circle in the road. I knew this would be a challenge as Wiseguy doesn't always want to turn. I had to tap him with the whip to get him to do the left circle. We waited for a car to go by and then we crossed the road and did another left circle. Now we crossed the road back again and headed home. Once we got inside the gate at home, I made that little horsey do a turn around the driveway island. At first Wiseguy said "I don't think so. I am parking." He then decided to listen. We made it all the way around and then I told the little guy to park it.

Steve says he thinks my reining is fine and that my turn problems are simply Wiseguy being a bad little pony. He thought my style of working through our issues was great. So, that is nice to know. We discussed options when on the trail for getting out of the cart and opening a gate or things like that. He thinks that Wiseguy lacks confidence but more miles will probably fix that. Also, going out with another horse might help.

He was also very impressed at how well Wiseguy backs up. He also thinks Wiseguy listens well.

He's coming over next Tuesday and we will be going to the dry lake bed.

That sounds like a wonderful, successful drive with Wiseguy! I'm so glad you are out and about with him. How was fastening the surcingle around his fuzzy belly? Did your trainer think you need a new harness? Did he work with Nevada at all?

 

[cindycated]

Whoa! Wouldn't this make a cool graphite drawing?

Graphite, then a little color just for the eyes!

 

[tmcase]

I hope this is better. The tilda has to stay where it is. I tried raising it and it looked funny so I put it back. The shading in the body doesn't show up at all in the printout of the photo. I can only see it in the photo on my PC. I think a need a new printer.

 

[Renolizzie]

That sounds like a wonderful, successful drive with Wiseguy! I'm so glad you are out and about with him. How was fastening the surcingle around his fuzzy belly? Did your trainer think you need a new harness? Did he work with Nevada at all?

The surcingle was on the last notch. We had a little trouble getting it cinched at first but we did get it cinched. Wiseguy gave us the hairy eyeball the first time I tried to get the surcingle into the buckle. We were laughing.

This harness is working and he thinks it is not imperative that I replace it. The bridle is almost too small with the halter underneath it. He adjusted the left blinker and the right one actually seems to be doing better with the left one adjusted. Odd, isn't it? The breeching is working fine and Wiseguy had no problems with it. We are going down a short but sort of steep hill next time we go out. That will be telling since Wiseguy might not like the breeching once it snugs up against him.

We didn't have more time left to work with Nevada. I'm going to make sure I get Nevada into the round pen and I am going to order the training surcingle and halter. I just need to measure Nevada around the middle and the nose and poll so I will do that soon when Hubby gets home before dark. Not today since Hubby had to stop for oil change supplies and a new hatchet. He was so proud of his weight lifting efforts when he broke the hatchet yesterday

Nevada will be getting some training in a couple of weeks. For now, round pen work is the best for him still anyways IMHO. He isn't settled enough and I haven't gotten him onto a rope for lunging. I've just been round penning without a rope.

 

[cindycated]

Here's my redo. I hope I didn't miss anything or mess anything up.

I think he'd probably look a little cuter if the "˜" (tilde) under the eye were a little higher and if his left ear went up a little higher and that bottom part of his ear wasn't so far away from his eye (or maybe some detail missing in between?). In the photo, his face looked a little more scrunched up and his left ear looked a little perkier. And what area is that? The armpit? (right at the middle). Looks like it could use a bit more feathered shadowing and the gray could extend out into the white tummy part a wee bit more and made a little fuzzier - then his bod would look a little puffier. And I think the neckline's a little too pronounced (makes him look a little clinical to me, or stuffed)...but heck, what do I know? "blink: I think I'm just trying to cuten him up because rodents freak me out unless they're cute.

haha the more I see them side by side, the more it looks like a "before and after the beauty parlor" shot.

 

[cindycated]

This is really a lot better, even though it was great to begin with. But, I disagree with Sandy about the tilda. It's in the wrong spot, and needs to come up more. Dunno if that's possible though. Maybe you could darken the upper edge of it to bring it up? I've tried to show what I mean in red, but I stink at drawing these lines in.



I think that there's still a bit of a problem with the hindquarters as well. For one thing, the base of the tail is too thick. You can bring up shadowing in the fur as I've shown (poorly) in red to change that.

The hindquarters need more shaping too. I've marked some areas that will give it more form including shadowing in just a bit where the tail meets the body. Where the haunch bends at the belly, just some subtle dark strokes and shadowing like what's in the photo will give it more shape too. I shoulda connected to the shadow that you already have there though. *Hindsight* The dome shape that I've drawn that almost goes up to the front leg shows a wide, slightly darker area that shows the musculature of the hind leg. I don't mean that there should be a line there. I'm just showing the location of the dip in the thigh.

Nice job on the whiskers, by the way. I just noticed how well those were done.

Don't be afraid to roughen things up where fur is concerned. It's very rarely perfectly smooth.

haha plastic surgery lines!

 

[tmcase]

I think he'd probably look a little cuter if the "˜" (tilde) under the eye were a little higher and if his left ear went up a little higher and that bottom part of his ear wasn't so far away from his eye (or maybe some detail missing in between?). In the photo, his face looked a little more scrunched up and his left ear looked a little perkier. And what area is that? The armpit? (right at the middle). Looks like it could use a bit more feathered shadowing and the gray could extend out into the white tummy part a wee bit more and made a little fuzzier - then his bod would look a little puffier. And I think the neckline's a little too pronounced (makes him look a little clinical to me, or stuffed)...but heck, what do I know? "blink: I think I'm just trying to cuten him up because rodents freak me out unless they're cute.

haha the more I see them side by side, the more it looks like a "before and after the beauty parlor" shot.

Thanks for your feedback Cindy. You are looking at an old drawing though. Although...you are right about the left ear. It could be wider and higher so that it is closer to the eye and I think I have too much highlight on the right ear making it look smaller. And the armpit could be a little hairier. I can't do anything about the tilde.

 

[cindycated]

Don't mind me, Terry. Just blabbing away while my drywall mud dries.

Oh boy, three more rounds of mudding and sanding.
But paper-faced corner beads ROCK! (I know, what a lame thing to get excited about, huh?)

 

[tmcase]

Don't mind me, Terry. Just blabbing away while my drywall mud dries.

Oh boy, three more rounds of mudding and sanding.
But paper-faced corner beads ROCK! (I know, what a lame thing to get excited about, huh?)

Hey, you had some good points. Points the pro missed.

I don't envy you with that drywall. That's tough to do. BF builds houses and has done drywall but he hates it so much that he now hires somebody to do it which is really unusual for him because he hates to pay somebody to do what he can do. That shows you how much he hates it.

 

[tmcase]

Hey, you had some good points. Points the pro missed.

She probably ran out of red ink.

 

[cindycated]

rich people.

 

[tmcase]

rich people.

No way. He's as poor as I am. So that really tells you how much he hates drywall.

 

[awsum140]

Why do they call it drywall? You have to put mud on it and that's wet! I can do drywall and really don't mind it, other than the mess, especially sanding.