Horses

Illustration Friday - Phenomenon

Secretariat won the Belmont stakes by 31 lengths and ran the fastest 1½ miles on dirt in history, 2:24 flat, which broke the stakes record by more than 2 seconds. This works out to a speed of 37.5 mph for his entire performance. Secretariat's world record still stands.

A necropsy revealed that his heart was significantly larger than that of an ordinary horse. An extremely large heart is a trait that occasionally occurs in Thoroughbreds, linked to a genetic condition passed down via the dam line, known as the "x-factor." The x-factor can be traced to the historic racehorse Eclipse, who was necropsied after his death in 1789. Because Eclipse's heart appeared to be much larger than other horses, it was weighed, and found to be 14 pounds (6.4 kg), over twice the normal weight. It is believed Eclipse passed the trait on via his daughters, and pedigree research verified that Secretariat traces in his dam line to a daughter of Eclipse. In the 20th century, the heart of Phar Lap was weighed and also documented to be 6.35 kilograms (14.0 lb), or essentially the same size as that of Eclipse.

At the time of Secretariat's death, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, did not weigh Secretariat's heart, but stated, "We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldn’t believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine." Later, Swerczek also performed a necropsy on Sham, who died in 1993. Swerczek did weigh Sham's heart, and it was 18 pounds (8.2 kg). Based on Sham's measurement, and having necropsied both horses, he estimated that Secretariat's heart probably weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg), or about two-and-a-half times as large as that of the average horse.

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Illustration Friday - Prehistoric

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Red light green light

This is a sample illustration for Richard Shrake's book on Reistance Free Training.

George Bellows - page 8

This is the last page of the George Bellows Bio. He became a successful artitst, happy living with his wife and two daughters.
At 42 years old, big, strong, hearty, sturdy, dauntless, and indefatigable, George Bellows died of a ruptured appendix.
He left 600 paintings to us.

George Bellows - American Painter

This is the first page of the George Bellows Bio.

He's a boy in Columbus Ohio, determined to be an artist.

Illustration Friday - Savour

"Without her love, life has lost its savour for me."


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The reference photo for this image is at http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/BE034872.html

George Bellows - American Painter

This is page 2 and 3 of the biography on George Bellows.

This boy from Columbus Ohio, decided to become a painter. He was a very talented baseball player and athlete in general, but he decided to paint. Throughout his life he played in minor league sports, but he always followed his hart and became a great American painter.

George Bellows - American Painter

George Bellows

What you see below are two pages from a biography of George Bellows that I am illustrating. He was an American artist who made it on his own terms. He lived at the turn of the century (1882-1925) when it was fashionable for American artists to go to Europe to study, since the Impressionists were at that time very popular. George, never saw the need for this. He painted New York City and its' surroundings. He painted the street people with humor and guts, and he became famous in the United States. He is not well known in Europe, it is their loss.

This is page 6 and 7 of my book. Bellow painted the fight and called it "Stag at Sharkeys".

 Here is more information on this painting: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/sisterwendy/works/sta.html.

Illustration Friday - Burning

Illustration Friday - Afterwards

This week's Illustration Friday is "Afterwards"

Illustration Friday - Spent

For Illustration Friday - the word of the week is "spent"

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Christmas card for North Star

This is a Christmas card proposal for Suzanne Beaupre's farm "North Star Quarter Horses". We're going to add some horses.

Second iteration, with horses, porch and Peace to All

     

Walworth Wisconsin Farmhouse

Still painting plein aire. It is getting chilli sitting out there.
This is a farmhouse in Walworth Wisconsin.

Watercolor 11x15"

sold

McGill University

McGill University Hall is in Montreal Canada.
This is Watercolor, 11x15 190 lb cold press.

Yerkes Observatory

Yerkes Observatory is a facility of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Chicago. It was established in 1897 on Geneva Lake in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Until the mid-1960's, Yerkes Observatory housed all of the Department's activities. Today the 77-acre, park-like site in southeast Wisconsin provides laboratory space and access to telescopes for research and instruction.



Green Window

Watercolor 11x15"
This is a roof window in Montreal. I found these windows very interesting. They come in so many different forms and colors. Also, windows are mysterios, what is inside? who lives here? what are they doing?

George Williams College - WI

A beautiful Saturday morning on the George Williams College Campus in Williams Bay Wisconsin.

Watercolor 11x15"

Adirondacks, New York





This is the view from Harrington Cemetary in the northern Adirondacks. It was windy and the clouds were moving in after a sunny morning. Watercolor 6x4"

Montreal

Plain Aire painting in Montreal on St. Louis Square.

Watercolor, 11x15"

Watercolor 4x6"

HWY 56, bridge over the fox river

Another plaine aire painting. This is route 56 going over the fox. 11x15"

Lamplight Equestrian Center

this is Lamplight Equestrian Center, there was a dressage show going on. The horses move to quickly to paint plaine aire, so we're left with the judge's booth.

Boats in Nova Scotia

Boats in Nova Scotia. This is from last year's trip, just liked the photo.

Watercolor 11x15

Red Brick Church in Delavan

This is the United Church of Christ in Delavan, WIS. Another nice Sunday morning. Watercolor 11x15

Can I have a Pet

This is a movie of a children's book that I co-authored with my horse Excalibur

Laundry

These are quick sketches for a potential series. I found that the way people hang laundry is a very personal matter.

Plaine Aire: Batavia Sandstones

It is Sunday morning, and I am out painting beautiful Batavia.

Wa-ta-hon-ee, Delavan

Plaine Aire, Watercolor 11x15"

The cottage Wa-ta-hon-ee, it's not really purple though.

Fabian Bridge

Fabian Bridge, Batavia IL. Plaine aire painting with a cloudy sky.

From Grunkies - Bayfield Wisconsin

We stayed at Grunkies in Bayfield, this was our view from the little balcony.

Apostle Island - Bayfield Wisconsin

Plaine Aire in Bayfield Wisconsin from the lake shore park.

Geneva IL, Fox River bridge

We were painting on the Fabian bridge looking towards the Geneva bridge and it was pouring rain. In the middle of the painting the wind switched and it rained onto the bridge and we were soaked.

The lighting made for a good colors and atmosphere.

Buckingham fountain - Chicago

These are the dragon monsters spewing water in the Buckingham fountain in Chicago


The plaine aire painting of these did not work out well. There was too much to capture, I did this from a photo afterwards. One thing about plaine aire, I know it doesn't work all the time.

Fabian Park Fox River

Here are three versions of the same plaine aire painting ...

In the evening

In the morning

quick impression sketch

Watercolor sketches

Here are some small watercolor sketches. This first one is a copy of Hopper's watercolor. Pretty isn't it.

Fabian Park Windmill

This week, we went to Fabian Park, very early in the morning. It was cloudy and gray. I did a quick study that morning, and the drawing for a later coloring.

We went back on a sunny evening and completed the second one.

Plein Air - Ping Tom park in china town chicago

The week we headed down town Chicago, for an industrial view. This is the view from Ping Tom park on Wells and Cermak in Chicago.  This is a very nice park, and the chinese food nearby is fantastic.  It is a 8x10 watercolor.

Plein Air - Capitol in Madison Wisconsin

Another gray sunday morning. This is the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. Watercolor 11x14