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Drover

Drover
Medium: Pastel
Base: Paper
Year: 2009
Third place - monthly qualifier of McClelland Guild Artists, "Artist of the Year" competition (August 2009)
Pastel drawing on dark blue pastel paper of a drover in the outback of Central Australia riding in from a long day in the saddle.
As the upcoming meeting of the McClelland Guild is going to focus on pastels and in particular, portraits, I thought I would finally get this picture out of my head.
It is not a portrait in the true sense I suppose, but so many people love doing those and are very good at it and I have other interests that don't quite fit. This is probably as close as I would normally get to doing a human portrait with a person being a part of the scene I wish to depict.
I don't remember where I saw the scene that inspired it, but what I saw in my mind demanded to be done in pastel. After putting it off for too long I finally sat down to do the drawing and it happened very quickly. This is only an exercise to improve my drawing skills and hopefully keep it loose and fresh, not a commission and not for sale. Details were deliberately not allowed, just colour and immediacy.
The rider is coming in from a long day in the heat and dust. He is leaning on one side from exhaustion. The feeling I am trying to present is one of "it's the end of a long hard day, I'm tired, my horse is tired and we are looking forward to unpacking, unsaddling and a nice feed".
This work is now framed and will be presented at McClelland for the August meeting. You never know how your work is going to be received at these events, it all depends on who attends and whether the demonstrating artist likes your style. So we will see. I generally obtain some positive comments and words of encouragement from members, which is very much appreciated.
Dimensions: 250 mm (width) × 320 mm (height)
Ownership: Artist
For Sale

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