Michael Prout American Portrait and Equestrian Artist

A Work In Progress...

July 27, 2010

I have a few watercolor artists that I really admire for their technique and observations. One in particular does a lot of landscapes and considers himself a "representational landscape artist". Now, I've read a lot of different opinions on what a representational painter is and I guess, to a degree, I have always been led that was as well. To me I enjoy taking an observation (life or photo) and "colorizing" it. Watercolor is the coolest at this. Basically using cool colors like purples, greens and even certain blues in the shadows and warmer colors like reds and yellows in highlights. There's more to it than that but essentially you are giving life back to your shadow areas and letting colors mix and give new life to a painting. In this series I am also searching for my way of painting without the use of masking fluid too. Things like trees, rocks, foilage being painted without the use of masking to save the lights or define edges. It is harder than it seems but has a more natural look to it when done properly. Here are a few small paintings from my watercolor blocks...

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July 6, 2010

Sprained my ankle real bad this week. Makes it hard to climb stairs or get around. I won't be able to get to my studio to paint in oils for awhile it looks like. Not to worry though, I have a project that I have been wanting to get to for some time now. Over the years I have taken and gathered many photos of my beautiful wife. I need to brush up on my figure drawing and portrait drawing skills as well as painting in watercolor. These photos extend from present to the mid 80's when we met as Freshman in high school. So, here are a few 30-60 minute drawings and paintings that I did while being laid up for awhile...

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June 14, 2010

This is a portrait I am starting for a good friend of ours that trains and judges in Illinois. She helps my wife throughout the year with our horse barn and has an exceptional passion for horses and riders. Much like my wife. This is her favorite horse "Pete". As you can see from the photo I have toned the canvas and drawn out the portrait in an umber wash. I will begin adding color to the background next. I will paint this one in much the same fashion as the portrait of Tiki below.

June 8, 2010

Here is a smaller portrait that I completed for one of Tina's riding students the other day. She was such a little camera ham. I think she is only about 7 but she works the camera like a professional. It was hillarious taking her photos.

June 5, 2010

Finished these 3 horse portraits for my wife's horse barn. Tiki (left), Vegas (center) and Wessel (right). These are 18x24 oil on canvas.

May 17, 2010

Here is a portrait I captured at the fair a few years ago. I believe her name was Krissi. She was in the crowd at the rodeo. I thought it looked like a fun portrait and decided to paint it for practice.

April 29, 2010

Here is a recent portrait that I did from a very poor and out of focus photo. Unfortunately there were not a lot of reference photos of the individuals to work from on this project. I scanned the photo into the computer and then sharpened it as much as I could to find hard edges to work from. Then I drew it out on the canvas, inked it so that the drawing stayed after the initial wash, sketched the values out in burnt umber and then applied color layers. It took about 3 weeks to complete this painting unfortunately. I had gotten busy with website design projects at the time. The family really enjoyed this painting and I was happy to be able to paint it for them.

Have you ever considered having you or someone you love painted in watercolor or oils? A quality painting is timeless and can tell much more about the person than a photograph. Michael has been painting portraits and scenes in both watercolor and oil paints and has a style that is a touch of realism and bold color. His favorite subject matter revolves around horses or equestrian art with paintings of horses on the ranch, in the wild or in competition. He likes to capture the character and expression of his subject matter and tell a simple story. If you would like learn more about his work, please visit the links below and if you are interested in contracting him to paint your next portrait, please click here to contact Michael. Please enjoy your visit.