Margaret Kyle
Acrylic, Watercolor, Portraits

Spirited

Spirited

Doing what We Are Born to Do

53 x 36 inches; 134.62 x 91.44 cm

The painting of horses running through water is a triumph of the spirit. The horses are doing what their horse spirits do best – running and delighting in the movement of their bodies. Triumph in this case isn’t about winning or being first in a race, it is about authenticity.

The painting is done with Winsor Newton watercolour pigments on 140 pound Arches watercolour paper. In watercolour the lightest areas (in this case the sunlit areas of the white horses) are saved from pigment. The combination of French Ultarmarine blue and Burnt Sienna create granulation in the shadow areas. The manes and tails are integrated into the background to give a sense of unity to the whole and to create a sense that the horses are part of the background and foreground and not separate or cut out from it. Metallic gold highlights were added to give a sense that this is a painting of Great Spirit and a kind of holy icon to the spirit of the horses and their connection with the natural world that they inhabit so well.

53 x 36 inches

Watercolour & Acrylic

$1,500

Spirited