Tired cowboy, ( composition study, No.3 )

                                            An original charcoal and pastel drawing, on Strathmore paper
                                            14 X 11" unframed - ( mat size, 19 X 16" )
                                             $75.00,  ( plus $10.00, pack and ship )


                                                           ( click on image to enlarge )

     Art collectors sometimes enjoy seeing the preliminary drawings and studies
which artists use, to work out problems of composition in a painting, before the artist
starts on the canvas.  This is one I did for the previously posted painting called
Saddle Weary.  This drawing is a bit more fully developed than most quick studies.
In this one I was working on some ideas about the color and the lighting of the subject,
to create a more dramatic use of shadow, and better contrast of tonal values.

     A finished painting is a final summation of an artist's efforts to express something
about his subject, using all of the skill and craftsmanship at his command, to make it
look effortless and natural, with none of the difficulties showing.  A preliminary
drawing such as this one perhaps lets the viewer have a glimpse into the mind of the
artist at work, looking for some solutions to the problems he poses.  But of course
there is never one perfect solution, there is only the constant quest.  Leonardo da Vinci
said that he continued his studies in bed in the dark of night, retracing in his mind, the
outlines of the forms which he had previously studied, particularly those which had
appeared the most difficult to comprehend.