Using a Flat Lay to Explore the “Wild Horses” Painting

By Melani | June 1, 2018 |
A detail from the flat lay exploration of associations we have with horses, through an assortment of objects: a horse shoe of good luck, the glove of English-style riding, the wildly beautiful horse on the book cover, the bow-tie of the proper gentry riding class, the red and white lariat, the silver cowboy, an arrowhead pointing to the Native American riding tradition, the archer-horse-man of the horoscope sign Sagittarius, and a mini celluloid pencil for scoring horse shows.

A flat lay exploration of associations we have with horses, through an assortment of objects: a horse shoe of good luck, the glove of English-style riding, the wildly beautiful horse on the book cover, the bow-tie of the proper gentry riding class, the red and white lariat, the silver cowboy, an arrowhead pointing to the Native American riding tradition, the archer-horse-man of the horoscope sign Sagittarius, and a mini celluloid pencil for scoring horse shows.

 

Have you noticed all the different ways that horses touch our lives?

When I started working on my “Wild Horses” painting, I  kept running into associations with horses. But I got worried when I started putting together a flat lay image to expand my ideas for the painting. I thought I didn’t own anything that related to horses.

Lucky for me, creating flat lays turns out to be kinda magical. If I just think about what I will use for the image, I come up empty. But when I start physically searching through my stuff, I guess it swirls up the subconscious and I end up finding all that I need.

In this flat lay, you can see a few of the associations we have with horses. You’ll find:

  • a horse shoe for good luck,
  • a glove from the English-style riding tradition,
  • the wildly beautiful horse on the book cover,
  • a bow-tie of the proper gentry riding class,
  • a red and white lariat,
  • a silver cowboy,
  • a sterling silver arrowhead pointing to the Native American riding tradition,
  • a silver charm of the archer-horse-man of the horoscope sign, Sagittarius, and
  • a mini celluloid pencil for writing scores at horse shows.

Some items I add in for indirect reasons, like the neck-tie I put in for the colors and the texture. And the wire necklace with transparent blown-glass beads I placed for rhythm and contrast.

And it’s all topsy-turvy, wild and free, just like the wild horses in my painting.

See the evolution of this piece from sneak peek to this post of the idea exploration to paint spatter to preliminary sketches to inked images to completed painting.

The original painting of  “Wild Horses” is available for purchase here.

And an illustration of horse racing here.

And you won’t want to miss the related print of the painting, “Wild Donkeys”, here.

There are many more horse associations, of course, such as horse racing and horse-and-buggy, the Mustang car and the mythical creature, Pegasus. What kinds of horses come to mind for you?

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