100:43. Don't Come

This took some weird u-turn but I think I still like this.
(np. Erase-Rewind by Cardigans, how appropriate)
As some of you might know, this started out as an advertisement (look my scraps, if interested) but given the tight dead-line of the project, I was quite unhappy about the way I had to leave the painting.

So I wanted to work more on it. This is the result. Granted, I could have refined it more.
However, it wasn't my intention to make this piece photorealistic or completely "polished". I'm grown quite sick of the photorealistic style, it's no challenge if you've got refs and usually it takes away your own "voice". As a result, this time I intented on creating a good atmosphere, to paint a moment, an emotion. Be rough and expressive without losing beauty. I think I did fairly well.

No references used for anything. It might be quirky or cartoony, I don't care. It makes me feel and that's more than I could've hoped to achieve.

Also, part of my 100 theme challenge, theme #43, dying.
(Somehow this makes me see a story where the horse is saying goodbye and then walking off into the mist, never returning. "Take my life to save hers" type of situation also possible. On some level this is a familiar metaphor/image.)

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Unlike my other paintings, this one uses textures as a basis for the bg — so not a "pure" painting!

Credits for the bg textures:
[link] by *Inthename-Stock
[link] by *Texturematic