Pulling Contest at the Blue Hill Fair

Photographed on one of my visits to the annual Blue Hill Fair in Maine, I was inspired by the powerful yet calm draft horses and the whole story in this scene. The horses were working so hard, directed by the men at their sides while pulling large concrete blocks originally moved to the start by the large background tractors. I used a complementary palette of orange-yellow and blue-violet to achieve color harmony throughout the painting and to highlight the beautiful chestnut color of the Belgian draft horses.