western – Tarjan Studio

Pintos

Garment illustration by Janet Tarjan Erl

Pintos

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 11″h x 20″w, T-shirt Image Size: 8″h x 15″w, 1998.

This artwork of these perky horses was originally derived from my painting Perky Pinto. I altered it in Photoshop by floating the horses from the background to create a new version for a T-shirt design. I added some beadwork to give it a southwestern look.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Horses and Sky

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 14″h x 21″w, T-shirt Image Size: 10.5″h x 17″w, 1998.

This artwork of the horses was originally from painting of the Horses, Earth, and Sky. This T-shirt design, however, was floated from the original, and I added some beadwork to give it a southwestern look.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Youngblood

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 15″h x 23″w, T-shirt Image Size: 8″h x 12.5″w, 2006.

This artwork of this foal was originally derived from my painting Woodland Foal. I altered it in Photoshop by floating the horse from the background to create a new version for a T-shirt design. I added some beadwork to give it a southwestern look.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Horse Totem

Medium: Digital Photoshop, Image Size: 9″h x 30″w, T-shirt Image Size: 4″h x 13.25″w, 2021.

This design was originally created as an apparel design for T-shirts. It was one of the designs in my preprinted T-shirt line called Funky Totems. Funky Totems can be defined as a colorful, graphic style with humorous characters. They are a modern-day twist on the ancient totems of indigenous peoples. Whereas our ancestors from long ago depicted the animals, plants, and spirit beings of their time, I have reinterpreted that simplistic style to show the many things that go on in our present-day culture, but I did so in a fun and or humorous way.

I entered this design to win a public art grant for Grants Pass Downs racetrack in Grants Pass, Oregon. Unfortunately, this design was not selected.

Sketched in pencil. Scanned into the computer and floated. Painting, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Sorrel Mare

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 16″h x 22″w, T-shirt Image Size: 9″h x 13″w, 2021.

his artwork of this pretty sorrel mare was originally derived from my painting Autumn Woods. I altered it in Photoshop by floating it from its background to create a new version for a T-shirt design. I added some beadwork to give it a southwestern look.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Native Arts

Watercolor painting of Native American blankets and basket by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Native Arts

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 23 1/2″h x 15 1/2″w, 2002.

I set up this still life of authentic Native American crafts that were in the collection of my sister and brother-in-law. I loved the shapes, colors, textures, and designs of the different objects, and it took many watercolor washes to paint all the various colors and textures and to do it as a purely transparent watercolor. I had to use many small brushes to get the details just right.

Many native American cultures produce exquisite art through their practical utilities such as blankets, pottery, baskets, and clothing, and this painting honors a few of those artistic creations.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Spring Splendor

Watercolor painting two horses in landscape by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Spring Splendor

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 14″h x 22.75″w, 2003.

I always enjoyed spring in Siskiyou County, California. Deep green forests fringed the lush, green pastures that abounded everywhere in the valleys and rolling hills. This painting is a good example of the spring beauty of the County. The location is on the Burton Ranch in the Yreka Creek Valley. It can be seen from Hwy 3 just southwest of Yreka. This buckskin and bay look into this scenic pasture. I deliberately painted them looking to the landscape rather than away from it. By doing this, the viewer participates with the horses by looking into the scene. This was such a beautiful, bucolic setting.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Gathering in the Meadow

Watercolor landscape and horse painting by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Gathering in the Meadow

Medium: Watercolor/Gouache, Image Size: 20″h x 28 1/2″w, 1999.

I painted this watercolor/gouache of a handsome pack of horses in a hanging meadow. I often saw this diverse pack of horses near my home on Black Mountain in Siskiyou County, California. I painted them in this scene of a meadow I hiked to near Middle Boulder Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness in northern California. It is a beautiful location and I thought it complimented the natural beauty of the horses. I used much artistic license of combining many different horses and landscape elements to make a lovely horse painting.

Original is sold.

Reproduction Available on Etsy.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Roundin’ Up the Friskies

Watercolor landscape, horse and cowboy painting by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Roundin' Up the Friskies

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 23 3/4″h x 35 3/4″w, 1994.

This painting was influenced by some frisky horses I saw on the Newton Ranch in Scott Valley, California. I combined them with some cowboys I saw at a rodeo in Etna, California. Together, they made an energetic artwork that represents the half wild nature of horses in springtime. I placed these horses and cowboys into a background of the Metcalf Wilderness in Montana that I saw while on a trip to Yellowstone National Park. I used my creative skills to put all the elements together to make a fun watercolor.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Horses In the Wild Meadow

Watercolor painting of horses in mountain meadow by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Horses In the Wild Meadow

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 18”h x 24”w, 1996.

When I did this watercolor of these horses, I didn’t intend for them to be so well matched with the snow-covered mountains in the background, but because three of the horses were paint horses splotched with a lot of white, they almost blended into the background. I saw this spring meadow on the east-side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.