Plough horses . . . Finished

Yesterday I got this far:-

I said at the time that I reckoned that there was perhaps another 3 or 4 hours work to be done. That's proven to be an overestimation. I had quite a few people congratulate me on the finished painting - when it wasn't even finished. So I didn't touch the painting until artists' group this evening, and a couple of hours work was all that it took.

Now, you have to bear in mind that this one was photographed in artificial light, which is why the colours appear so different. Allowing for that though, can you see where the work went in to finishing the painting? No? Well, you can just about see the top of my signature on the bottom right, but ignoring that . . .
I worked on the straps and paraphernalia immediately behind the main horse's head.
There are more straps on the main horse's back
The straps behind the horse's rump have also been painted in. The furthest leg to the right has been painted in with shadows, and the hoof in the centre has had more detail applied.
Details of the plough between other legs have been painted in. 
I've applied some highlights to the mane of the horse on the left.
I've darkened some of the areas of soil, and lightened the green in the background on the right.
I've also applied some dots and shadows on the turned over soil.
I applied a very light level behind the main horse to give the appearance of a small cloud of dust.

Phew! All that in a couple of hours.

I usually love a new completed painting for at least a couple of hours, and then reality starts to set in. So I can't trust me feelings right now, which are telling me that this is one of the best things I've ever painted. But looking objectively, I made a painting of plough horses a couple of years ago. I loved it at the time, as did my mother, to whom I gave it as a present. But if we look at it now:-

- well, if we look at it now I still think it's a pretty nice painting - and it looks even better framed - but I honestly think that the latest painting is a better piece of work. As it should be. I'd only been painting at all for 2 years when I made this. I've got 2 more years' experience since then.