Page 62 - August 2017

VALIANT HERO
Mikel has done paintings for Butch Wise at Lazy E Ranch, including Valiant Hero and Corona Cartel
Missy Mit Go (left) was the Donahue’s original mare
and produced the likes of . . .
His Methods
Mikel has worked in all types of media. “Years ago, when I got out of school, I did
a lot of watercolors,” he says. “Then an instructor back in the ‘70s told me to get some of the new soft-lead colored pencils to accent
my illustrations, and I loved that. When I
started back into art, I found myself doing
less watercolor and more pencil. I’d lay-in my drawings or my paintings with watercolor washes and then come back and do more pencil. Then, here in the last couple of years, I’ve been doing more acrylic painting. I’ve done oils over the years, too, but with acrylics, I can wash them down and use them like watercolors or keep them kind of creamy and use them like oils at the same time. I like the flexibility of acrylics.”
Along with the variety that acrylics offer, he also enjoys the variety he finds in his subject matter. “I’m doing what I like to do: western genre primarily, and the commission work I
get to do of horses is a nice break from that. It’s kind of the same, but different — like a rock ‘n’ roll musician who gets a chance to play some acoustical material from time to time.”
A runner for the Donahue’s, Corona Mit Go, shown winning the 2013 Merial Prairie Meadows Distaff Challenge, is now part of their broodmare band.
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60 SPEEDHORSE, August 2017