100 Horses

Horses are the hardest of all the animals to get right in my opinion. Complex forms! big bulgy round masses on top of little bendy sticks. There is no way to do them well without deep knowlege of anatomy, lots of real life observation, and finally knowing something about the breeds. I set myself a challege of 30 horses in 30 days( actually finished in 22) so I could feel more at ease doing them and get beyond some of the most basic skills needed into more ease of painting.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=520031. If you are interested in how to do horses this thread has great info for painting and drawing and all the anatomy you need to start. There are a lot of horses painted on the web, but when you begin to know them by talking to horse people and studying them, you find a lot of the paintings are not very accurate, and the misshapen, misplaced anatomy and light and shade really begin to grate on the educated eye. These poorly painted critters make the real horse people cringe, so I'm trying to make sure mine pass muster with them! When I got done with the 30, I noticed there was a lot more still to know so went on to do the 100, currently at #84. You can see many artists on this link http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=524621 You can follow the whole saga at the links, but here are a few I like so far

Wet Arab oil 12x12, painted from a photo I took durning a downpour. Didn't quite get it, I'll try again sometime.


Trya( means little flame ) my fist encounter with the captivating Icelandic Horse, one of the oldest and purest breeds on the planet, able to survive in extreme conditions, and although pony size, her back was just above my waist, they are so strong they can carry a full grown adult. They also have a gait called tolt that is a smooth running walk, they can keep up all day, very smooth and comfortable for the rider. Here she was on the side of a steep hill about to scratch a big itch.



This grand fellow is a Lusitano Stallion of such flashy looks that no painting I've done so far can do him justice.This is a study of his beautiful head. The Iberian style horse has a convex profile, different from the arab we are used to. He has a long mane and beautiful eyes which can be seen only when he tosses his head to get the hair moved. He's full of personality, but very sweet, when I went to photograph him, he came over immediately to check out the camera and me.