Hey all,
Here is a WIP of my contest entry for Horses in Art mag. I think I have bitten off more than I can chew...(Hmm, a pun there perhaps) but I refuse to give up. And hey, what do you think of my new avatar?? A whole play of the Horses in Art theme...
C&C welcome.
Cheers.

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Wow! HW. That new Avatar looks just like a horse's a....er....backside! Great job.

Also, good job with the greenery as well. I know how daunting of a task that can be. One of the great masters of grass rendition is Mike Sibley. Check out his dog portraits. He may also have some tips for creating believable green carpeting as well.

http://www.sibleyfineart.com/

Eric

Yep, that's a horse's @$$ alright

You do have a lot of grass going on there Horse. I feel your pain. Is this a closeup or is the crop of the horse's hoof and leg?

Hey Eric,
Yes, Mike is my hero LOL. Got the idea of Blu-Tack from his site, and am using putty right now to add some highlights.
Jeanette, it is a crop, complete pic will be about 18X20. I have to actually step away and look at the grass in order to see it now. All I see closeup are lines and shading. Thx for the support!!!
Horses A....Backside out.
Cheers.

I think you did a awsome job on your grass ...when all is done i bet the drawing will be awsome .

Oh my! I would be totally bonkers with all of that grass! I think it's going to be a great drawing when you finish. Better hurry up or the horse will have eaten all the grass - mine will do it in a heartbeat! lol

J

PS - love your new avatar! I dug out a hundred year old Glamour Shot portrait for mine - may not look like me now but sure makes me feel better! Now does showing a horse's patootie make you feel better? hee hee Still love it!

J,
Didnt I mention that was a self portrait? I think I got my better side too!!

Thx Kim. I will continue to post updates as they are available.

Cheers.

Well heres an update.
I have finished drawing in the negative space for my grass in the foreground. I dont even want to think of it anymore. Now need to do some shading to give it that nice 3D effect.
I left that alone for a while to work on the mares head. You can see in the bottom right where the foals head will be. The mares head obviously still needs some work and more depth, but it will start to pop when I get her mane flowing.
C&C welcome.
Cheers.
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Horsewhisperer,
Magnificient!!! The baby foal looks so real and the grass looks good too. Great job. I hope you win. Its for a contest right?

Thank you, thank you for posting these updates! I love horses & am loving this drawing! Can't wait to see it finished - more, more, more!

J

Caught your best side with that self-portrait, huh? lol

Hey All,

I have updated my drawing a bit. I have posted it here...
http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface2.jpg

Cheers.

Horsewhisperer, absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!! Keep up the great work. I am sure you have a great chance to win!!! Yoy have also done really well at making them look so real.

Hey there Venus, thx for the comments, I will keep posting here as I get more done. I need to have it done before Dec 31, as the contest closes then.

Cheers.

Here are some more updates...

http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface3.jpg
http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface4.jpg
http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface5.jpg
http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface6.jpg

I have yet to tie the grass flow into the hooves, I will fix that when I am about complete the background. I am going to try something I havent done before...I am going to attempt to 'blur' the background, to give the optics of distance across the field. Any incite on this technique??

C&C welcome.

Cheers.

Well I burnt the midnight oil, and 95% completed the foal.

C&C welcome. Noone has responded to my question on blurring the background, and techniques involved. Could I get some feedback on that request pleeeeeeeeeease.

http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface7.jpg
http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface8.jpg
http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface9.jpg

Thx all.

Cheers.

Paul (easier than typing horsewhisperer all the time, aint it?? )

Paul you are doing a beatiful job on the horses ....i just love them and the fact its not just the head but the whole body in motion .. very challenging and nicly done .

Excellent updates Paul. The mare and foal are lovely and coming along beautifully.

I agree with you softening the distant view to increase it now that you have the grass in the foreground in sharp focus. I have done a similar thing with the dog WIP that I'm doing. Its a technique that works well and will look good with this drawing.

At the rate you're going, you'll have this done in no time!

Paul, wow!! It still looks beautiful. I can't wait to see it finished. Truely amazing. I sure hope you win.

Well, I think I am finished this drawing, while Im sure I could tinker with it for another 100 years, I think I have better stop!!

Sorry I didnt have anymore WIP for this one, however I got sooo emeshed in it, that I totally forgot to take any pictures!!

Anyhow, here it is...

http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horseface10.jpg
http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/horsefacefinished.jpg

Its a bit washed out, as I think my DC is dying.

Cheers.

Paul

C&C welcome.

This is an awesome piece of sketch Horsewhisperer. You have got some really nice pencil work skills. The part which really caught my attention was the head of the big horse. It has got some really nice tones on it. I like the shapes of the horses as well.

My critics to improve your future sketch would be to make some more use of darker tones on focal points. Like in this example the horses are the main area where you want viewers to view but in some places the shapes of the animal tend to get lost in the details of your background and make it hard to read. In my opinion some darker tones would have made them more clear and stand out. This is just a personal opinion and I would appreciate if others could say what they think about that.

Also please check if your monitor is well calibrated in order for it not to kill the dark tones when you turn your sketch to digital ones through scannning. If you don't know how to do it just let me know.

Hope to see some more of your stuffs horsewhisperer.

Hey there dean, thx for the feedback. I noticed that the legs seem to die into the grass as well, I may see if I can pull them out a bit.

I may contact you concerning the scanning. I have a nice scanner, but just seem to give myself headaches when I try to stitch everything back together, AHHHHHHHHH.

The pics you see are a bit washed out due to DC dying on me.

Cheers.

Paul

Hello everyone,
I scanned and stitched together the picture. You can see more of the highlights and contrasts now, however its VERY easy to see Im not a seamstress.
Cheers.
Paul
http://www.dctenterprises.com/art/stitchedimage.jpg

Paul .. I love your picture .. its beautiful .. I think you did a awsome job on the horses .. they are tricky to draw .