Weekly Art Practice - Week 35
After my week of horse riders I thought it would be appropriate to tackle horses on their own. One of the fabled Hard to Draw things along with hands and bicycles (which I have yet to try).
Day 1 - Drawing from imagination
I thought day 1 was going pretty okay until I took a step back and got “dog” vibes from my first day of sketches. So I wasn’t exactly getting the legs right.
Day 2 - Figure sketching
The tiny head on the first left hand horse here makes me laugh. Horses really are about getting the proportions right while they themselves have pretty weird proportions. I don’t have a natural eye to judge the proper sizes of head and body versus long skinny legs.
Day 3 - Reference studies
More time with references was very valuable. Breaking down the horse into 3 balls or 2 balls connected by a tube is a pretty good base. But their legs can look like different lengths depending on the pose so I still lack confidence in judging when they’re accurate.
Day 4 - Style studies
There are some very good horse references out there. An animal that has been widely Disney’fied. I did enjoy giving them from over the top facial expressions.
Reference: Cartoon horses by @mitchleeuwe on Instagram
Reference: Horse expressions by Hedvig H-S
Day 5 - Drawing from imagination
I kind of wish I had leaned more into the cartoon versions for test day. The larger eyes and over the top manes add a lot of character to a horse. Keeping them on the more realistic side makes them kind of boring to me. I’ll admit, I don’t super love horses.
My wife wanted it recorded that she has named this horse Pumpkin Wonderful. Place your bets now.
Conclusion
Overall, horses, not so bad. They definitely have a unique body type which makes them a bit more of a challenge but I don’t feel afraid or annoyed to draw them again. Hands still feel more difficult by comparison. And now I’m considering doing bicycles before the end of the year. Try to get through the big 3.
Just a few weeks left in the year and I have my final subjects selected. Considering going through all my blog posts and finding my unfinished pieces as there was a lot I started this year but didn’t finish. I don’t have a great track record for returning to unfinished projects but who knows, maybe I’ve changed.
Pinterest board of horses.