I have to do a painting, and I’m doing a horse and foal. Any tips on how to paint horses? I suck!?
admin on January 23rd, 2010
I’m really bad at painting, and I have to do a horse and foal. I need some tips or examples-anything, really-that would help me. I have to do it on an A3 peice of paper. Thanks! 
I find that a soft roller is ideal for painting the main body of the horse and a 2inch brush is best for intricate areas. Be careful not to get paint in it’s eyes!
I find that a soft roller is ideal for painting the main body of the horse and a 2inch brush is best for intricate areas. Be careful not to get paint in it’s eyes!
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Make sure you outline in pencil first…study the horse’s anatomy for a couple of days first though!
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Go to your public library or school library. Check out some books on how to draw animals. There are some books that specialize in horses. If you find a step-by-step book like the Draw 50 … series, you have hit the jackpot.
See how the author draws. What comes first? Second? How does s/he show the coat? Shape the hooves? Pay particular attention to how the author handles the parts where you have trouble. What is s/he doing that you aren’t? Try to reproduce one of the pictures in the book following the steps given.
Also, draw large. Most young artists draw too small. They try to fit the entire picture into the space of a credit card. Use the entire page. That way you will have more room to get the shapes and textures two work for your horse and foal.
For example, I have a degree in art and can usually draw what I want to draw. However, I have trouble with horses and cats. When I draw them small they always look like dogs. If I draw large, say, just a head, and pay attention to the details, Viola! My horse looks like a horse. My cat looks like a cat. I just can’t get the detail that makes them unique squeezed into a small drawing.
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BSE in art and English; MLS in Library Science.
paint it at night ,lol
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Horses are a collection of simple shapes.
Proportionally:
the body and legs form a square. that is from front to back and from ground to shoulders are about the same distance.
A foal is more of a rectangle, shorter from front to back than from top to bottom.
A horses head is a trapezoid (narrow end muzzle, wide end where neck goes) with a circle that is the cheek.
the eye is placed directly above where the cheek joins the muzzle.
the length of the neck should be close to the length of the back, and the head is about the same length as the distance from the front of the chest to the top of the whithers. the body is an oval, and the hips and shoulders more of an egg shape with the narrow end pointing down.
Legs are straight in the front, and have hocks (kind of a backwards knee) in the back. hooves are slightly in front of the legs, and connected by pasterns.. and angled bone that attaches to the ankle.
Foals have a much less prominent cheek, a very slender body, and knobby knees.
Tails on both horses and foals come sightly out from the body before dropping to the ground. there are bones there… not just hair!
Manes and forelocks grow directly out of necks, and can be short and even or long and flowing, or in foals, tight and curly.
Good luck!
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Haha Eric C. Love it! As for answering the question… there are some good websites for drawing horses (easily Googled), i would start there, then add detail with paint once you get the drawings down pat…
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hey!!
horses hoves are really hard to draw, and someone once told me that you should cover them up with grass at the bottom.
it saves you time trying to draw them!
unless your painting a flying horse………..
bye!!
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you could watch how this woman does it maybe it will help. It gave me ideas for techniques.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd8D3VUGjU8
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I learned to draw horses from a Sam Savitt book. He is my favorite equine artist. Also, go to the library and check out books by C.W. Anderson, they are in the children’s section and are about Billy and Blaze. Yes, little kids books, but the pencil drawings are phenomenal! Just look at one of the pics you like (there will be several running and jumping pictures, too) and make a sketch.
Once you have your drawing the way you like it (remember, you can’t erase paint!) then paint in the colors.
Here is a sketch by Sam Savitt of a mare and foal. And another link to his ebay items for sale:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SAM-SAVITT.....dZViewItem
http://stores.ebay.com/SamSavittArt-Books
Good luck! I LOVE drawing horses, have drawn horses for 26 years!
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They are quite difficult to get right!
Why not draw your interpretation of a horse and foal, in an impressionistic style?
Not everone is a Stubbs!
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Instead of actually making the painting realistic and in great detail, why don’t you just make a sketch, like a cartoon? It is so much easier and quicker but it still looks nice! Make a foal and mare in a paddock with a sun and a tree, a couple of birds, whatever…. not every painting has to be life-like! Good Luck!
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