Well, rummaging through some CDs that contain photos of a few years back, I found this great photo of Katie training a young horse we used to own (her name was Ella). I decided to use these two pretty gals as models for a painting:-)
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share the process of how the picture came together.
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Here's my preliminary sketch. I used my pencil to make sure Ella's proportions were correct.
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I then did some shading...it really helps to have the values blocked in before I start painting.
Using acrylic paint, I first washed over the horse with a "Blood Bay" recipe: yellow, red, and a spot of blue. At this point, I simply left the highlights bare or only thinly painted.
Fast forward a few layers of washes later...I just added more Blood Bay to Ella's coat, and intensified the shadows. In the darker areas I added more blue to my Blood Bay recipe; in the redder areas I added, well, more red. I also gave her a mane and tail: black, white, and blue for the mane; and a touch of blood bay at the tail's tip.
I also sketched in the background...and gave Katie some decent riding boots instead of those frumpy tennis shoes I'd copied in my original sketch. Just looks more equestrian, don't you think?
Heres my completed painting. I darkened the shadows under Ella's belly, neck and head, using a mixture of black and red paint. Katie's skin tone is made with (a lot of) white, mixed with yellow and a tad of red. Yes, I also painted a background that is pretty different from the photo, but I just thought it would look good :-)
Well, that's all for now folks. Thanks for stopping by!
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