drawing horses in pastel

There's something about drawing horses in pastel. I'm not sure how to express it, really, except that the pastel requires it be laid down on the paper in a certain way. I find myself thinking in terms of blue shadows and luminous highlights. The pure quality of the pigment is very moving. I feel that immediately I am required to express something of the spirit of the horse. I feel pushed out of my comfort zone. I love it!

horse painting video

 

Here's a sped up horse painting video 

- it's always amazing to see the differences in artists' technique. 

Here's just one technique demonstrated in a really striking realist pastel by Mary Herbet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRAYRw-msbk

 

Mary's site is at:

http://www.portra.co.uk/ 

inspiration - Alan Lee

I've always found the drawings and paintings of Alan Lee so magical and atmospheric. It was really wonderful to find that he and John Howe had been invited to work on the films of the Lord of The Rings. His use of light is particularly good.

And lovely to get the published Alan Lee sketchbook as a present from my husband!

moonlit horse

The moonlight was so bright over Easter, I braved the cold with the camera to photograph the horses. The ground was absolutely glowing with blue light. There was a bit of surprised snorting at the camera noises, but the horses soon decided it was acceptable.

inspiration - toulouse-lautrec

He may be better known for his scenes of seedy Parisian night life, but Toulouse-Lautrec had a remarkable eye for painting horses. It's always worth doing a google image search to find these wonderful pictures. (Or see the real things - even better!)