greyhound sketches

three drawings

sketchbook: three horses

Another page from the sketchbook ... (you can just make out the dogs on the next page!)

hindquarters study - sketchbook

Learning from other artists ... There's nothing like looking closely at the work of 'old masters'. I've learnt so much roaming museums too - places like the Metropolitan in NY, the Louvre and D'Orsay - and so many others! It's always inspiring and deeply humbling.

sketchbooks

Sketchbooks are places to let your imagination wander but also places in which to work things out. Above are some dog drawings I did after looking at Durer and some other artists. I felt myself getting a little tight and rigid, so I focused on shapes instead, and brought back the feeling of flow.

Below are some sketches by my husband, James. Here it's pretty clear what he's working out - what's going on beneath the surface?

eucalyptus leaves

not a horse - a rhino!

My first and only rhino!

sitting horse

greek horse statuette

saddle drawing

Drawing of saddle - have to practice drawing tack as well as the horses themselves!

cats

After the well-defined lines and musculature on horses, I find cats can be very challenging. They are very clearly and symmetrically structured, but it is partly hidden under fur. Siamese and other short hairs are a little easier. Another challenge with cats is to capture their often quirky characters, while keeping a sense of their elegance and presence.

Arab horse in ink

Arabian horse in ink. This was a reasonably quick sketch (due to how quickly the ink was drying). I wanted to get that floating feeling across, that is so typical of the way Arab horses move. Also the way they can appear to be gazing serenely into the distance while thundering over the ground!

Drawing techniques

Here are two pages from my sketch book. Both show the shapes I have used to block out the basic form of the horse. I often begin with the oval(ish) shape around the horse's shoulder and the shape of the hindquarters, brought together by the oval of the horse's barrel (belly). Many subjects can be broken into circles and cylinders, but you need to keep track of the overall energy of your subject.

Moth

Here's a pencil drawing of a horse doing the dressage movement 'half pass'. The horse travels sideways and forwards at once. This particular drawing was inspired by Ulla Salzgeber's Olympic dressage horse 'Rusty'. I wanted to convey the power and dynamism of his movement.