How did I get to middle age without going through the typical pre-teen horse-drawing stage? As a girl, I was one of the few who didn’t spend rainy “inside recess” days covering sheets of ditto paper (remember “dittos”?!) with drawing after drawing prancing ponies. (I busied myself honing my portrait skills by trying to capture likenesses of the Beatles and other teenybopper idols.)

So, when potential clients have asked me if I do horse portraits, up till now I’ve answered, “Not yet, but I’m sure I can and would be happy to draw yours!” Not exactly confidence-inspiring — I don’t blame them for not being impressed! Most non-artists don’t realize that there isn’t a secret formula for each subject. The secret to successful drawing is being able to see your subject as lines and shapes, lights and darks, colors and textures. The same process applies whether the subject is kitties or kangaroos.

The problem for me, a gal from the suburbs, has been access to horses. That all changed this summer when my brother bought property in the country with barn and pasture, but no horses. His next-door neighbors’ (cousins of ours, as it happens) horses, Raven, Rosa, and Ranger, happily visited the greener grass on the other side of the fence to keep his pasture mowed (and fertilized!). I was delighted to have the chance to have equine subjects at such close hand and gather lots of photos for later portrait-practice.
I recently finished these two portraits of shy Rosa, a full Arabian horse whose lineage includes Ulysses Grant’s horse!) and her son, Ranger, a frisky three-year-old whose sire was a Tennessee Walker.

Now I can finally say, “Yes, I do horse portraits — here are some examples!” But mostly I enjoyed watching their personalities come to life under my hand, especially that Adolescent Grin of Ranger’s! If he weren’t so big, he would look at home in any 7th grade classroom! ;-)

I’ve added Ranger and Rosa to my Cafepress store just in time for Christmas.

Reference photo credits: Rosa’s portrait from a photo by Ed Donley; Ranger’s portrait from a photo by Kithmini N. of Indiana, PA”