Good Horse Drawing 1 Painting Tips

Advertisement

There is no "magic" formula for drawing a good horse,  but there are many factors which will help us in the process.  

1 - The  body of  every horse will not fit into a square such as ABCD of fig. 1.  

Most are a little longer; very few are higher.  

The average saddle horse does not  hold his head quite this high; many high-spirited and show horses hold their  heads this high - some higher.  

Follow the numbering from  1 to 28.  Notice where the various points come in relation to the dotted lines.

2 - At first It  helps to compare distances using the head's length as the unit of
measure. (See fig. 2)

3 - The forequarters (A) and hind quarters (B) of a horse are beautiful shapes in themselves. It helps to isolate and practice these.

Observe their flow of line (also the nick 'a' and double protrusion 'b').

4 -  Here  is a most helpful fact, and  it applies to  nearly all  mammals.  The front joint A is below the back joint B' 

Notice  these in relation  to dotted line a-b (refer to  p.6).

5 - most horses carry their  heads so A is parallel with shoulders B.

'Parenthesis'a(the wither) is usually parallel with 'parenthesis' b (bottom of triceps).

6 -  The elbow A (olecranon) is above the belly line; the stifle B (patella or kneecap) is below.

7 - in most horses there is a flow of line A down the back of the neck onto the front of the back legs,  also down the front of the neck B onto the forearm.

8 - for the most part, the hair tracts flow down and back  (see arrows).  

The major swirls are in the flank area in a side view horse.  These affect the surface shading very much (next page).