May 21st, 2010 - Studying the Horses' Anatomical Struture

Sorry about this being posted on the 22nd instead of yesterday the 21st - as it was suppose to happen, however Starbucks doesn't have Free Wi-Fi (another reason not to go there!).

So, the night of the 20th (thursday) around 11pm I really wanted to work on my composition for the horses' painting. I have my Triptych ready but I don't have any real composition worked out. I know what I want to see but what I want to happen all comes down to careful and steady preparation.

So I started out this sketch above and worked out the two horses off to the side and the middle horse (it's actually several horses drawn on top of each other) was a bit of a problem for me. I wrote out some notes as to what I wanted to see and I asked "what do I want to express"? I thought about it and that is how my notes started to take off. I think this is an area that is often forgotten about when young artist start out: Preparation!

So after looking at my sketches, not just the above but from before as well I noticed that I really needed to take a long hard look at my drawings. Horse lovers are willing to buy a horse painting if it is done right. One mistake and your painting will be sitting at the galler for years. So the above drawing and the three below are all done to ensure that I know what I'm doing, so that I can be accurate. I want this next painting to be AWESOME! I want it to be BELIEVABLE!

The thoracic limb, I drew out the limb from "Cyclopedia Anatomicae" an anatomy book about animals and humans with illustrations - I worked out the drawing and then realized where I had to make my corrections - this is so vital and I want to be right! So go the extra mile!

So after the skeletal drawing I did one with the muscles. I drew out every strand and grain of muscle and then I labeled each one. In the bottom left hand corner you'll notice that I put:

"If you know whats underneath you will what happens on top".

This statement is very strong and I got it from reading American Artist Magazine. I think that if you know why a shadow is caused or why there's a bump you will be a better and more natural artist.

So after all of that I did a study of the skull as well. There's a certain area on the skull that I tend to miss a lot during my drawing, so the best remedy: Anatomy Studies!