Watercolor + Horse Lineart

Within the past two weeks I've been working to draw a yearling horse. Well, I can't take all of the credit; I originally traced the horse from a picture in my "96 Horse Breeds of North America" book. Some minor changes were made, most of them being accidental and originating between tracing traces of traces.

Last week I finished the line-art copy of the drawing, and today I felt bored and dug out my watercolor paints.

I would have used our oil paints, but the supplies were in hiding. :(

Stuck with the watercolors without the right colors for a buckskin, I attempted painting a red bay.  Fortunately the paints had a lovely shade of cherry brown to use. :)

Considering I haven't touched a paintbrush for years, it turned out much better than I had expected!

The mistakes are bothering my perfectionist side, but most of those are housed within the horse's conformation (not the painting). The horse's neck looks oddly shaped due to the mane, the face is a bit disoriented, and the head looks disproportionately small. Oh, well. At least this counts as painting practice!

My favorite part of this is most likely the nearer hind leg. The shading on it turned out nicely. :)

Video of Traveler and Jiggers Playing

Meet two of the 2008 foals; Traveler and Jiggers!

Traveler was a sociable and playful buckskin Saddlebred colt. His dam was Spirit, the buckskin field horse.

Jiggers was a little bay colt with a spunky attitude. I'm pretty sure he's Arabian.

I recorded a few videos of the foals during one of my bicycle trips to the stables in 2008 (yikes, I was young then). Traveler and Jiggers rear up, kick, and chase each other in the video. If you have a few minutes to spare, watch it!

Photoshoot with Caesar

Caesar is a very photogenic horse and seems to know it. He also permits me to shoot photos of him (without a permit - yay!) and gives me the time needed to snap a rare, really awesome picture.

Along with taking pictures of Caesar last week, I was able to ride him twice! I used my favorite saddle ever: the bareback pad. During the last ride he got grumpy because I was riding him away from the herd. It took stubbornness and determination on my part, but I did persuade him to follow my directions.

Here is Caesar. :)

Hii! 

What?

This girl does seem to be obsessed with me, and yes, it is just a little odd.

Ohhi.

Again?

*blows* Really? 

Let's make this weird face for the camera! 

Finally, I can relax.