Drawing Horses (English Edition)

Of all the animals depicted in art, horses are undoubtedly the most suitable for the interpretation of the artist in each epoch.

With its power, its harmonious elegance and fascinating pride, the horse has always beautifully rendered artistic representations and, since the earliest times, has served to highlight the majesty of knights and horsemen. From the Renaissance and until the 19th century, magnificent studies of horses for equestrian monuments can be found. When it comes to their presence in paintings, we cannot fail to mention the stylised horses by Paolo Uccello, contained in his work The Battle of San Romano: despite its lack of realism, the static nature and the shape similar to wheeled wooden horses, continue to seduce all who contemplate them.

In more “recent” times, some artists have carried out deeper studies and scientific analysis of the horse to give their works precision, as it would have never been imagined before. The British George Stubbs, in particular, has revealed all his expertise in this field in the second half of the 18th century.

But for the equine anatomy to become the subject of further analysis, we have to wait until the 19th century, for the photographs of Edward Muybridge, to observe in detail the movement of the legs galloping, which, up until that point, were always represented straight. There are other reproductions of horses, no less important, in some works by Degas (in fact, he is the first to have created a precise representation of a galloping horse), ending with horses by De Chirico or the most extreme figurations of modern and contemporary painting. Nor should we forget the western comic strips, where the horses are not mere imagination, but authentic heroes of histories; whoever has the courage to create stories with horses must show a remarkable mastery of drawing to give them all the grace they deserve.

This work invites you to exercise by copying the various proposed sketches, in order to acquire a certain self-confidence in the achievement of the horses shown in different positions and from different angles.

Horse in static position from the side

The body is formed in a rectangle, and the chest forms an angle of 160°. The shapes must be rounded.

A horse in a semi-profile position

The body is formed into a rectangle, and the chest forms an angle of 120°. Work well on the mane and the tail.

Trotting horse(1)

The body is formed into a rectangle. The head must be upright. The gaze has to be vigilant.

Trotting horse(2)

The head must be high. The mane and the tail must provide a feeling of speed.

To get a better insight into  Drawing Horses  , please continue this exciting adventure by clicking on  Amazon US ,  Amazon UK ,  Amazon Australia ,  Amazon Canada ,  Amazon French ,  Amazon German ,  Amazon Mexico ,  Amazon Italy ,  Amazon Spain ,  Scribd ,  Overdrive ,  Bookbeat .

Other: