Project 9: Thoroughbred

Vasari was a handsome thoroughbred hunter-jumper horse. I was fortunate to be able to travel to California to sketch and photograph Vasari. His owner commissioned me to do three paintings of him—a head study, an informal pose and a conformation pose. This illustration serves as a study for the third painting.

Reference Photo

1 Establish the Form and the Darker Values

Draw the horse’s outline lightly in pencil, using a kneaded eraser to lighten any lines that become too dark. With a no. 4 round and Burnt Umber thinned with water, paint the darker areas.

For the black parts of the horse—the mane, tail and lower legs—mix Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue and a small amount of Burnt Sienna. Paint with a no. 4 round, dipping the brush first in water, then blotting on a paper towel before dipping it into the paint. To achieve a good dark covering, paint three to four coats, letting the paint dry in between layers.

For the coat’s dark brown, mix Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue. Paint with a no. 8 shader for the broad areas, switching to a no. 4 round for the details. Feather the edges to avoid a sharp line when you apply the next color.

2 Paint the Middle Values

Mix a middle value brown for the horse’s coat with Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Orange. Paint with a no. 4 round. In areas that will be highlighted, use paint thinned with quite a bit of water. Use brushstrokes that follow the horse’s body contours. Mix the bluish color for the shadowed areas of the horse’s white sock and stocking, the hooves, the highlights on the top of the tail and the upper edge of the hind leg with Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. Paint with a no. 4 round.

3 Blend the Dark and Middle Values

Using separate no. 4 rounds and the color mixtures for the dark and the middle value browns, blend the edges where these colors meet. Blend wet-into-wet. When this is dry, overlap the edges with parallel brushstrokes. Paint details on the broad dark areas with strokes of the middle value brown. Add more layers to strengthen the middle value brown. Use a no. 4 round and a wash of Ultramarine Blue thinned with water to tone down and darken the horse’s coat.

4 Refining Details and Painting Highlights

With a no. 4 round and the dark value brown, refine the edge lines of the horse’s lower neck, cheek, chin, blaze and belly. Strengthen the darks on the legs, tail and mane with a no. 3 round and the black. Mix the lightest highlight color with Titanium White and small amounts of Cadmium Orange and Yellow Oxide. Paint the highlights on the back and rump with a no. 4 round, using light-pressured, parallel strokes that follow the body contours. With Cadmium Orange and Yellow Oxide, mix a darker highlight color for the head, belly, legs and lower rump. Paint with a no. 4 round, using parallel strokes. Use this darker highlight color to soften and blend the edges of the brighter highlights on the back and rump, alternating with a separate no. 4 round and the lighter highlight color. Then blend the edges of the highlights with a no. 4 round and the middle value brown from Step 2, using the same technique.

VASARI

Acrylic on Gessobord

8” × 10” (20cm × 25cm)

5 Add the Finishing Details

Use no. 1 rounds to finish the details of the head and the legs. Refine the shape of the eye, ears, mouth and back legs with the color mixtures from the previous steps. Mix a warm white with the Titanium White and a touch of Yellow Oxide to paint the blaze. Soften the edge with the darker highlight color. Paint a highlight in the eye as a small curved arc with some of the bluish shadow color mixed with a bit of Burnt Umber, then blend the edge of the highlight with the eye color and a separate brush. Define the shadow area of the white socks with the bluish shadow color mixed with a little Burnt Umber. Use a different brush with Titanium White mixed with a little of the bluish color to blend. Tone down the rump highlight with a wash of Raw Sienna and water using a no. 6 round. Tone down the white sock on the near hind leg by making a wash with the bluish shadow color and applying with a no. 3 round.