Project 16: Lipizzaner Stallion
My husband, son and I attended the World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions tour when it visited Lexington, Kentucky. These magnificent white stallions inspired me to draw and paint them with their strength, agility and flowing manes and tails. I was able to get some great reference photos, including the photo this drawing is based on. For this demonstration, I chose to draw just the horse without tack or handler, although the photograph would also make a fine drawing or painting reference just the way it is.
Reference Photo
Materials
Surface
bristol paper
Pencils
no. 2 pencil
ebony pencils
Other Supplies
kneaded eraser
blending stumps
tracing paper
1 Establish the Horse’s Outline
Lightly draw or trace the horse’s outline onto the bristol paper with a no. 2 pencil. Reinforce the lines with a sharpened ebony pencil.
Begin shading around the horse’s contours with the ebony pencil, using hatching and crosshatching. Make any corrections with a kneaded eraser.
2 Begin to Add Detail
Shade in some of the detail on the horse using a stump to blend. Darken and sharpen the lines around the horse’s outline, adding more shading going outward from the horse, gradually darkening with crosshatching.
3 Keep Adding Detail and Background Tone
Continue adding detail to the horse with light parallel strokes that follow the horse’s contours. Use a stump to blend in the same direction as the pencil strokes. Keep shading the background tone.
Tip
Since the trainer was standing next to the horse and he is not included in the drawing, eliminate any shadows cast onto the horse by the man or by the tack. When you choose to make changes from your reference, look out for these kinds of inconsistencies.
4 Add More Detail to the Horse and Background
Add shading to the horse’s body, blending with the stump. Indicate shadows under the hooves with parallel lines. Begin to shade the medium tone of the carpet the horse is standing on. Make any corrections or lighten areas that have become too dark with a kneaded eraser. To lighten an area, lightly press the eraser down on the spot as many times as it takes to achieve the effect.
BEAUTIFUL WHITE STALLION
Ebony pencil on bristol paper
9” × 7” (23cm × 18cm)
5 Add the Finishing Details
Draw the rest of the details of the horse, including the braiding pattern on the mane and the small speckles or spots on the coat. If the spots appear too dark, lighten them with the kneaded eraser.
Shade out from the edges of the darkness around the horse, gradually lightening the tone and forming an irregular but pleasing shape around the horse.
Tip
You can use a stump to soften and blend pencil strokes as well as to extend and create shading in new places.