RJ the Horse

18" x 24" Color pencil drawing.
This drawing is a portrait of a specific horse named RJ. He is getting quite along in his years and the client wanted to have a strong drawing of him.
When I met the horse a couple of things really stood out to me. I wanted to be able to capture his soul in his yes, those beautiful glossy eyes. Secondly I loved the unique color and texture his hair created as it flowed along his body. And lastly I wanted to capture all of the energy, power, and motion with the movement of the hair and mane.

I decided to keep the background white for a couple of reasons. Pure white to me seems so powerful and energetic, and allowed me to get strong white reflected light to add more depth to the picture. Secondly because I did not want to capture the day that I met the horse, I wanted to capture the essence of the horse. Not only does the solid white drastically contrast the high texture in the horse, but also you are allowed to remove the horse from the drawing and place him in any one of your fond memories of him. And lastly I decided on a pure white background because eventually the horse will eventually die, and it is like the horse is in a restful peace in horse heaven.