Horse portraits

Snark

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#1
Horses were the first animals I ever drew (my dad gave me an art book at the tender age of six and showed me the 'circle' method of drawing horses). I didn't have much success with pastels until high school, but then something just clicked...
Anyway, this fellow hangs in my house. He's a Morgan and would probably have wound up at a slaughterhouse (he was already 28 years old when we first met) except a friend, myself and my twin sister bought him to use as an extra horse for friends to ride. He turned out to be quite a handful and not a beginner's horse. My friend lost her mare that same year, so we gave her our 'half' of the old guy and she kept him for the next 23 years. She finally had him put down at age 51 (he was ridden until age 46 when he started having knee problems.) His name was Jackson and he was quite a character.

 

Kase

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#3
That is a stunning portrait, it's so detailed and beautifully done. Jackson was a gorgeous horse and from the sound of things lived a very long happy life.
 

Snark

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#4
tempura tantrum said:
How beautiful!

It's even more meaningful to know the story behind it- how lucky for Morgan to have met you. you're friend and your twin.

I'm a twin too!
Cool! Fraternal or identical? Ever been to the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio?
 

Snark

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#7
Thank you all for your kind words.

Jackson was a wonderful old fellow, he had that get-up-and-go personality of the Morgan breed and was a lot of fun to ride. Most horses only live until their twenties or early thirties, Jackson started his show career (eventing) at 32 and continued until he was 40. He still loved to jump even after he retired and would swerve to go over a hurdle if his owner wasn't paying attention.

This was my first horse, Rusty. My sister and I saved two years worth of babysitting fees and bought him at an auction. We cleaned stalls at the stable to pay for his board and after a year, we saved enough to buy a second horse. Her name was Ginger and she was just about the smartest horse we'd ever met.

Rusty:


Ginger:
 

smkie

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#8
Ginger..look at those velvet nostrils and lips oh my, i love the overall soft feel as well. and you did such hard shine on Rusty..nice contrast to see the two together. They both bring out the beauty in each other.
 
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Sheba

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#9
I thought that was an actual picture that you edited and put on there at first, but then I read the caption and looked all over the background and see you signed it! WOW, how did you get so good at drawing?
 

Snark

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#10
Thank you. Practice... lots of practice (although that hasn't helped me too much with oil painting, lol!) I've always been able to draw what I see... I guess it's good eye to hand coordination?
 

smkie

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#11
how long have you been drawing and painting? I am just hands down so amzed, this is beyond proffesional work. Have you entered any compititions?
 

Zoom

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#12
Those are absolutly AMAZING!!!

And that story exemplifies why I want to buy a Morgan when I get some acreage to call my own. I love horses almost as much as dogs, and while I can't draw them very well, I love being around them, riding them, petting them and watching them.

And 51, holy cow! :eek: That's got to be some sort of record!
 

tempura tantrum

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#14
Cool! Fraternal or identical? Ever been to the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio?
We're identical. You?

We have always talked about how we wanted to go to the Twins Festival at least once in our lives- it just seems so Twilight Zone-weird to be surrounded by so many twins! Have you been? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

BTW- I love the one of Rusty- he looks so real that it's almost as if you could reach out and pet him.
 

Snark

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#15
smkie said:
how long have you been drawing and painting? I am just hands down so amzed, this is beyond proffesional work. Have you entered any compititions?
Well, I started out as a child... Lol! Seriously, I've been drawing (pencil, charcoal, pen&ink) most of my life but didn't really get into pastels until high school; many, many, many, many moons ago (a little over thirty years). I don't paint very well, all of those portraits are done with pastel chalk (I like NuPastels, much less dust and they can hold a fine line without crumbling.)

I tried entering a couple of competitions when I was younger, but art judges don't care for vignettes very much. I was told I might as well just take a photo of the horse and be done with it. Stopped entering after that...

Tempura Tantrum: The doctor who delivered us said we're fraternal, but they didn't have DNA testing back in the Stone Ages, so we'd really have to get that done to know for sure. (We look very similiar, but there are some differences in appearance. We also do the non-verbal communication, trade headaches back and forth, finish each other's sentences, etc., which is more identical twin behavior than fraternal. We share a house, work at the same company in the same department and I can't think about the outfit I want to wear because Sis will grab it before I can get to it. Lol!)
We've gone to the Twins Festival for ten years. It really is Twilight Zone weird... Last time we went, they had 2700 sets of twins registered and nearly 100,000 spectators. It's the only time my sister and I dress alike. You can't turn around that weekend without running into a set of twins or four or five, and it's fun to talk to other twins about 'twin' things. We used to take our 'twin' dogs with us (dogs aren't allowed on the Festival grounds, but we could walk in the Double Take parade that kicks off the weekend.) Both dogs have since gone over to the Rainbow Bridge. This is a photo of them:

Patch (on the left) was dumped near our property and four years later, Sam showed up as Pet of the Week in the newspaper. He'd been taken from an area near us (a 'collector' had him with 50 other dogs in a house). Anyway, Sam was the same age as Patch and she's the only dog he ever got along with. We guessed they had to be littermates. I think a lot of twins from the Festival have pics of Sam and Patch and our knees. Lol!
 

smkie

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#17
well i am just in love with your work..the softness of ginger, that incredible velevety dusky feel could never ever be recreated in a photo, that came with a special addition of an artist's soul attached..and to see it with the opposite of bold and sharp high light..ahhhh well what ever person said that didn't know squat, your just awesome. I cant get to square one with pastels, tho i work in acrylic and hate it with a passion for it's limitations, i am slowly getting a handle on it. I hope you will share more in the future. LOve your twin dogs too!!!!!!!
 

dobiegirl

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#18
WOW! Beautiful Job! Jackson and the background match good. I love how you matched the ears with how their faces look!
 

tempura tantrum

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#19
Yeah- my twin and I almost never dress alike (unless we're trying to freak someone out). I really do think we need to go to that twin festival- how fun to be surrounded by so many people who know EXACTLY what kind of a bond twinship entails!

Oh the dogs are adorable! They really do bear a striking resemblance to one another...and it's so interesting how they both came to you! Definitely a case of fate I think.
 

Selkhet

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#20
Beautiful horses! What rich color!
I also draw horses, and have drawn them since I was a child. But I have to admit, I was never much good at pastels. How do you keep them from smudging? I used a workable fixative, but that didn't always keep me from smearing something. I work mostly in pencil now, anyways.
 

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