This is a small portrait, which was great fun to make. The tones in the horse had me buying every brown to beige pastel pencil I could find, at the time. The title is “Proud Owner” whose name is Butch. In this drawing the weight of the horse and the beauty of the Belgian Breed comes across. I like to include the crowd scenes sometimes in my work to add the excitement of the event!
Horses are fascinating subjects to draw. While I work from a photograph, my aim is to go beyond the flat image and share the depth of the space and time of the portrait.
Thankfully Draft Horse breeders are still active in perfecting the “great horse” for size, temperament, and work. Otherwise these magnificent giants would be gone.
The 2017 Minnesota State Fair Draft Horse competition for six horse draft and single horse cart draft was a sight to behold. Later on I will share some highlights.