The last time that I was horsing around, I was trying to paint a herd of zebras back in 2009. I was more intrigued with the black and white contrast and the shape of the herd.
My motivation for horsing around this time is because of the Year of the Horse in our lunar calendar. You can say that I am trying a little harder, and with a little more heart.
I started out by sketching a horse on my sketch book with a brush fountain pen, just to get a feel of how the animal might look with brushed lines.
Then I started in earnest with a Chinese brush to doodle on Xuan paper.
I found a reference book with paintings of horses by Xu Beihong( 1895 -1953). Mr.Xu is acknowledged as an authority of horse painting in modern Chinese painting. I tried to study and emulate his brushstrokes and style. He actually spent some time studying drawing and oil painting in Paris. I think his horses display a strong sense of Chinese brush strokes mixed with a western flavor of anatomy and shading.
Emboldened by his examples, I tried the following
Using a combination of brush fountain pen, Chinese brush and charcoal, I rendered this horse on drawing pad as the model for my horse painting.
This time around I line drew the horse on Xuan with brush and ink.
Filled in shading.
Touched up my lines. Using the coffee that I was drinking to add further shading. I thought that added warmth to the tone.
