Equine Artists

[nofie]

Hello,

Thought I would introduce myself. I'm Sophie, pretty new to the forum but I love all things equine. Was wondering if there are any other equine artists out there?

 

[madhector]

I sort of do very amateurish commisions but wouldnt class myself as an equine artist

 

[nofie]

Same I have no extensive training or schooling in art, I just love doing it in my spare time and sometimes people like them enough to buy them!

Would love to make proper money out of it and spend dayson end painting away!

 

[madhector]

Haha..Im the opposite, got an art degree, but couldnt face doing it full time, get bored!! lol

I get fed up when I get too many commisions, although it is good money!

 

[nofie]

I guess that's true... I can only get on and paint when I'm really in the mood, I'm quite good at putting it off in favour of something else! If I were doing it full time I would be awful at the self discipline! I decided to become a teacher instead, because it's so varied and unpredictable, there is never a dull moment!

 

[OrangeEmpire]

Hey!

I'm one too! Good to meet you, there are quite a few artist on here!

Have decided that 2010 will be the year of the Exhibition (ie actually submitting something, rather than just talking about it!)

Just had a sneaky peek at your website, you've got some nice stuff on there

 

[nofie]

Hello, great to meet you!

I know what you mean about getting out there and doing something, I haven't really worked very hard to get the word out to the local horsey community, just had a few up in my local pub and that was that. I will have to invest more time and effort into it!

Thank you re website, hopefully I will get a proper website sorted soon, just haven't had the time!

Your pics look lovely

 

[Haha]

You should check out the pinned thread in Soapbox re artists here you go

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3864651/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1/nt/8

 

[nofie]

Wow thanks for that!

 

[Kat]

Hi Nofie!!

I'm not an artist, but my husband is this chap

www.mark-langley.com

He does it full time now and it isn't the lovely lifestyle people think, it is very tough to make a living, but lovely to be able to do it through your talent.

Right now he is working all hours to get his christmas commissions done. I keep offering to help, but he doesn't think much of my drawing skills

he was up until 1am this morning and I think it will be another late on tonight, but he's having a break to come riding with me this evening.

Have you applied to the society of equestrian artists? That can be a good opportunity to get your work seen, mark won the SAA prize at their london exhibition last year.

 

[nofie]

I can imagine it must be really frustrating to get snowed under with commissions, and it must be tough to work to deadlines!

Glad he is finding time for a break, the art looks fantastic- I am in awe of Mark's ability to capture detail!

Thanks for the tip, I am checking out their website now

 

[legaldancer]

I'm one too. Was an illustrator (have a degree) before having children, but like Madhector, I'd rather do the horses than get on & paint! I've done a few commissions this year & had forgotten what it was like to work to deadlines (Christmas) - too much stress!

Katt - your OH is super-talented. In saw him at Burghley & have his card stuck up on our noticeboard as inspiration.

I looked at the thread in Soapbox the other day & that's given me lots of inspiration to get on & paint next year.

 

[nofie]

It sounds like you have to be very dedicated to be successful with the commisions! As you say, Katt, it must be very tough to make a living out of it. I'm happy keeping painting as my hobby for now

And besides, my paintings are nowhere near as impressive as some of the stuff on here!

 

[Sol]

If doing lots of art, and only ever basing it on Equines makes me an Equine artist, then yes xD
I take the odd commission but I'm usually too busy with horses/school work at the moment so they just stress me out

Currently taking Art as a GCSE - I hate it. It's too restrictive!

I just enjoy drawing, and horses

One day I'd love to be actually able to call myself an Artist

 

[Santa_Claus]

I'm another every so often amateur. I get easily bored and only do stuff when in the mood (like the other night when I ended up doing a xmas pressie in charcoal!

)

Generally though I do the odd commission on the understanding they take me months as I need time to sit down and do them when also in the mood. I'm not one of those people who can do an hour here and there!

My latest painting has been a work in progress since the summer. Biggest canvas I have ever attempted and I had two days straight working on it and haven't done anything since about July! Will have lots of spare time in the new year though when OH is away so hopefully I can inspire myself to finish it then with the aim I might actually try and submit it for an exhibition as so far I am rather pleased with its progress....

 

[nofie]

Wow you both sound exactly the same as me! I stopped art after GCSE because I felt like I couldn't express myself and do the things I wanted to do. And I can only work on my painting when I'm in the mood!

 

[nofie]

This is turning into a great thread, it's great talking to likeminded people!

 

[Santa_Claus]

I did GCSE art as well and stopped there. With the exam body my school used you needed 24 out of 24 to get an A* and only 4 of those 24 marks were actual ability, therefore someone wonderful got theoretically fail if they were useless at the theory and someone useless could easily get an A. I actually was generously given a C for my mock (was told I should have failed it!) and scraped myself up to a B for the actual exam. And it was same examining board for A Levels so stopped studying art there and then!

This is my current WIP which just snapped with my webcam so its rather blurry although admittedly only detail I have done is on parts of the head. Still don't know what I'm doing with the background (ie blank or not!) but considering I have barely done half the head properly and I started it 6 months ago I'm not too worried about that yet

 

[nofie]

Wow that is so stunning, you must be so pleased! It looks so real! I can never seem to get them realistic, maybe I'm too impatient! So I tend to stick to the more abstract or cartoonish side of things. Comfort blanket perhaps

 

[Santa_Claus]

yours are so funky though and full respect for using acrylics, I keep trying and failing drastically, Gouache is my friend and suits my do loads, put down for six months then do a load more tendancy

lol.

I occasionally try and be a bit more abstract and colour but even when I do there is still a strong realism, and I find it very very hard not to work from photos, even if combining photos I need to have definite references to work from. Suppose thats my comfort blanket as well I couldn't just draw a decent horse from my head without it looking very very cartoony with interesting proportions!

 

[nofie]

Most of them are oil, I like acrylic for quick pieces but it does dry a bit too quickly for my liking! I can never seem to get them to blend very well and end up making a bit of a mess!

I haven't tried Gouache before, something I would like to try though- I need to be much more adventurous!

I know what you mean, I have often ended up with some frustrating proportions! Although if it's one of my cartoony pieces I can pretend I intended it to look like that

 

[Santa_Claus]

you get even more respect for oils! I tried to use them again a couple weeks ago and my attempt went straight in the bin

My only vaguely successful oils attempt was this (copy of Banksy)

and only successfulish acrylic is this (again dodgy webcam pic as it hangs on lounge wall!

)

The charcoal thing I did other day I tried several stylistic attempts first and no matter how hard I tried to convert what I had in my head to paper it didn't work so I reverted back to old faithful realistic style and produced something I was happy with far far quicker

 

[nofie]

Wow those look good! I especially like the Banksy one, the colours are great! Again, I am a bit too ridgid as all my paintings are the same sort of style, I am happiest building upthe layers and then finishing with a thick coat. But I reckon I should give thin coats a try, I'd also quite like to revisit watercolours sometime! If only I had all the time in the world

 

[Santa_Claus]

I haven't got the patience to do lots of layers. Love Gouache as stick done base layer quickly then work round building up the detail so quickly parts become 'finished' leaving grants lots unfinished but I like to see where its heading very early on if I can.

I have now left big canvas out in room rather than hidden behind table in hope I may do some over xmas if I really sort myself out considering can't even get to yard at the moment full stop due to the ice so lots of spare time!

 

[nofie]

Good idea! I have one small unfinished canvas that I was intending to give to a friend, however I have been too busy to finish it! Then a request for a big canvas for mum and dad. Plenty to keep me occupied!

 

[Sol]

I can't imagine doing A level art... I went to look at doing it at a different school as I just hate the teachers where I am for a start, they loved the drawings I took with me and the quality of the art was much better, but it's still the same stuff

We get more chance to be artistic in Graphics!
School is pathetic

http://Ramelia-Images.deviantart.com/art/Rolli-Regis-147734203 is the drawing I finished today - exhausted now! I prefer working from reference too, but happily draw without, and in a less realistic style xD I'm flexible. I'm not too great at painting though - would love to improve. I'm best with pencil, but slowly getting used to coloured pencil & watercolours & acrylics

 

[Santa_Claus]

owww that is lovely Sol only thin I would say to you is get a tad more detail in the eye will bring it to life

I always concentrate my detail on the eye and the muzzle, if I get those right the rest can be a bit off and it won't matter as the viewer is always drawn to the eye

 

[Sol]

I agree, I just have a habit of sticking to my reference too much (well... unless I think that a bit looks too difficult - then I edit!

) and stop focusing on the actual drawing :/ something for me to work on! Will have to keep it in mind

thanks

I also have to go and re-teach myself to draw without reference... I used to be able to do it easily and now I've become too dependent on them!