# Help Completing Drawing



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Youve sure got a nice piece going there! You'll have to find another photo of your horse and make sure you utilize sharing with the light coming from the same direction . I like your strong lights and darks and the texture of the open strokes.


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

Looks like I'm going to have to take a picture specifically for the purpose of finishing this drawing! 

And thank you. It was the shadow down his neck and on his flank that made me want to draw this- just such great contrast. That, and I had just bought some new (dollar store, but new) markers.

Thanks for the feedback.


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## LoveTheSaddlebreds (Jul 9, 2009)

Since you're using color, I suggest you push yourself to add in more unusual color as opposed to sticking with local colors. What do I mean by this? The horse's coat's _local color_ is a reddish brown. But You could stand to add oranges, greens, blues, and purples into the mix to make it more interesting. For example, it looks as though for your shadows you've stuck to black to make it darker. Before touching the black, you should consider greens (red's compliment) and blues to cool the shadows down and create contrast. 

That being said, I hope these photos can help you out:
Bay AQHA Quarter Horse Gelding by HorseStockPhotos on deviantART

Bay Dutch Warmblood Gelding by HorseStockPhotos on deviantART


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

I just wanted to say how lovely this piece is :O You'll definitely have to post the finished product <3


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## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

It looks as if his head and jaw area are shadowed, so put some dark color around there closest to his neck, and the part farthest from the neck make lighter.


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

LoveTheSaddlebreds said:


> Since you're using color, I suggest you push yourself to add in more unusual color as opposed to sticking with local colors. What do I mean by this? The horse's coat's _local color_ is a reddish brown. But You could stand to add oranges, greens, blues, and purples into the mix to make it more interesting. For example, it looks as though for your shadows you've stuck to black to make it darker. Before touching the black, you should consider greens (red's compliment) and blues to cool the shadows down and create contrast.
> 
> That being said, I hope these photos can help you out:
> Bay AQHA Quarter Horse Gelding by HorseStockPhotos on deviantART
> ...


I understand where you're coming from, but I want a highly contrasting piece, hence the black for shadows etc. I also want to stick with more natural tones. I will squirrel this information away in the annals of my mind for future reference though


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## LoveTheSaddlebreds (Jul 9, 2009)

aspin231 said:


> I understand where you're coming from, but I want a highly contrasting piece, hence the black for shadows etc. I also want to stick with more natural tones. I will squirrel this information away in the annals of my mind for future reference though


Hmm but color ads to the contrast, you understand? this is a bit of an exaggerated use of it but look at the picture below, the artist has incorporated found color in the work, instead of using the local skin color of the girl, they've made the work more interesting and contrasting by adding the color:









And in the drawing below, the artist has added blues into the horse's coat:









This is a perfect example of color use below. The artist has used greens, blues, reds, orange, purple, you name it. By adding in subtle amounts of color, your work gains a new level of skill.









Sorry, I'm a huuuuge color theory nerd.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

^I'm not really sure these are helpful to OP as, at least this piece, is in a very different style than the above examples.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

aspin231 said:


> I understand where you're coming from, but I want a highly contrasting piece, hence the black for shadows etc. I also want to stick with more natural tones. I will squirrel this information away in the annals of my mind for future reference though



It's perfectly acceptable to have a limited color palette. use of purples and blues do help black read more as black, but I can see that your fdrawing is a more stylyzed version, with emphasis on the shapes of the shadows, in a sort of geometrical layout. I like that. it is not uber realizm you are going for. 
It is very hard to imagine a part of the body that is not there. I have to do this , from time to time, or change the angle. I always do better when I have the image in front of me and can just draw what I see.

here is one that I did in a bit of a stylized, geometric manner:


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## LoveTheSaddlebreds (Jul 9, 2009)

It was just a suggestion  Can't wait to see the finished product!


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

Geometric is a very good description of what I'm going for here!  Not a terribly realistic piece. And I do certainly appreciate the colour suggestions, I won't be applying them to this drawing, least of all because I've already drawn in the black and there's no turning back now. 
Normally I don't work from reference photos, so this is new territory. Usually I just draw from my brain, so I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out, but the shadows are so pronounced in this photo and that's what's giving me such an issue!
Cheers for all the help.


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

...and without further ado... 









I don't think I butchered it took badly! :lol:


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## bkylem (Sep 21, 2013)

I tend to agree with Tiny in that you presently have no light source so the horse appears a bit flat or two- dimensional. The light will create some much needed highlights and shadows. I think an area of ground will also help in providing a foundation and defining the leg/hoof positions.

All the best !


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

^I think that's just a matter of style, not a lack of ability :>

It came out really well! My only critique would be the placement/size of the eye... It looks a bit off. But, really overall a beautiful drawing! You're very talented.


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