In his book Draw Horses, Sam Savitt says "In order to create a good painting of a horse from life or from a photograph, an artist must paint what he or she knows in addition to what he sees, and he must know a great more than he sees."
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| Work horse in watercolor by Lionel Edwards |
Savitt lists Lionel Edwards (1878-1966) as one of the great horse artists who exemplified this combination of knowing and seeing.
I mentioned Edwards in an earlier post, as he was a student in the Animal Academy of Frank Calderon.
Edwards drew and painted horses in various settings, including field sketches and painting of sportsmen on the hunt. He was a dedicated fox hunter himself.
In a book that he illustrated called "The Horse and the War," Edwards documented the role of horses and mules in World War I, based on his first-hand experiences. This scene shows horses being inspected by veterinarians after being unloaded from a transport ship.
If you like Lionel Edwards, you'll also like his the work of his friends and fellow artists Cecil Alden and Sir Alfred Munnings, who I've profiled on previous posts.
In order to create a good painting of a horse from life or from a photograph, an artist must know a great more than he sees";
ReplyDeleteThis wont't apply to Unicorns:-)
Wow, I really love the composition in the painting of the war horses, do you think that is a black and white copy of a coloured illustration or was the original black & white?
ReplyDeleteI'd say it's a drawing done in black ink, washes and so on. Wonderful drawing. Poor horses on their way to hell.
ReplyDelete