Creating this memorial portrait of my late Welsh Mountain Pony Cookie was full of challenges. There were times when I was tempted to give up but as I am a bit stubborn (funnily enough my pony was very stubborn too) I was convinced that I would not let it get the better of me. I am very glad that I did not give up, as in the end I am happy with the result and I learnt so much, which to me is always super rewarding.
Okay so this piece came with a few challenges.
1. It was my first colour pencil horse portrait
2. The photos I had were mostly old and blurry
3. I used a challenging paper colour
4. I was not feeling well at the time
What did I learn from each challenge?
1. I really love drawing horses -their nose with all the texture and soft fuzzy fur, their beautiful eyes and incredible eyelashes.
2. Take more photos of my pets - I had to use a fair bit of artistic license with this piece. Due to the quality of the reference photos.
3. Try not to doubt myself - I had a choice between grey and an orange for the paper to work on. All the way through this portrait I doubted my choice and wondered if it would have been better on grey. But I kept reminding myself that I choose the orange because I wanted a really warm base and I think that overall it helped to capture his personality better than the grey paper would have.
4. I find creating art is therapeutic - creating art for me is a great distraction when life is a little overwhelming, I can loose myself in a piece and I find this very therapeutic.
Creating a piece of art is a real process a lot of time and emotion goes into each piece. I once read a quote that said something along the lines of when you purchase a piece of art you purchase more than an object and to me I feel this is very true.
I am very glad I did not give up on this piece. I look forward to drawing more horses in the future :)
Ash
