Paint Horse | Horse Oil Painting | Art Commissions

My mother's horse "Sparky" was sadly put down late last year. He was very old and he was ill but it was still a heartbreaking decision which had to be made.

My mum had half loaned the horse for a long time and shared the horse with the original owner. The original owner had had the horse since she was 15 and was now in her 30's. It was a long time to of build up such a close bond with the horse.

My mum asked me to create a portrait for her to give to the original owner. As it was such a special portrait I really took my time in going back through old photos of Sparky to find the right composition which I liked. I found a younger picture of him when he was competing in dressage. I liked this picture especially the curve in his neck.

I selected a 20" x 16 " canvas- which is a really manageable sized canvas to work to and I set to work on the portrait. I always start with the background first. Then I focus on getting the eye right before working my way back out and getting the base layers down. Then once I have done the base layers I then spend time building up all the layers of detail.

The portrait took 2-6 weeks to complete from start to finish including all drying time.