DrawWithMike.net

Hi everyone, I have spent the last few months admiring everyone’s work here (What an extraordinary group!), but this is my first time posting.

Im relatively new to drawing and have completed three of Mike’s courses, the last one being the intermediate course . Would you be so kind as to give me your thoughts on this horse and stable? I am very interested in improving and look forward to your feedback.

Warmly,
Kara Condon

Also apologies for the sideways post. Not sure what”s going on there, as it displays vertically on my computer. I promise I didn’t draw it horizontally...lol

kcondon wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 4:07 am Also apologies for the sideways post. Not sure what”s going on there, as it displays vertically on my computer. I promise I didn’t draw it horizontally...lol

Hi there, nice to see your first art work in here
As for the horizontal view... I just have rotated my tablet to have a look on your beautiful drawing vertically
No problem at all.
I'm nobody in here, but if you'd like my thoughts regarding my feeling of your art...
I think the wood is standing out!
I'm amazed by the texture, so realistic! Great job I think
Regarding the horse, it's very good looking as well, but I got a feeling that it could be improved a bit more...
I sense a little bit of lack of the dark tones to shape the horse body a bit btter...?
To "sculpture" his head by adding some shadows,that would follow the bone structure and the muscles, to make it even more 3 dimensinal...
Don't read my words incorrectly please, I do love your horse as well!
It's just my very first thoughts, my first impression of your beautiful drawing

Hi Cara,
This is a great horse and compostion you have drawn! You have really nailed the wood texture well. Your horse is nicely proportioned and well drawn - especially the ears - I always draw the ears too big on my horses and they end up looking like mules.
Anyway, I rotated your image for you: A couple of things I feel you could do to improve your drawing - first, watch Mikes new video 'Drawing Mid Values'.
Now, think about the sculptural form of the animal. At the moment I feel your horse is a bit flat and needs more tonal values to create recession and form. I have added some tone in 3D paint to your horse so you can see what I mean, I hope you do not mind. I hope you see how adding tonal fill over the areas shown has increased the values and made the horse 'pop' somewhat more - it gives her a solid form and shape.
Another thing to watch in the future is how you lay down your pencil strokes - I see in a few places you have somewhat patchy fill with blunt ends. This happens when you scrub the pencil back and forth across the paper without lifitng or tapering the lines. I personally only draw in one direction (up or down), lifting after each stroke, I don't go back and forth. Mike mentions this in the above video around 11.41 point.
But as I say this is a darn good drawing, you have created a good work with good textures, composition and even toned background. You should be proud of this piece.

Just wanted to reply with a note of thanks before heading off to work this morning. I cannot thank you both enough for your fresh perspective and constructive feedback. I tend to get myopia after working on a drawing so close, and then lose all objectivity, so your fresh sets of eyes are genuinely appreciated.

It might sound odd to say, but I find it encouraging that you both arrived at the same conclusion that adding mid-tone and additional shading will help with the three dimensional form. Linda, the adjusted drawing with your suggested shading is immensely helpful! You are absolutely right that I am not focusing enough on tapering the ends of my strokes. I recall Mike giving me that same feedback in one of his courses, and really need to overcome the habit of those blunt ends! I am going to try adding a bit more shading in the areas you suggested (focusing carefully on those tapers!) and see how this evolves. Thank you again for the generous feedback -- and also for up-righting the image

Thx! Kara

Hi Kara. I don’t have much to add to what Linda and Artur have already mentioned except to say that I also love the composition and your choice of darkening that background both helps the horse come forward and helps to focus our attention on the main subject. Well done and welcome to the forum!

I love the composition. It's so well-balanced. And the horse has such a friendly, warm expression in its eye.

I agree with Linda that it needs more shaping/modelling, but she's covered it so well there's nothing to add.

The only small point I'll mention is that the mane and forelock, while looking perfectly OK, could be improved with a little indenting right on the ends.

I rarely draw horses, but we have horses here, so I know them well. The forelocks in particular tend to be more "wiry" and less soft than the coat, and the ends seem to split into wayward wiry ends. A tiny bit of indenting (maybe with a very sharp hard grade, such as 6H) would just add that extra layer of realism. But that's something to try in a future drawing; not this one