6666"s

[rideum51]

final threea 20220523_14405908.jpg

A remuda, a string of horses that cowboys select their horses from. This drawing is of a remuda of the legendary 6666's ranch in Texas. The ranch is comprised of 142,372 acres or almost 225 square miles. The 6666's was recently purchased by the producer of Yellowstone Taylor Sheridan. Yellowstone, staring Kevin Costner, is a modern day western drama going on it's 5th season.

[Laurene]

I had never heard the term ”remuda” before. Thanks for that explanation, it’s very interesting. I always enjoy your obvious deep understanding of horse anatomy, This is another great drawing.

The only observation I would offer is that the composition might benefit from darkening the part of the tree to the left of the rider (our left, his right) thereby pushing it back and redirecting our eyes to the rider and horses. Just a suggestion, but the drawing is powerful and tells a great story.

[Mike Sibley]

As usual, the horses are wonderfully drawn. But I feel compelled to mention this... the shadow on the central horse is really bothering me. Strangely, I didn't notice it at first, but now I can't "un-notice" it. I'll assume it is a shadow, but it's less of a shadow than a shield-shaped patch on your drawing. By that, I mean it's not truly a shadow, because I can't see or understand anything within it. It needed a shadow, I've no doubt, but it's overpowering, and so solid that the horse is hidden behind it.

Conversely, the shadow beneath the head of the left-hand foreground horse works really well. In that, I can follow the legs as they disappear into it. But not that central shadow.

All that said, like Laurene I really enjoyed your explanation of the scene, and I too have never heard of the term "remuda".

And just to really ruin my day... our 4 acres rather pales into insignificance against 142,372!

[rideum51]

Both Laurene's and Mike's critiques are spot on. At first I didn't understand the shadow on the horses chest as I now see that it is his chest and the rest of the shadow is the horses behind. If my fix isn't too fixed I will try and fix it. ha ha to fix

[Mike Sibley]

At first, I didn't understand the shadow on the horse's chest, as I now see that it is his chest and the rest of the shadow is the horses behind.

I, too, couldn't understand that shadow. And it's the left-hand side of it I find really troubling - because it's "unnaturally" perfectly curved, like the "shield" I mentioned. Try as I might, I couldn't link that edge of the shadow to the form of the horse.

Over the years, I've found that what works best (for me, at least) is... well, two things:

First, to not include anything just because I can see it in the reference. In this case, the chest does need a shadow, but not necessary that shadow. And, personally, I would have diluted that shadow to expose the front of the horse. The horse being more important to the viewer than the shadow.

Second, and related, is to understand what I'm about to draw as comprehensively as I can. That's what the final section of the last video was about - doing the detective work, so you finally draw what you know, rather than just what can you see. And, of course, that gives you the option of accepting what's in the reference, or changing it to better suit your drawing.

If you can fix, I wish you luck. But don't spoil a delightful drawing just for the sake of fixing it. As I said, I didn't notice it for a while, because my eyes kept travelling through the horses' heads. It was only later that I noticed it... and then I couldn't un-notice it

[PogArtTi]

I'm always amazed looking at your arts...
So detailed and life-like - amazing!
It is full body picture, that is do interesting to look at it, the sense of movement, the real feel of life in it - awesome!