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Friday, February 15, 2013

"Oh, Fudge!" Pony the 27th


Fudge has this beautiful, rich copper coat. Rendering that was a really fun challenge that required  layers of watercolor underneath about seven different colors of NuPastel and pastel pencils. Various reds, browns, a gold tone, and even a couple blues. No, really.


First stage, above, I've got the basics all drawn in, using a terra-cotta colored pastel pencil. These erase easily and are a good color that blends right into the coat color of just about any horse. 


A bit later, I've added watercolor and some shadow areas, which are a combo of watercolor and dark pastel and carbon pencils. The watercolor layers help me establish light/shadow and add a nice depth to the pencil and pastel work.


Above is just before I put the blue/gray/pink shadow line down the middle of Fudge's blaze, to indicate the shape of the nose bone. Generally I put shadows in first and then work over them with the lighter colors, saving the brightest highlights for last. That's how you get a strong sense of solid three-dimensional form in pastel or in oil paints. 

2 comments:

  1. Tracie, I'm in awe! You have completely captured the essence of my boy!!! It's absolutely stunning!!!

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  2. Thanks, Amber! He was really fun. The longer I worked on him, the more I thought, this is a really sweet horse. With a bit of gentle mischief about him, it seemed. Some horses "give me a hard time" even as portrait subjects (see: Daman the Rock Star, LOL) but others are just ... easier. Fudge genuinely likes pretty much everyone he meets, doesn't he? Unless they give him a good reason not to.

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