Sometimes making a video or a piece of art can take a while… in this case, it took me about 9 months to actually sit down and record this video. Last summer I ordered 6 items from Wish.com, all “free” items, to try making one of my horse artworks with. The video below shows the results!
The “Six Fanarts” meme has been going around social media the past week or so, and most artists I know have been doing requests from their friends and followers from a variety of anime, movies, comics, and video games. I decided that I wanted to do 6 horse fan-arts! So here are 6 of my favorite fictional horses.
(Does Spartan count as fictional? I assume so, because the horse itself isn’t Spartan. Anyway, I love Heartland so Amy’s big black horse had to be included!) It was nice to just do something for fun, and to get some different styles in there too.
What is your favorite fictional horse?
Being a small business owner, I love supporting small businesses! If they’re equestrian businesses, that’s even better. Here are some Equestrian businesses I’ve found that I think you might like too if you have similar tastes to me. Click on the photo to go to the seller’s shop!
(These are not affiliate links. I get nothing if you purchase from any of these businesses. I’m just trying to spread the love to others!)
I have literally canceled other plans because I wanted to ride instead. If that’s a crime, then I’m guilty!
This shop has lots of great stickers, and I actually own the one in this photo. It’s probably my favorite decal ever, so I have no problem recommending it to others!
Absolutely beautiful art from Amy Lyn Bihrle!
Padded Ponies on Etsy makes some awesome and unique saddle pads. I love the superhero ones, but there are other great choices as well!
I’ve bought several things from Reins For Rescues and I love everything I’ve gotten from them. The reins in this photo wouldn’t go with the rest of my tack, but I love them anyway!
My best friend and I met the creator of Kin’s Customs two years ago at the Horse World Expo and I immediately purchased a Wonder Woman pad. It’s one of my favorite saddle pads that I own! The quality is amazing, and they always have fun designs and sets, like the above Dragon Rider set!
I’m not sure if Mare Goods “qualifies” as a small business, but I don’t think they’re as large as some others. And I adore their quirky sense of humor and style, so I’m including them here anyway.
I absolutely NEED this mug by Equestrian Creations.
If you’re missing the smells of the barn, then this candle from Clip Clop Candle Shop is for you!
Shop The Posh Pony has handmade treats, socks, and more. Look at these adorable horse treats in the shape of donuts!
BONUS!
Okay, this one is a cheat… I’m a co-owner of this business! My best friend and I make these brush-cleaning fizzy bombs for your horse brushes. What better time than right now to get your brushes in tip-top condition and give them a good, deep cleaning? We have tons of different scents and use only natural ingredients to create our cleaners.
What’s your favorite equestrian small business! Let me know so that I can check them out too!
I used to have a fridge magnet my Aunt sent me that had a quote from Michelangelo on it. The quote said “I am still learning.” I remember being shocked at it when I received it, because certainly Michelangelo, one of the greatest artists in history, knew everything about art! But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that an artist should always be learning. So here are five tips I’ve used to improve my horse illustrations.
These things have worked for me, and they might help you too. But every artist is different, so your mileage may vary. I’d love if you shared your own art improvement tips with me in the comments, as well! But for now, let’s get to the list…
This probably seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised. There seems to be a stigma, for some reason, AGAINST using reference when you’re an artist. I’ve heard people say that it’s cheating, that you’re not a real artist if you use a reference, and that using a reference is no better than tracing! This is wrong, wrong, WRONG. Artists have been using reference since time immemorial, and you SHOULD be using reference if you want to draw things that exist in the real world. (And sometimes for things that don’t exist, but that’s a different blog article for a different time.)
How in the world can you draw something if you don’t know what it looks like? That’s how you get those hilarious Medieval paintings where the horses look like they have a human face!
Now, there is a big difference between tracing and using reference. Tracing can have some benefits to improving drawing, like building muscle memory of forms and shapes. But drawing from reference without tracing is the best way to go. Take your own reference photos when possible, because photographs that you find on-line are copyrighted unless otherwise specified.
Many artists look only at the form that they are drawing. However, as an artist, you need to learn to see the other spaces and angles, not just the form that you’re drawing. When you look at your reference image, look at the spaces between and around the forms (called the negative space), and see if they match. I often find myself using landmarks when drawing, such as saying internally to myself “The hoof of this leg is at the same height as the knee of the opposite leg, and the knee of this back leg is equal to this curve here.” It’s like building a road map in my head, looking at the space between the forms, the angles that they make, and the ways that different parts of the object match up.
Often we draw what we THINK something looks like, instead of drawing what something actually looks like. Our brains have a library of symbols that it substitutes in sometimes, kind of like a child’s drawing of an eye. A child’s drawing of an eye is a “symbol” of an eye and not a wholly accurate representation. Looking around the outside of the subject of the drawing can help improve the form by letting you see how accurate the drawing is.
(For more information on how to see the world as an artist, I recommend Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain, it really helped me out back in my high school years!)
Okay, so your mileage may vary on this one depending on your art style. If you draw hyper-realistic and don’t use harsh lines in your images, then it probably doesn’t apply. But for those who do, make sure that you consider line weight in your drawing!
What is line weight? Having varied line weight means that the lines in your illustration aren’t all the same width. The general “rule” is that you should decide where the light source is in the drawing first. Then lines that are closer to the light source should be thinner than the lines that are in the shadows/farther away from the light source. In the example below, the lines closer to the top-left light source are thinner than the line under the horse’s cheek, where the shadow would be. Using a variety of line weights can add depth and dynamism to your drawing, and rhythm can be created with the changing thickness of the lines.
Have trouble drawing hooves? Look up reference photos of hooves and draw 50 of them. Have trouble drawing legs? Draw 100 legs. Having trouble drawing horse heads in any pose but a straight-on profile? You guessed it- go get reference and draw what you’re having trouble with. Draw it over and over and over again- just loose sketches are good, you don’t need to have each sketch be a masterpiece.
Back when I was drawing cartoons and comics, I had trouble drawing human hands (who doesn’t, though, right?). So I would draw hands over and over and over again until I improved. If you’ve having trouble drawing something specific and you want to get better at it, don’t avoid drawing that thing! Instead, open up your sketchbook and do rapid-fire sketches of that subject until you get better.
My final tip for improving your horse drawing (or any drawing) is to observe your subject as much as possible. Even when I’m just out brushing my horse, or standing in the paddock or stall with her, I’m usually trying to observe. I did the same thing when I worked at different barns because it gave me an opportunity to observe many different breeds of horses. Watching the real thing can allow you to get a feel for what the subject looks like in three dimensions, which can help when you go to render that subject in two dimensions! It seems like common sense, but I found that with my own art journey this wasn’t something that I’d ever been told or had really figured out until recently.
So if you can get out and observe the real thing- even if you can’t get out and draw from life- really looking with intent and observing your art subject can help improve your skills.
I hope these tips have given you some idea of things you can try to improve your drawing, whether you’re making art of horses or anything else! What things do you do to improve your art skills? Let me know in the comments! I’m always looking for new tips and techniques!
It only took three days, three broken sewing machine needles, a broken desk, and a few tears, but finally I have some key lanyards made! I’ve been making key fobs since late last year, but wanted to offer proper lanyards as well. So I finally sat down and found the hardware I’d need (the fabric is just a tiny bit wider than normal lanyards so finding the hooks took some searching), ordered more fabric, and whipped a few of these up. I thought these were going to be a lot easier than they ended up being, but once I got the technique down they started getting easier.
I really love how these turned out, despite that getting the first one done caused so much grief!
It’s only Monday, but I’m feeling a bit more optimistic this week than I have been. Maybe it’s just because it’s a new week, or maybe it’s because I got up early today and took a 30 minute walk before my day got started. Don’t know, don’t care. It’s just nice to have some energy today!
How are you feeling today? Do you have any plans for creative things this week? Let me know!
I learned about art cards back in my beginning days of having an Etsy store and was immediately struck with interest in this art of making small pieces. But what are art cards?
Art cards, also called ATC (Artist Trading Cards) or ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) were created in 1997 by a Swiss artist named M. Vanci Stirnemann. He created 1200 cards by hand as part of an exhibit, then at the end invited others to create their own cards to trade with him during the closing reception. The movement took off, and now card swaps take place in cities and on-line. The only “rule” of art cards is that their size of 2.5 x 3.5 inches.
(Well, okay, technically there is another rule. ATCs are only allowed to be traded, but ACEOs can be bought and sold for money, but that’s neither here nor there.)
I absolutely love making art cards. They are a little frustrating, as well, because of their small size. Drawing so small is a bit of a challenge for me, especially when trying to draw something like a horse. But it also gets the creativity flowing and can allow me to think of new and interesting compositions, like close-ups or framing the subject differently.
Since I’ve been feeling pretty down lately, doing a large piece just feels so daunting. So I started doing some art cards instead. I’m finding them very therapeutic to work on. They’re a “bite-sized” project that doesn’t require a ton of time commitment, but that I can do some really fun and new things with. They’re also perfect to experiment with new mediums on, as well, because they’re so small. Some of the ones in this blog post I tried out some watercolor on even.
So, if you’re looking for a small project to have some fun with, try making some art cards! You can use anything for the base, so long as it’s 3.5 x 2.5 inches. Try paper, cardboard, cardstock, small pieces of canvas, or anything else you have around. You can use fabric, collage, paint, colored pencils, markers, or anything else to make your design.
These have been a lot of fun for me to work on, and I hope you enjoyed learning about art cards!
What art do you turn to when you can’t mentally handle your normal routine? Have you heard of art cards before?
As the title says, it’s hard to blog right now.
I mean, what can I possibly write here now? With all the insanity going on right now, what can I possibly contribute? I know I only have a few readers anyway, and I’m not sure what they might be interested in right now.
So, what would you all like to see more of? Horse content? Art content? Videos? Product reviews? Please send me your suggestions for what you think would be interesting right now!
The past few months have been rough on the entire world as a whole. People are dying, people are getting sick, losing their jobs, losing time with their friends and family, unable to celebrate birthdays, weddings, or even have funerals. Schools are closed, shops are running out of supplies or their workers are being assaulted for enforcing purchase limits. People are stuck at home, trying to make things work while also terrified they’re going to be the next statistic. Hospitals are overcrowded, short-staffed, and under-supplied. I’ve seen stories of people who haven’t seen their beloved lesson horse, lease horse, or boarded horse in weeks and are desperately missing their time with these calming animals. The world seems scarier now than almost any other time I can remember, probably right up there with the 9/11 attacks.
I am blessed that I’ve been able to go to the barn every day and see my horse, spend time with her, brush her, feed her, give her a kiss on the nose. I think about the people who can’t see their horses and my heart breaks. I wish every day that this crisis would pass so that life can go back to “normal”- or at least as normal as it could possibly be after what we’ve been through in this awful time.
The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful for me and I haven’t been handling the trauma well. I spent two weeks worrying that my best friend had the virus, waiting desperately for her test results to come back, taking over the duties of caring for the horses every day, and also taking over walking dogs that needed care. I was also making store runs for her and for other families we know who couldn’t go out because of health issues. And though I’m happy to help out those who need it, every trip to the store came with a bucket-load of stress.
What if this is the time I get sick? What if I come into contact with something and take the virus back to those I’m trying to protect? If I get sick, who’s going to take care of the horses?
A simple grocery run turned into paranoia. I already don’t like crowds, now I’m turning into a germaphobe on top of that! Every time I have to go to a public place, I worry about if I have enough hand sanitizer (I don’t, I’m nearly out and can’t find any in our area) or if I’m going to accidentally touch my face before I can get somewhere to wash my hands. I’m an anxious person anyway, but all the uncertainty has added heaps of stress onto my shoulders- to the point where I’d lay down at night and have to force my shoulders to un-tense so I could actually get comfortable and fall asleep.
And during this time, because of my best friend being in isolation, I’ve only ridden my horse a handful of times. But I have ridden, and every time I tack up I feel immensely guilty for it. There are people out there not able to see their horses, and who are forgoing riding so that they don’t have an accident and end up in the hospital and taxing more of the resources that are needed for the sick. I’ve read the articles about not riding, I’ve seen the sacrifices other riders are making, and I have intense guilt for saddling up and getting on.
But I do it anyway. Because being with my horse, getting in the saddle and riding is the only bit of “normal” that I have right now. Because horse time is my therapy time and right now I desperately need it. Because the time spent brushing, tacking up, and riding is the only time I’m not thinking about getting sick. It’s a much needed mental vacation right now that I probably shouldn’t be taking but I feel like I’m going to lose it if I don’t.
So, yes, I know that I shouldn’t be riding right now. I know that other equestrians are making the sacrifice of not putting themselves in danger so they don’t potentially make things harder for the doctors and nurses that are fighting right now. But I also know that without riding I’m going to be an incoherent ball of anxiety in a padded room before April is over. Besides, I could slip and fall in the shower and end up in the hospital, but you’d better believe that I’ve been washing my hair. I could walk to the mailbox that’s fifty feet from my front door and get hit by a car. I could be in my kitchen cooking dinner and cut my own finger off by accident.
I’m going to continue doing the one thing that still feels somewhat normal because without a bit of sunshine in my life my mental health is going to be worse than ever. If it makes anyone fell any better, I’ll be wracked with guilt about it the entire time before I ride, because I’ll know that I should be making that sacrifice.
I truly hope that soon those who are separated from their heart horses will be reunited with them, and that all this madness will be a bad memory. Until that time, do whatever will help you make it through, so long as you do that thing as safely as possible. Make sure you’re washing your hands, covering your mouth whenever you leave the house, and staying home as much as possible!
While I’ve been making these medicinal horses, I’ve been spending time during the creation of each one just thinking about the properties of the plants, what effect they’re supposed to have, and trying to put that energy into my thoughts as I create the drawing. I hope that by concentrating on the benefits these plants have, it will put that energy out into the world in some way. At the very least, I hope that creating these images and sharing them brings a smile and a ray of light into at least one person’s day!
Please stay safe and healthy out there, everyone! I love all of you and am thinking about you!
