Country Tide & Alex - The Kiss

Here's a photo of what I've done so far.  To give you an idea of the size the white thing on the left is an A4 piece of paper . The area near his ear isn't accurate but that doesn't matter as I'll correct it later. This is just the underpainting. I want to cover the whole canvas so there is no white.

The photo I have of Country Tide chops off the bottom of his nose and the top of his ears and it is blurry so I can't really see the shape of his ears. I'm using photos I took of a similar horse in a similar position to help but I'll need feedback from Alex to ensure it does look like Country. The reference horse isn't in quite the same position either so I have to ad lib a bit to make sure things look right.

 

Above - I've just finished the underpainting in this pic.I've started on the oil painting and he is now bay and the portrait is going through the ugly stage. Now I've got to work out how to give it some interest.

I painted my first version from the reference photo. I made up the ear and muzzle as the photo cropped them off and I ended up moving the position of his eyes twice, his ear 3 times and changing the shape of his muzzle. By the end I ran it past Alex and we both agreed it didn't quite get there. I found I was just copying the dull lighting of the reference photo and I couldn't see the positions or shapes of his head as it was so blurry.

 I decided to take a big risk and just use the original photo for proportions and positioning .I would use a photo of a similar horse in a slightly different pose in better lighting. I must say this portrait certainly kept me on my toes!

Alex & Country Tide

Oil

Framed size 58 x 89cms