Fred--ink underdrawing
Fred is no longer with us, but he apparently had lots to say to those around him when he was here. My client tells me that her grandfather had Fred for 29 years and that he was quite a character. He was a show-off and loved to prance for parades, but put any kid on him and he was quiet as a mouse. The world could be crashing around him and he wouldn’t have cared. As are so many of our equine friends, he was also a sucker for treats. The way to a horse’s heart is through his stomach? Must’ve learned that from his men friends…
As often happens when beloved horses have left us, there were many photos of Fred but none of them were ideal. I’ve assembled some of them below, so you can see the puzzle pieces I used to put the whole picture together. The areas under the saddle and bridle had to be invented, but the reference photos were very helpful nonetheless.
I plan on doing the background first. Can’t say why I do that sometimes and sometimes I don’t, but at any rate the next time I post you will see the background so I won’t say anything about it right now.
Alli Farkas Artist Adventures 
How large will the piece be? How big do you usually work? I am asking because the ink drawing is a great drawing and I was interested in the scale of it. Great start and looking forward to seeing the rest! I start from back to front in my work.
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Hi! Thanks for your questions–happy to answer! This portrait of Fred will be 18″ x 18″. I sometimes work in 16″ x 20″ if more landscape is involved or the pose of the horse calls for it, but these are the two basic sizes that I do if I’m working oil on canvas.. I try to keep it simple!
As for working back to front, I think I do it that way most of the time. But if I’m unsure of just how the background will be (most of them are made-up) I may work it up gradually as the portrait progresses to see just how all the elements will function together. “Billy and his Harem” is a great example of working everything up together layer by layer. If you type the painting name in the blog search box it should come up (hopefully!).
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