Horse Portraits & Paintings
As a young car enthusiast, it was difficult not to notice the original form of personal transport, the horse. The concept of getting on the back of a large animal, being able to control it in order to ride around on it to get from A to B seemed an incredible notion. This vague interest in horses was rekindled and subsequently became a passion in later years as a result of studying their graceful form and capturing their many subtle colours whilst producing portraits of horses. Now a keen rider himself and beguiled by their friendly demeanor, Andrew's aim is produce beautiful oil paintings of horses of innovative composition and ideas.
“Mary In The Mirror”, 20” x 24”, Oil On Canvas
It's an unusual sight to see a horse studying itself! Painted in a detailed and realistic style, this oil painting shows a horse called Mary studying her own reflection in a mirror. For a short while she was left to her own devices after entering an outdoor arena, it was surprising to see Mary gazing at her own reflection. This unexpected event provided the inspiration and original photos on which this oil painting is based.
“Harriet & Alphonso”, 30” x 20”, Oil On Canvas
A modern colourful oil painting showing the enjoyment a horse gives to its rider. The intention was to produce a very detailed study of a horse that you could almost touch. Working from photographs, the contrast between the photo-realistic detail of the faces and the loose brush strokes of the background help convey the impression of capturing a brief moment within a static image. The use of green for the background and the colouring of the finished artwork was inspired by the design of a 1930's advertisement playing card, which lends itself to creating a striking image of the rider and trainer Harriet Morris-Baumber and horse Alphonso. Starting as a blank canvas it is estimated to have taken in the region of 250 hours to produce a portrait to this high standard.
(Below) The 1930's playing card that inspired the colours of the painting of Harriet and Alphonso and a photo of the painting from the first painting session. A long way to go! (Bottom image)
“Sparkling Mary”, 16” x 20”, Pencil On Board
A further study of Mary this time in pencil based upon a photograph from the photo session that led to the painting, 'Mary In The Mirror'. The artwork was created using nothing more than a Rotring propelling pencil and a 0.5mm HB lead! A particularly impressive detail is the sparkling headband, something not easy to recreate in pencil and inspiring the name of the artwork.
(Below) 'Sparkling Mary' made an appearance in Horse & Hound magazine 16th November 2017 and 'Mary In The Mirror' featured in Absolute Horse magazine, November 2017.
