Study of a study: Leonardo da Vinci

"Study of a rearing horse: Leonardo da Vinci"
Sharpie pen
5.5x8.5

A couple of my teachers throughout the years have recommended replicating art that you admire as a method of improvement in technique.  I pulled up some images of sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, and chose this one as my reference.  

I used a Sharpie pen, whereas da Vinci used red chalk in his drawing.  The feel is a lot different as a result.  His lines and shading have a much more organic feel to them, which makes sense given that many of his studies were in preparation for sculpture.  My lines are sharp and crisp, and I had to rely on crosshatching for a similar result to da Vinci's shading.  

It is interesting to see where he experimented with different anatomical placements of the horse's head and legs.  These conscious choices can make a huge difference in the impact of a piece; I am striving to be more aware of my choices when creating art.  While I was working on this piece, I felt the most focused and inspired that I have in quite some time.  I suppose that studying the great artists will do that.

Gesture drawing with horses

I had ten minutes, and I decided to draw some horses from real life using my skills from drawing a human model.  There's a few pastures near my workplace.  These Standardbred geldings were munching down on some hay in a hay rack.  They also are not so cooperative as a human model, who you can tell to just stand there.  Because they were eating, their body movement was minimal, but their heads and necks were constantly in motion.  It was an exhilarating challenge that mentally put me totally in the moment.  The goal of gesture drawing is to capture your subject in as little time as possible, and is ideal both for your developing eye and for capturing subjects prone to sudden movement.

Gesture Drawing 1
pen
small leather sketchbook

Gesture Drawing 2
pen
small leather sketchbook

Gesture Drawing 3
pen
small leather sketchbook

Later, I had a little more time and worked from one of my old photos, paying close attention to the details of and around the eye.  This took much longer than ten minutes.  I got very much into the swing of laying down graphite line after graphite line.  A few areas should be darker, but I will need something harder than #2 to properly finish it out.

Equine Eye and Face- study
graphite
small leather sketchbook