Okay, so today I wanted to draw a horse, but like, head-on. I’ve drawn horses before, lots of them, but always from the side, you know, the classic profile view. It’s way easier to get the proportions right that way. Front view? Super tricky. Muscles, angles, it’s a whole different ball game.
I started by grabbing a bunch of reference photos online. Gotta see what I’m actually dealing with, right? I found some good ones, racehorses, some just standing around in fields, all looking straight at the camera.
Then I lightly sketched a basic oval for the head. Just a rough shape, nothing fancy. Then I drew a line down the center, to help keep things symmetrical. That’s the key, I figured, symmetry. If one side is off, the whole thing looks wonky.
My Struggle is Real.
- The eyes were the first big hurdle. Getting them to look like they’re actually looking at you, and not just stuck on the face, was tough. I erased and redrew them, like, a million times.
- Then came the nostrils. Horses have these big, expressive nostrils, and getting the shape and shading right was… a process. Let’s just say there was a lot more erasing.
- The muzzle and mouth were next. I learned horse is not only big, but it also has a lot of subtle curves and planes. It’s not just a flat surface.
After the basic shapes were down, I started adding some details. The bony structure under the skin, the way the muscles attach, all that good stuff. I tried to keep it loose, not too detailed, just enough to give the horse some form.
I slowly, and it is really slowly, built up the shadows and highlights. This is where the drawing really started to come to life, I think. Adding depth, making it look 3D, not just a flat drawing on the page.
Honestly, it’s still not perfect. But I learned a ton. Drawing horses from the front is hard! But hey, that’s how you get better, right? By tackling the difficult stuff. I’ll definitely be trying this again. Next time, maybe I’ll try a different breed, or a different expression. Practice makes perfect, as they say.
