Portraits of Horses

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS/WOOD • 11″ x 14″ each
original art commissioned by The Right Step, Inc. and Vy N.
Like this idea? You can commission your own original art too

[updated this post with new art in Jul 2021]

These portraits are more accurately “animal friends” rather than pets – this time, horses! The first portrait in the middle was a commission, and the two on the sides are horses at The Right Step, Inc. in Colorado (a therapeutic riding center).

I usually can paint a pet portrait at a minimum size of around 6″ x 8″ to get enough detail. However…that’s been mostly dogs and cats. Horses have such long faces that to get a similar level of detail these are a bit bigger (11″ x 14″). That ends up with the horses’ eyes about the same size as a dog or cat’s eyes. That guideline works the other way too: I’ve painted two guinea pigs (full bodies) on a 6″ x 8″ because their features are so much smaller. I’m up for scaling up from there (like these staring and yawning cat portraits) but I can only go so small. I’m amazed by people who can paint miniatures.

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2 Comments

  1. Ed Pasby

    Hi Julie.

    I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your work. I discovered your site over the weekend. I particularly enjoy your cat, dog and chicken portraits. They remind me of grade school yearbook pictures. Good luck and success to you on the upcoming KALEID Gallery show.

    Ed

  2. Julie

    Thank you very much! I’ll be thinking of yearbook photos now as I paint these. 🙂

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