Portraits of Horses

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS/WOOD • 11″ x 14″ each
original art commissioned by The Right Step, Inc. and Vy N.
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[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.