Tag: arabian horse

Knight with a Red Plume

Posted on by abigailcossetteryan in Animals, Arabian, artist, brush pen, character art, Equine Artist, Etsy, Eventing, Gifts, home, home decor, horse, horse crazy, horse training, horsemanship, ink, Redbubble, RPG, watercolors, writing
https://ravenslanding.redbubble.com

I just really like red plumes.

I painted this when I first got masking fluid. I’m still trying to learn how to use it. And putting riders on horses is startlingly difficult. Perhaps because I think I know what it looks like, but the eye and the brain don’t actually communicate as well as I think.

I am trying to push myself to explore composition more and think creatively.

What? Think creatively? In a painting? I know.

i did really enjoy manipulating the masking fluid and brush flicks for the flagging tail. I think there must be Arabian lines in this horse 😉

I’ve always liked Arabians–not just because they are spectacularly gorgeous, but also the legends around them, their endurance, and of course their loyalty. Marguerite Henry’s King of the Wind was also, definitely, instrumental.

Actually, I learned a lot from that book. I read it repeatedly, and the details of how Agaba treated Sham, the care he took to groom and saddle for the comfort of the horse, has definitely influenced how I treat horses. I try to always be kind and respectful when handling a horse. When you do that, they take it much better when you correct them for not being kind and respectful.

This is actually a character from my novel. If you read The River Rebellion on zarecaspian.com you’d know him, Trinh Kegan. His armor should be golden, but artistic liberty dictated bloodstone for this piece.

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The Dappled Purple Horse

Posted on by abigailcossetteryan in Uncategorized
Gorgeous Purple Dappled Original Watercolor horse

When I was a kid, I would spend hours reading my three horse encyclopedias. I bookmarked favorite breeds, and diligently soaked up any and all information I could about horses. One of my absolute favorite books, which I read and re-read, was King of the Wind, by Marguerite Henry. If you haven’t read it (or just, weren’t obsessed) it’s the story of the Godolphin Arabian, one of the three stallions credited with the emergence of the modern Thoroughbred. It’s fictionalized, of course, and fills in considerably huge gaps in known fact and smooths others for a better story: But the story goes that the Sheik of Morocco gave six stallions to the King of France, who didn’t appreciate the gift as he ought. One of these stallions found himself a cart horse, and one thing led to another and he was later shipped to England, where he wound up retired in a field belonging to the Earl of Godolphin. Being a stallion, he managed to get to one of the prize mares, Lady Roxanna, and the colt, Lath, turned out to be kind of a big deal on the race track.

Like I said, that’s not 100% in line with the known facts, but close enough! And it’s not like I cared as a kid, it was a great story, and is likely responsible for my undying affection for Arabian horses.

This was one of those pieces that just….came out…exactly how I wanted it to. I used Daniel Smith watercolors, as usual, but focused on letting go, and the color purple (you all know I’m obsessed with blue). I used some amethyst, some bloodstone, and I think some Quinacridone rose, probably French Ultramarine, too, but just a touch. Then I lined her haunches and neck with big chunks of salt and hoped for the best. I have a vague memory of being pretty sure it wouldn’t come out, but giving it a shot for science.

I’m so glad I did. I darkened her muzzle and ears with bloodstone, and did her eye with pen and paint…and here she is. Looking fresh, sweet, but spunky, just like so many Arabians do.

This little beauty is a 5×7, and available for sale below if anyone is interested–yeah, the original. I’ve got prints and other cool things (t-shirts, zipper pouches) up on Redbubble, too, of course.

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