CHAPTER 2

GRAPHITE PENCIL

Pony

Ponies are not just small horses—they are a distinct species. Smaller than horses, ponies are also more sure-footed and have a stronger sense of self-preservation.

1 With an HB pencil, sketch the basic shapes. Use overlapping ovals for the chest, body, and haunches. Then place the gentle curves of the neck, blocking in the head with short, angular strokes. Add ovals to block in the curvature of the jaw and muzzle.

2 Building on the lines from step 1, outline the entire pony. Block in the legs, carefully sketching the hooves and joints. Quickly suggest the mane and tail with a few long strokes, and place the mouth, nostril, eye, and ears.

3 Now erase the initial oval guides and shade the outside legs with long, vertical strokes. Then create the texture of the mane and tail with long, straight strokes to represent strands of hair. To give the body form, add a few marks to suggest the major muscles. You can give the face form with a few areas of light, solid shading. Then outline the halter.

4 Ground the pony by adding a few cast shadows and faint lines for the stable in the background. Keep these lines thin and light so that they don’t compete with the pony. Now finish the body of the pony by shading with parallel strokes that follow the muscle structure. This hatching technique creates a slightly stylized effect. Finish by touching up the facial details with additional shading.

Clydesdale

The Clydesdale is a popular parade horse, easily recognized by its “feathers”—the long hairs around its lower legs. The pose shown here emphasizes this draft breed’s muscular hindquarters. The Clydesdale has a round rump, heavy legs, a thick and arched neck, and a Roman (arched) nose.

Be sure to emphasize this horse’s massive proportions as you block it in.

STARTING OUT Block in this horse carefully, keeping the principle of foreshortening in mind. Use a soft lead, such as a 2B, to establish the areas of light and dark in step 3, and, for contrast, use heavy, straight strokes for the mane and tail.

PORTRAYING UNIQUE QUALITIES Study your subject carefully so you can depict its unique characteristics, such as the decorated mane and tail of this parade horse.

You don’t need to draw every strand of hair in the horse’s feathers.

Circus Horse

Horses used in the circus are usually large-boned breeds, such as European Warmbloods. These breeds have broad backs and strong builds combined with an elegant, graceful carriage.

BLOCKING IN THE SHAPE Use large ovals and circles when blocking in this horse to establish its size and strength. The reins are attached to the surcingle belt around the horse’s body, so the head needs to be angled sharply toward the horse’s chest, and the neck is greatly arched. In your final rendering, shade the white areas lightly, and use an eraser to pull out the highlights in the dark patches and in the tail.

From this angle, the roof of the horse’s mouth and the shoes on its hooves are visible. Make sure that you draw them all from the same vantage point.

Appaloosa

The Appaloosa is an American descendant of the Spanish horses that were imported by 16th century conquistadores. This breed features four identifying characteristics: a spotted coat pattern, mottled skin, white sclera around the eye, and striped hooves. This project demonstrates the grid method, which uses simple squares as reference points for transferring an image to your drawing paper.

1 To recreate this photograph, use the grid method. Begin by placing a grid of one-inch squares over a photocopy of the reference image using a pencil and a ruler. Refer to this as you place the outline in your hand-drawn grid in step three.

2 Using an HB pencil and very light pressure, create a grid on your drawing paper that has the same number of rows and columns as the one placed over the reference. (If you want your final drawing to be larger than the reference, make the squares of the grid larger; if you want your final to be smaller, make the squares smaller.)

Appaloosas have several different spotting patterns, including an all-over “leopard” pattern of spots on a white body, a “snowflake” pattern of white spots or flecks on a dark body, and a white “blanket” over the hips with spots that match the rest of the body color (as shown in this drawing).

3 Now simply create the outline of the horse by copying what you see in each square of the reference into each square of your drawn grid. You may choose to keep the outline simple and basic, as you can always refine it after erasing the grid, or you can give yourself a thorough guide by adding the facial features and coat patterns.

4 Using an eraser, gently rub away the grid lines. Try not to rub too hard, as you don’t want to damage the surface of the paper. Then redraw any areas of the lines that have been accidentally erased, restoring the outline as you go. If you have trouble fully erasing the grid lines, you may want to transfer your outline to a fresh sheet of paper.

5 Now begin working tone into the shadows and across the body using 3B and 6B pencils. Use layers of graphite to build the drawing slowly—start out with light pressure, and then use heavier strokes to develop the muscles and other details. Notice that some of the spots aren’t solid—some even contain spots themselves. Noting and capturing these subtleties will add realism to your finished drawing.

6 Continue adding value to the horse and grass, working evenly across the drawing. For the light areas of the horse, use a very light layer of tone to make it stand out from the white of the background. Leave only the brightest highlights free of tone; if you happen to cover them with tone, simply pull out the graphite with an eraser.

Cantering Foal

By the time a foal is one year old, many of the baby characteristics are gone, but it is still obvious that the horse is a youngster. Most horses will reach full maturity by the age of five. By their second birthday, many breeds are already under saddle.

1 This foal in action has three feet off the ground—with this tricky position, be careful not to tip the horse forward in your sketch. Beginning with an HB pencil, use light strokes and curving lines to establish the body; then begin defining the bulges and muscles within the outline. Mark the centerline and browline for feature placement.

2 Continue refining the outline, adding details to the neck, face, and legs. Create the distinct curve of the neck, following the contours of the muscles. Add the mane with a series of short, random strokes; then suggest the tail with a few curved strokes.

The chaotic underlayer will show through the final shading a bit, giving the coat a fuzzy appearance.

3 Use short, rough strokes to suggest this young foal’s fuzzy spring coat. Begin creating the shadows using a 3B; then work across the body evenly. Block in the two cast shadows on the back right leg with even darker tone. Keep the mane and tail wispy by building up light, tapering strokes.

4 Now switch to a 6B pencil and apply a more polished layer of strokes over the horse’s coat, following the direction of hair growth. Avoid stroking over the horse’s backside, instead working around the foal’s markings. Give the forms and features more contrast by pumping up the darks, and retrieve highlights with an eraser.

Standardbred Trotter

This project depicts a Standardbred trotter during a warm-up—it is working at a moderate speed, and its body is not fully extended.

1 Establish the basic outline of the horse using an HB pencil and loose strokes. In this early stage, keep your lines light, erasing and adjusting as necessary. Add a few lines to block in the forms of the muscles, indicating where the light and dark values meet.

2 Refine your lines to carefully depict the subtle curves and angles of the subject. Use long, tapering strokes to begin rendering the mane and tail; then develop the outline to show the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and facial features. The visible nostril is slightly flared from the physical activity.

3 Switch to a 3B and begin shading the horse to add form. Build up the tone evenly over the horse, starting with the shadows and gradating to the lighter areas. To suggest movement, avoid blending to keep your shading rough and sketchy.

4 In this final step, focus on punching up the values. Stick with HB and 2B pencils to shade within the lighter areas, but change to a 6B for darker values. It’s important to use the softest pencils for the darkest areas, as harder pencils can burnish the graphite, causing odd reflections or even damage to the paper’s surface.

This drawing depicts a competitive horse, so it’s important to emphasize the fine musculature. Keep the croup flat and the haunches well defined to indicate the propelling power of the hindquarters.

Gypsy Vanner

The Gypsy Vanner is a hearty breed. They range in color and generally have long, thick manes and tails, along with abundant leg feathering. They have stout, muscular bodies like larger draft breeds, but they are much smaller. This Gypsy Vanner stallion has a thick neck, muscular body, and long mane and tail. Its feathering, common with many larger draft breeds, starts just below the knee joint and completely covers the hoof.

1 Using an HB pencil, lightly sketch the outline of the horse to indicate basic anatomy. (If necessary, you can break this step down into even simpler shapes of circles and triangles to block in the body, legs, and feet.)

2 Add more anatomical elements and refine the outline. Also delineate the large shapes that make up the coat pattern, keeping your lines loose and light, so you can erase them later if necessary.

3 In this stage, begin to add tone to give the drawing a sense of form. Notice the strong light patterns on the horse. This play of light over the horse’s back and down his side defines the muscle groups and should be captured accurately. Continue using an HB pencil and lightly lay in the middle and dark tones across the body, using a bit more pressure in the darker areas.

4 Use a 3B pencil and develop the form by adding darker shadows, including the subtle shadows in the white areas.

5 In this final stage, increase the contrast and refine the details. Make sure all the values are defined in the lighter areas, and darken the shadows with a 6B. If you prefer a softer look to your final drawings, you can blend your strokes with a tortillon.

American Paint Horse

One of the most notable traits of the American Paint Horse is its colorful coat, which can be one of three patterns: overo (white spots across the back and on the tail), tobiano (white spot on the front of a solid-colored head), and tovero (combination of overo and tobiano). This breed has a stocky build, similar to that of the American Quarter Horse. This project features a mare with an overo coat.

1 Using an HB pencil, block in the basic shapes and outline. The body is slightly foreshortened through the barrel. Notice that the backs of the pasterns and heels of the feet are visible. Watch the angles of the feet, making sure they appear accurate and proportional.

2 Refine the drawing and start to note the placement of major muscle groups, shadows, and highlights. Delineate these areas with light lines as you continue to work with an HB pencil.

3 Lightly block in the markings with strokes that follow the direction of hair growth. Continue to note highlights and shadows.

4 Switch to a 3B pencil and refine the placement of all of the elements. Use a bit more pressure in the darkest shadow areas and pick out any highlights using a kneaded eraser. By this point, you'll start to see a definite coat pattern developing, and the limbs and body begin to appear rounded and three-dimensional.

5 For the final stage, switch to a 6B pencil and darken areas that need more definition and deeper values. Try to distinguish between the white markings on the horse and the highlights by adding subtle shadows to the white areas. You can still have highlights and shadows in white areas, so it is important to include a full range of values between white and black. Your final horse should appear to have different “colors” on its coat. To develop the grass, use a sharp 2B or 3B pencil and make quick, upward strokes of varying weight and value. Vary the direction of the strokes so they look random, using sharper strokes in the foreground and softer strokes in the background for a sense of depth. Then blend the distant grass so that it further recedes from the viewer.

Pinto

The pony in this project is a pinto—not any special breed, but cute all the same. Here, the pinto reaches around to scratch his rear pastern.

1 Lightly block in the outline of the body. Indicate the lines in the neck to help with shading. Notice how various parts of the body line up with one another and compare in size. For example, the withers are the same height as the rump. Picking up on details like this will help you achieve an accurate initial sketch.

2 Continue to block in the muscle groups, markings, and shadows. Indicate where color changes occur and lightly rough in the mane and forelock, stroking in the direction of hair growth. Keep your lines fairly light so you can easily erase or draw over them where necessary.

3 Lightly block in the basic values with quick strokes that follow the natural flow of the coat and hair. Pay particular attention to where the direction changes course, such as in the hip area, to keep it as realistic as possible. Keep in mind that there is a strong light source illuminating the back and top of the withers, creating highlights that will help define the muscles, wrinkles, and anatomy of the pony. Recreating these effects of backlighting adds contrast and drama to the scene.

4 Continue to develop the shadows with a 3B pencil. Because of the strong light on the withers, you won’t find a lot of detail in this area, but still lightly indicate what should be there and suggest the top line of the neck. Using a sharp 2B pencil, refine the mane with long, tapering strokes of varying pressure, keeping the lightest areas free of tone. (You may choose to blend this area and soften the strokes with a tortillon.) If the strokes get too dark, pick them out with a kneaded eraser.

5 Finish the drawing by darkening all the shadow areas using a 6B pencil. As you create the cast shadow, keep in mind that it should always reflect the texture of the surface it appears on. If the surface is rough, the shadow should appear rough as well. If the surface is smooth, blend the shadow to reflect a smooth, uniform texture. As you shade the body, be especially careful not to lose the nice wrinkles caused by the long stretch of the neck and the body folding in on itself.

Dappled Pony

This dappled pony is a bit overweight, which hides its underlying skeletal and muscular structures. This can make it difficult to render areas where these structures exist. As your knowledge of the anatomy of a horse grows, so will your drawing skills for rendering the body; you will become familiar with the way certain bones, ligaments, and muscles should appear, which will enable you to “fake in” areas that may not be immediately apparent in your reference.

1 Start by blocking in the main forms of the body, legs, and head. Draw the arch of the neck even though this area is hidden in the final drawing; it’s always important to have a sense of the underlying shapes and alignments. Roughly sketch the hooves.

2 Create a detailed outline, indicating the position of various anatomical structures, highlights, and shadows. Keep your lines light so you can alter them as you progress. Use an HB pencil for this step, as this lead is neither too hard nor too soft.

3 Lay in the shadows, which help create form and dimension in the drawing. Keep the initial values light and layer the graphite to build the values. Then continue building the mane with long, tapering strokes that curve to suggest the forms of the neck and back.

4 You shouldn't actually draw individual dapples on the coat. Rather, blend the values together; then carefully pick out the lighter areas with a kneaded eraser. Keep the edges soft, blending into one another and reflecting the way the light falls on the body, so the dapples in shadow appear slightly darker than those in the light. Keep the dapples random and natural-looking. After picking out the dapples, lightly shade over the top of them, gradating to a lighter tone toward the bottom of the barrel (torso). For this stage, switch to a harder lead so you are not tempted to get too dark.

5 Continue adding dimension by lightly shading the areas receiving little or no light. Clearly indicate the direction of the light by developing the cast shadow on the grass. Using a sharp pencil, lay in quick, upward strokes of varying values and direction to indicate the texture of the grass. The mane and tail are much lighter than the body, so be careful to maintain this distinction by leaving areas of lighter strokes intermixed with darker ones. The top of the mane does not have as much light shining on it, so use slightly darker strokes along this area.

Friesian

An ancient breed with Spanish influence, the Friesian is an elegant, large-boned horse originating from the Friesland region of the Netherlands. The Friesian is a popular performance horse known for its proud carriage, arched neck, and high-stepping action.

1 Using an HB pencil, begin by establishing the basic outline of the horse. Note the curvature of the neck, which will be hidden under the mane in the final steps. Keep your lines loose and sketchy, and focus on how the lines and shapes relate to one another. It helps to view the mane as a cohesive shape rather than individual hairs. You may also indicate individual features such as the eye, nostrils, ears, and muscles.

2 With the same pencil, further define the shape of the horse. Start building on the lines from the initial sketch, establishing accurate curves for the ears, muzzle, eye, and muscle structure of the neck. Continue using light, overlapping strokes to establish the direction of hair on the mane.

3 Continue to refine the outline you established in step 2.

4 With a 3B pencil, begin developing the darkest parts with layers of graphite, making them darker with successive layers. For the mane, use a sharp pencil and loose strokes to layer lines in the direction of hair growth. The graphite blends as you add layers. If an area gets too dark, lift out some of the graphite with a kneaded eraser. Then use a tortillon to soften edges and move tone into the highlights.

5 Further develop layers of graphite, firmly establishing the light and dark areas of the horse. Use a 6B and a 9B to create the deepest shades of black. At this point, the form is clearly developing and the muscles appear rounded. The smooth coat should start to appear shiny in the highlighted areas. Even though the Friesian is a black horse, it is important to include light areas that define and shape the surface of the animal, giving the illusion of depth and form.

6 With a 6B, add layers of graphite over the shadowed areas, blending and darkening them. Apply firm, overlapping strokes in the shadows of the mane and lighter strokes in the lightest areas. Using a stick eraser, define the lighter hair that overlaps the dark areas of the mane, keeping the strokes soft by blending them with a tortillon and lifting out light areas with a kneaded eraser. Use the side of your pencil to cover larger areas with graphite, blending with a tortillon as you go. Finally, take time to study the eye and nostrils, paying close attention to how the light and dark areas make these areas appear realistic.