New Year's Day

I wasn't at the New Year's Day meeting at Cheltenham as the weather was truly horrible and there was some doubt as to whether racing would go ahead at all. In the end, they did get some in, but I doubt I would have got any drawing done in the howling gale and thrashing wind. So I sat at home and watched on the telly instead, with my finger on the Sky+ pause button so I could stop it and draw the horses. I didn't get a massive amount done because there was junk food clamouring for my attention. Anyway:

I hope some of this drawing will eventually percolate through and I'll be able to draw horses without much thought especially as to the proportions and the tricky legs. The features are not massively difficult. The other thing with racehorse is that they are oddly skinny and yet powerful at the same time - all muscle and no fat. So their legs look brittle and the ribs are visible but the horses are actually incredibly fit. The heads and necks also look smaller in comparison to other horses due to the generally larger size of the animal. It's also important to get the position and posture of the rider correctly.