Almost Finished ... a Pony's Progress

For a reference, I used an older drawing I had done of my neighbor's pony. [Kim preferred  the other, more dramatic  drawing I did to have as a painting.] Here, I am doing several w/w washes with a warm grey made of permanent rose, quin. burnt orange and indanthrone.

... continuing with the w/w applications ...

I moved to a darker [more blue/black] mixture for the nostril and muzzle. I also shifted to a cooler grey, made of the same three pigments. 

Thought it was time to get some background down. I used the permanent rose in a splotchy [purposely splotchy] application, followed by quin. burnt orange, and then several dark mixtures made of the same pink, orange and blue.

Amazing what a difference the background made!

I continued to darken the shadows, using both w/w and dry brush techniques.

The large areas of dark were finally dark enough, so I removed the masking. Now I just have to fine tune the mane and forelock, and see how it looks overall.

I wanted to create a sense of a sweet older pony. We've all seen them in the horse world - been everywhere, done all of that, won all the t-shirts - toting kids around all over the place without batting an eye at anything that would normally spook a horse. I love them! So I chose a softer, more gentle background, and hopefully gave him a quiet and gentle look, while giving him the dignified expression he deserves.

Thank you so much for dropping by!