#37: Doc & Duke

We toured Ocala, FL. This area is also called the "Horse Capital of the World" as there are more horses, per capita, than anywhere else. The area has a huge Thoroughbred breeding and training presence, but there are other breeds represented as well. While there, we took a carriage ride past some of the farms. Doc and Duke, sweet black Percherons, provided the horsepower.

I decided to make notecards for fellow travelers, I decided to try the black gouache and white charcoal pencil technique I had learned in an online class with Val Webb. 

What I liked about this drawing:

It always amazes me how much can be done with black and white. I love how the character of the horses seems to come through. I like that the dots, bits, buckles and hames look like silver. 

What I might do differently:

I needed to take more time smudging the white, and blending it into the black. I didn't have any paper stumps or tortillons, but I'm sure I could have improvised with something - or I could have put the piece aside until I had the chance to visit a shop. Well, heck, I could still do that! I should have used more of a dry brush technique for the hairs sticking up between the ears. 

What I learned:

I forgot to leave the eye white. I think had I been able to use charcoal to make the eye black, instead of using the white charcoal to make the white areas of the eye, the effect might have been different.