Humans have drawn horses for over 16,000 years. Beginning with cave paintings until now. Come on, admit it, if you paint or draw or spend hours clipping animal topiary you have probably tried your hand with the subject of horses. I know I have. My horse art is hard to identify since my horses tend to look like dogs .
A much better artist with the subject is Gail H. Ragsdale. Originally from Santa Ynez, CA she now lives and paints in Tennessee, a state known for all things equine.
Her favorite mediums are charcoal, followed by graphite, acrylics, and watercolor. Gail studied art at California State University at Long Beach and privately with Donald R. Schwartz, an internationally recognized equine artist. Subjects of her work are Saddlebred horses, Friesians (wow - majestic animals), mules, cats, and more.
It is easy to recognize the familiarity of the fine points of a horse's anatomy in equine art. And not just from a textbook. A successful painter of horses is well served by a working knowledge of why this muscle goes here and how this juncture of bone structure works there. And it is visible in the work of Gail. H. Ragsdale.
You can see more of her work on Etsy, eBay, Zazzle. (Links are below).
Original ACEO 2.5" x 3.5" Watercolor / Ink
In her Zazzle store, her horse art can be found on a variety of gift items : Art by Gail H Ragsdale.
In her Etsy shop (ArtbyGailHRagsdale) she has bookmarks, prints, mousepads.
A man on a horse is spiritually as well as physically bigger than a man on foot.
John Steinbeck
Beautiful! and hey I grew up and spent many of my adult years near Santa Ynez! (Lompoc)
ReplyDeleteWow! Thank you Golders!
ReplyDeleteLovely to see Gail's work somewhere else! I haven't been doing horses recently - more dogs and birds, so thanks for inspiring me to get back to them.
ReplyDeleteI love Gail's art ;o) She is amazing! Great post ;o) All the best ;o)
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