This page will introduce you to some tricks that help to make the horse look both real and handsome.

Unfortunately it's not at all that easy to draw a horse, if you don't know exactly what a horse is, how it moves, and all the details about it's anatomy. Grab as many horse books as you can find and study them, especially the illustrations. Otherwise you won't know the connection between the proportions and might end up drawing a shoulder where the knee should be.

Inspiration is vital in order to produce good artworks. To inspire yourself, watch movies, visit paintings and photos, and, most effective of all, do Google - Image searches related to the topic you want to paint.

A horse's body is filled with muscles. Don't draw the horse's legs too thin, and try to make the body-parts round and strong.

When drawing a horse, try starting with the head. It's easier to match the body with the size of the head, then the other way around.

The neck does not start right where the cheekbone ends. Think about the place beneath the cheekbone where the throat is.

The ears start right where the head becomes the neck.

When the horse is running, its body is stretched out. Draw the back long and the neck bent down slightly.

While drawing a horse, try to make as many curvy lines as possible. It creates the impression of the muscles covering the bones. At the beginning it will probably make your picture look awkward, but it will improve once it's in your habit.

Don't draw manes reaching down to the fetlocks and tails twice as long as the body. It will make your horse look like a cartoon character.

If you see any real horses, paintings, or photos, look closely at the shapes, proportions, and positions.

If you're painting a horse, decide where the light source is going to be, before you start. Then, make the sides which are turned to the light, lighter.

Sometimes horses on paintings look too beautiful for us to notice that some parts of the horse don't look real. Try painting sharp light blicks on the horse where it's facing the light. Try just putting plain white, but don't make it stand out too much.

This is how the African people judge their horses - Arabians, whom many people consider to be the most beautiful of the Equines. The ears are vertical, and their tips are pointing inward. The big eyes, like that of an antelope, are set wide apart and low in the face, almost on the cheekbone. The head is wedge-shaped, starting big, and ending with a small muzzle so fine, that the horse can sip tea from a cup.

Try adding these characteristics to your horse.

                           Happy Drawing!