Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Horses

When I was a little child I was often ill. While my friends played outside, I was forced to stay indoors. I spent my time drawing. Like most boys, I enjoyed drawing cowboys and Indians and various kinds of warriors and heroes. But, there was one thing that always caused me a headache - a horse! I simply could not draw horses. Every time I drew one it looked more like a distant cousin of the giraffe then a proper horse. This was a long-term frustration until, much later, I made a conscious decision to take up the challenge and finally learn to draw one.
A horse is truly a magnificent animal, so powerful and so gracious at the same time. Every time I come across a horse, while walking through the fields, I look at it and I think: “How beautiful, how complex, how challenging. I have to go back to the drawing table and keep on practicing”.
































24 comments:

  1. wow, thanks for sharing, Petar! horses are my personal bugbear too. it's always a shame to draw a knight without his horse.

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  2. Awesome. i always enjoy seeing your pencils. Horses are one of my favorite animals to draw. That and dogs.

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  3. Petar you are a mind reader!!! x)

    i'm doing an illustration for Milenko, and it involves a huge black horse and his master, so this post will be more than helpfull! :)

    thank you so much in advance,
    Vanja

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  4. On some of the figures on horseback(especcially the Steel Bashaw ones) I can feel you channeling the old grand equestrian portraits(Van Dyck & Velazquez immediately come to mind). Did you consciously have any of those works in mind when you made these?

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  5. Amazing work ! I have that to practise more horses

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  6. Vanja – Well, I don’t know how my friendly white horses can be inspiration for a fearsome black steed of a vampire, for I believe you are doing illustrations for a book on vampires and witches, right? But, I believe you. Greetings to Milenko and his squad of vampire painters. Being not a part of the team this time, I am very curious about your illustrations and this third, and final, book on Serbian mythology.

    Stephen – Very interesting observation. No, I did not have the paintings of Van Dyck or Velazquez on my mind while painting my horses and heroes.

    Thanks very much guys for the comments. Always much appreciated!

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  7. Ok, that clinches it, Petar Meseldzija art demi god.
    That is some stunning work from color, to tone, to anatomy to emotional content. Everything top notch.

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  8. Are you here to conquest Earth? YOUR WORK IS AMAZING! GREETINGS FROM ARGENTINA!

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  9. hehe, of course you are right, but the black steed's master is a human until eventually being bitten by the arch vampire, so the horse is supposed to be quite natural :)

    thx for the support, i will carry on your greetings to Milenko.

    today there was a very interesting challenge posted on ArtOrder in which i'm gonna participate.
    you painting among others done by some of the best artist of today was the inspiration for them to do it.
    the theme is "Eowyn and the Nazgul"

    i hope you will like my interpretation of the that epic scene.
    if you have time drop by my blog i will be posting step by step as the image progresses :)

    talk to you soon,
    Vanja

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  10. Furman and Amaya - If only the publishers and the art directors would share your enthusiasm about my work (a half of it would be enough), my wife and I would be able to move to the countryside (a great wish of mine), buy a little house there and live happily ever after. In the meantime, I would be painting the most beautiful pictures inspired by the forests and their creatures, like dwarfs, giants and fairies, and everybody would be happy… ever after.
    Ah, an extraordinary creation begins with a dream, so I will keep on dreaming…Anyway, thanks very much, guys!

    Vanja – Good luck with the Eowyn and Nazgul Challenge. If you do your best I am sure you will come up with a remarkable interpretation. Just be yourself, be Vanja Todoric...

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  11. thx Petar,

    i just read that you will be one of the judges, so scratch the last two paragraphs of my earlier comment :)
    otherwise somebody could think i would want to compromise your position :P

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  12. Petar, I'm also absolutely enthusiastic about your horses. Will you share the secret and tell us what you did to learn to draw those magnificent animals?

    Thanks
    Birgit

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  13. Vanja – No problem. I know you did not know that I will be of the judges. Good luck!

    Birgit – I am afraid I have to disappoint you. There is no secret about how I learned to draw horses. I just drew them from photos, I analyzed the drawings and paintings of horses done by other artists. I kept on drawing them and occasionally went to observe them outside. Then drew them again focusing on “downloading” their anatomy , later on I painted them many times, drew them again, kept on drawing and painting them, and recently found out that I still did not learn to draw them entirely to liking, and therefore I decided that it is absolutely necessary to spend more time studying their movements and anatomy in the open space…

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  14. Petar, your answer was not disappointing - it shows me that I'm on the right way. And that it will be a long one.

    Regards

    Birgit

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  15. Birgit - I'm glad to hear that. Good luck and thank you for stopping by!

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  16. Hi Petar. I just wanted to thank you for doing this blog; I'm just starting oil painting and the advice so far as been invaluable! so cheers!

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  17. Thank you, Ben! Good luck with oil painting and please stay tuned. In the coming weeks I intend to write more on my oil technique.

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  18. Good work (kao i uvijek) :-)

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  19. Thanks, S! (S je od Saša, pretpostavljam?)

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  20. I have to admit I am a `horsegirl` and completly in love with them. I love your sketches and artwork! The one with the unicorn coming around the corner intrigues me the most, it captures a real character. As does the fourth sketch. All the other drawing and paintings are gorgeous in their own right but are to ehm.. epic for my taste. Those horses are symbols or representations of the general horse. They lack personality. I hope you do not take this as critisim to your talent! Your art is wonderful and I do admire it, the brushwork, the sense of light and darkness, the reality of the people.Love it!

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  21. Signe - You are right, my horses are representations of the general horse. In my work I am often dealing with the epic and the mythological, in other words with the universal aspect of mankind and its existence. Therefore in a certain sense the “personal” has to be avoided, because the “personal” is not always the universal, and the universal is, in one or another way, on one or another level, also personal.
    Thanks!

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