HORSES // A Tale of a Fail

For the upcoming July show at Gigantic Gallery, I had this big old wild idea to draw some horses.  Like some running horses.  I did a few quick sketches and a small thumbnail in my sketchbook and dove right in to a new illustration.

So this was the initial direction I took.  I started with a watercolor and ink drawing and made a few paper cut horses and THEN decided that the whole thing was feeling a little too Lisa Frank for me, so I scrapped it and changed direction.

I decided to try out the new pull brushes I had just purchased from the art store – kinda like a stick with an angled sponge on the end.  I liked the gritty, dry brush feel of it all and decided to go for a more muted palette.

And ya know, I liked it a first.  But then something happened, something that’s hard to turn back from when you’re working on paper ( and not digitally ).

I noodled it too much.  I kept trying to make it work until it JUST. DIDN’T. WORK. ANYMORE.

Arrrrgggghhhh!!!

GUH.

While there are certain elements of this illustration that I do like, in the end it looks to me like someone threw up on a page.  I regretfully put it aside and am now referring to it as another study.

So!  Back to the drawing board, eh?

I started again in my sketchbook.

But you know what?  There are times when you know it’s just not going to work, at least not THIS time around.  After I finished this doodle, I scrawled on the opposing page:

See ya, horses.  It’s time I moved on to the next thing.

Neigh.