5 Motifs - Horses

Horses are another thing McCarthy is clearly knowledgeable on and attached to in some way. They feature often and in most of his works in detail and are characters in the stories in their own right.

Again similar to the the greyhound work, this way mostly an opportunity to practice drawing horses and perfecting their form and movement. I kept trying to draw them from as many different angles as possible.

I think as usual the brush and ink studies turned out best. They're gestural and loose and full of movement. Tone can be achieved as well as a wide variety of line weight which is ideal for animal studies. 

Simplifying the horses down into their most basic shapes was a fun ad interesting challenge. Movement and form has to be captured with little marks, which makes for cave painting-esque images. Interestingly they can also end up the most engaging of them all. 

With this project I am very interested in trying to portray images as memories or as vague images in one's head, which is the experience of reading a book. I think this almost achieves that by showing a faded or misty view of the animal, as if only slightly recollected or seen through a haze of memory and imagination. I think this idea could be enhanced if this layering was applied to a looser image, one that is less true to life perhaps.