Sunday, April 14, 2019

Painting the Budweiser Clydesdale's

The Budweiser Hitch made an appearance at Country Thunder in Florence, AZ. I did not want to miss an opportunity to paint these incredible, beloved horses.

These are the two paintings I did from life of the Budweiser Hitch and their handlers. This was an energetic and thrilling morning. The paintings were completely spontaneous and done from a distance to avoid interfering with the tasks of preparing for their public hitch appearance. 

When I arrived, two handlers were each walking four horses around the grounds to allow them exercise. I followed and quickly set my easel up and sketched the gesture as they were returning to the stalls. They had 10 horses on this tour, and 8 were past the point to capture in this pose. I was lucky that another handler took the remaining two for a walk. While they were heading out, I quickly found a place out of the way and set up to paint. When they walked past, I further defined my sketch, then completed the painting from memory.

The second painting, "Bath Time", I was afforded a relatively stationary scene. Editing out everything but the essence, the composition tells the story of getting ready for their public appearance.


The quick gesture sketch.

Getting as much information as I can, then working from memory.

The finished field study.
"Morning Walk"


The quick gesture sketch.
The completed field study.
"Bath Time"
They are incredible horses!