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.
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| The quick gesture sketch. |
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| Getting as much information as I can, then working from memory. |
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| The finished field study. |
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| "Morning Walk" |
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| The quick gesture sketch. |
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| The completed field study. |
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| "Bath Time" |
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| They are incredible horses! |
