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SecludedDream
12-16-2008, 12:17 AM
About this piece:

I recently finished watching Miracle of the White Stallions, which is an old Disney movie about the Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, and was inspired by the last performance scene to try and capture the energy.

This is just when the horse is going into the levade, and as he draws his hind legs under him there's a brief, very brief moment in time when all of his weight is on that one leg. And that's what this will be, right when one tip of the hind hoof touches the ground as he shifts his weight. ^_^

The head and neck aren't permanent- same goes for most of the front end actually. I just needed those there for reference points. And the light source, still trying to identify it all. ^^; I am also unsure how the final will look in terms of hindlegs. I think I will block them out and make them sharp, and then experiment with making them blurry, or maybe it'll be easier to have them blurry and then sharpen them to my satisfaction....

Other info:
I've done this whole painting like I would a traditional painting. As in, every bit of color is one layer, there was no eye-dropping done, no overlaying to check accuracy (tho I wish I did, lol). I am still undecided on if I am bold enough to keep the BG on the same layer, or add a layer and do the entire BG on that one additional layer. Choices, choices.

Things I would like help with:
Well if there are any glaring anatomical errors in the parts I have already fleshed out, I'd appreciate knowing them. If anyone has any links to TIPs on creating BGs (since the BG will be part of the Spanish Riding School), I would appreciate that as well. And if anyone has TIPs on making things on one layer (maybe traditional painting techniques apply?) I'd appreciate that as well.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Dec-2008/164830-lipizzaner_2_copy.jpg

SecludedDream
12-17-2008, 02:20 AM
Things I've fixed:

-Supporting leg has been thinned
-Lowered angle of hind legs
-Adjusted colors
-Fixed tail (? I think- I forgot where it was to start with half way through adjusting)

http://i43.tinypic.com/28lqrdy.jpg
Someone had commented that the previous WIP reminded them of blu-tack so
I've been looking at older horse paintings (1800s) to try and mimic their painterly feel. I'm also contemplating chopping off the raised fore....

Corby
12-21-2008, 02:13 PM
There seem to be a lot of unresolved 'issues' in your mind about this. Unresolved areas, as to what they will be. You have them in mind, but you dont have them on paper visually? I would recommend a great deal of sketching, little copies even, from your reference until you have visual evidence before you that 'This is what I want and my sketch shows me the way'. At the moment in all honesty, based on the evidences before me I would think I were looking at the depiction of a Tang Dynasty porcelain figurine.

Only then would I begin my painting, with all issues resolved. I try and do this and find that things will still arise, but they are usually minor.

SecludedDream
12-24-2008, 03:23 AM
Thank you, I'm sorry for the late reply and little updates, I got distracted working on this and posting it else where!

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/4663600b2be21e62bee2e55d61611fb89a1e9685.jpg

ReineBlanche2
12-27-2008, 12:19 PM
There are no major anatomical problems. You have done a very nice horse. If he resembles a Chinese warhorse it could be because these stallions were also used in war. The tail could be a bit more spectacular and I find the line joining jaw and neck arch a bit heavy - possibly the jaw is too large. You could mask it with a sweep of forelock.

carolinekatie
12-30-2008, 01:32 PM
Hi there,
You have done a marvelous job on this beauty, and the only very tiny things I can see on this (and they are nit-picky and only because you have done such a GREAT job on it!), are one around his eye, and one where his mane is at the very top.
I would slightly round out the top arch of his mane, making it a tiny bit fuller, they work for years rounding out these stallions! :)
Also, a very faint sweep of a forelock reaching back around or in front of an ear (very subtle as it would be fairly fine).
Lastly, around his eye, where the dark shadowing is, could be adjusted slightly to give that sad, poetic look to the eye. I have cropped a google image as example.
Hope this helps, but I hope you know I am only nit-picking because it is so good. You could leave it as is, and it is terrific.
CKhttp://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/30-Dec-2008/69609-lippizanner.jpg

SecludedDream
01-05-2009, 08:04 PM
Thank you for the suggestions! I do mean to go back to this image, so I will keep that in mind!

This is it so far, as I have left it alone for a week or so:
http://fc67.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/360/e/6/e6aee2b59059ea58e520526525ee303f.jpg