Bay Horse Acrylic painting

LOUIE
12" X 16" on 3mm Pastelbord

I was contacted by a lady called Marianne who wanted a painting of her horse called Louie. Although she had some photos of him herself, she asked if I could visit his stables and take the photos myself. I talk a little more about this photoshoot a little further down the page. Marianne wanted the full package for her portrait and requested glass in the frame, you can see some of the examples in the next section.

REFERENCE IMAGE

Customer Testimonial

“ Thank you Karen for taking the time to come up and photoshoot Lou and for the time and detailed work put into creating his portrait. I now have Lou at home on the wall as well as at the yard. Thank you! So worth waiting for. I had not noticed his beauty spots lately, so thanks for capturing the real life likeness ”
Marianne

Artist with Dark bay horse acrylic painting framed in saltergate silver frame

Framed portrait

Marianne required framing with her order and provided her with a selection of samples so she could choose her favourite as Louie's portrait was nearing completion. The Saltergate Silver moulding was chosen and the wider 63mm width was used due to the size of the painting (16" x 20"). It was requested that the painting was to be framed behind glass. As with Oil paintings, Acrylic paintings are not usually framed behind glass, mainly to let the paint breathe but it is an option, particularly if the painting will be hung in heavy traffic areas or on a wall that gets a lot of sun. To ensure the glass will not adhere to the painting over a period of time, a clear spacer was placed on the glass leaving a small space between this and the canvas. True Vue Ultra Vue glass was used which has a very low reflection level, minimising glare and also blocks upto 70% UV light (not suitable for portraits that will be hung in a room that gets a lot of sunlight)
If you wish to view a larger sample of our frames for your own portrait, you can visit our Acrylic painting picture framing page.

As the framed portrait was both large and heavy and with the inclusion of glass, which cannot be insured with any courier/delivery firm, I was unable to send this out via mail and so Marianne came to collect the portrait from the studio.

The Photoshoot

I was asked if I was able to visit Louie to take photos of him for his painting. Although I do not drive, people sometimes bring their dogs to us so we can capture the perfect photograph for their portrait, however it is another matter to bring a horse to us for a photoshoot! As a member of my family was visiting us in Northumberland, a trip to meet Louie at his stable was organised. I use a Nikon SLR, which can takes large and finely detailed photos so I can ensure I have all the images I need to capture the true likeness of Louie, however there are some situations that make it very difficult to work in and this was one of those days. A bright sunny day is appreciated by almost everyone, except a photographer. Strong sunlight creates strong shadows and direct sun causes over-exposure. Louie's colouration is very dark, making him look almost black on a natural, overcast day but the bright sun brought out his brown tones. Strong shadows in the reference photos hid the detail in those areas and although I took many photos from different angles, the sun was just too bright and I still required additional references that I found online photo to ensure the tonal balance was correct.

Remove tack where possible

Light source should be at the front

Ears should be pointing forward

Before planning the date of the photoshoot, I discussed the portrait with Marianne, asking her what type of pose she preferred. Many owners have their horse clipped before the day however she preferred him in his natural state, and brushed him down before I arrived. Whilst he was in the yard, a bridle was put on him so he could be lead, as this would not be included in the painting, I requested that he was put in the paddock and the bridle removed, so I could take photos of him without it. Louie was a very calm and patient horse, happy to be rewarded with a piece of apple. The sun was high in the sky which created dark shadows on an already dark subject. The sun was directly in front of me but as it was not suitable for me to go into the field to position myself correctly, I had to make the most of the difficult conditions.

You can find out more information about taking great photos of your pet or horse if you need some pointers for capturing your own photos for a portrait.