I started doing art because I loved horses, but could not own one. Additionally I often got horse things given to me as gifts, with the exception of Breyer Model Horses, I found many of these items to be flawed as far as proper horse anatomy goes. Ears too long, legs slightly distorted, ugly heads. As Arabians are my favorite breed or horse, so of course pretty heads were something I looked for.

As it happened I started drawing, I soon learned I sucked at drawing, and gave up fairly quickly. All the art books I had on “How to Draw…” showed you a lengthy process of drawing circles and squares to represent the animal then filling in the outline and adding other details. I hated this lengthy process and became frustrated. I turned to painting.
With painting I could fix things I saw wrong, I could cover them up to make them right. This was far better than erasing pencil drawings. I could see the mistakes and fix them, make the horses head prettier, make the ears the right length, and so on. I got quite good, and even did some commission paintings for people. Then one day I decided to go back to drawing.

This is one of the first drawings I did once back at it. I drew directly with pen on the paper, no pencil under drawing. No crazy circles and squares to start. You will notice, it is not even a horse.

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By this time I had worked at an animal shelter for abandoned cats and dogs. I had also married a man who was also an artist. He encouraged me to start painting things other than horses. This was really a good idea. It freed me up, and opened up avenues for other things. I know horses best, but I also know other animals. I know fur textures, and direction of hair. What I discovered most about being the key to being successful at art is observation skills. I know animals, I am not just a person who likes them I know them. I keenly observe them and love their natural beauty.

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So for anyone who wants to draw here are my main suggestions.

1. Study the thing you want to draw.
2. Be observant. Note shadow, structure, and so forth.
3. If you get frustrated with doing one type of art, stop doing it, come back some time later.
4. Don’t just get stuck drawing one thing.
5. Drawing circles and squares to form your structure may work for some, but some peoples minds do not work that way, if it is not working for you, stop doing it.
6. Practice, Practice, Practice.
7. Correct shadow and shading are very important, study both carefully.
8. Spend at least 15 minutes a day drawing.
9. If you are drawing animals, the eyes are key.
10. If its’ not fun, don’t do it.

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