For Eluzyion - Bella Caballo ~ Step by step digital pics

Eluzyion requested a Friesian, so I decided to use her Bella Caballo - a beautiful horse! - for her Friesian request.  I googled Friesians and found one in a dynamic pose that I just loved, and started making him Caballo.  Once I got Caballo sketched out, it became clear that wings would block a lot of the detail.  I made the decision to finish without wings so that he could retain that iconic Friesian look.  I also thought it might be interesting to document my progress, so here are a few pics showing how it's going!

This is the original sketch:

This is the sketch lightened and dyed blue to prepare for linework.

This is where I'm at now, around 5 PM, inking in the lines.

Starting work on the mane

A few changes to the head shape, more forelock - and lineart done

Delete the "blue" sketch and - ta daa! Clean line art. If anyone would like to use this as coloring practice, you're welcome to.

I'm going to start the coloring layers but raid tonight in Warcraft - I don't foresee getting this finished before the raid. (Raid = group of people fighting a big boss, we raid on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays). We raid for 3+ hours, so once I'm done, I'll get back to work and post more "progress" pics.

Coloring Progress

Lines colored for the mane

Lucky I don't have a computer to do this

Maybe someday you will I can do one tomorrow in colored pencil and walk through the steps for that one, too!

Airbrushing has been added to the different layers of color - almost done!

All done!

That looks amazing! I cant even draw a stick figure on a computer lol xD ~ im only good at drawing and painting, but I love both of those so its cool

Your so good I can only draw

I'm still learning! I spent a lifetime studying horses and art, and the "cartoony" style is really, really hard for me. I want them to look real so it kills me to make great big eyes - but that's how you learn! The more I do it, the better I get at it Hopefully my tutorials can help you learn, too, and if you have any questions feel free to ask!

I'm still learning with the digital stuff, and have a long way to go. There are artists that are far, far more skilled than I am - but see, that's the thing! When you see something you like, try to learn from it. Ask the artist how they did it, and learn! Then you become not only a better artist - but a better person, too. Never stop learning.