Horses manes (update)

http://www.tainted-sky.net/draw/horsecomi3.jpg
Still not right...duno what to do with this...just can't seem to "finish" it.
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(edit)I know the mane isn't full, I'm not finished. All I'm asking for is direction of the mane(/edit)

I need advice for a drawing. I'm attempting to do realism of a horse for someone without a reference for shading and the mane. The girl I'm drawing it for wants the horse to have a really long mane/tail....I'm a little confused as to how would it look??

http://www.tainted-sky.net/draw/horsecomi2.jpg
It's far from finished but I need some help with the mane...any ideas? (redlines greatly appreciated - to show how the mane would flow)

Hmm... the main looks good and so does the flow, but I think you should make it look fuller. It looks a little on the thin side to me! (I don't mean thin by lines, by the way, just to clarify, I mean the depth of the hair)

Yup, I'm gonna do that but I want to know how to make it look first :) thanks :)

Yes it needs a bit more hair for it. Look likes its going to bald. Just add a bit more lines for it and it will look wonderful.

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Originally Posted by Almita

Look likes its going to bald.

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LOL! You're right. It does. :p

Can't wait to see the completed version! :)

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Originally Posted by slleipnir

Yup, I'm gonna do that but I want to know how to make it look first :) thanks :)

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D:

Really pretty! It does need to be fuller, though. Other than that, great! I love it.
To make it fuller, just add lots more strands of the hair it has now.

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Originally Posted by slleipnir

Yup, I'm gonna do that but I want to know how to make it look first :) thanks :)

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Add some where its kind of blank. Under the ear.. if you know what i mean and add more on the front where the horses forhead is at.

Haha, she said already that she is going to make it fuller, but she needs to figure out how to make it flow.

To me, it looks like really long hair growing out of the top of the head. If you think about it, horses manes grow the whole way down the neck. You should see if you can make it look more like it is going from the top of the neck rather than from the poll. I hope that helps some...otherwise it looks great!

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Originally Posted by areias

Haha, she said already that she is going to make it fuller, but she needs to figure out how to make it flow.

To me, it looks like really long hair growing out of the top of the head. If you think about it, horses manes grow the whole way down the neck. You should see if you can make it look more like it is going from the top of the neck rather than from the poll. I hope that helps some...otherwise it looks great!

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I'm not too sure I know what you mean?? And thank you for not saying it needs to be more full ;D lol

Yeah, I agree with Areias, the mane needs to be growing from all the way down the neck, instead of just the top of it's head. I am no expert on horses by any means, but I think that's how most horses' manes are. So, instead of just making it grow from her head, try making it grow from down her neck a bit too.

Hope that helped and cleared things up! :D

bump

I wasn't really sure how to help, but I was wondering if maybe this picture could help you?

Horse

Ashley

Here's that pic. I think part of the problem is the hair in the mane is too fine. It needs to be a little more coarse. That's how horses's manes are. The pic is just beautiful, though. I know you've put a lot of work into it.

I just can't get it to look right no matter what I do D: It's so depressing. I need to finish it cause it's taking all my time away from others commissions. I'm just not happy with it. But normally I would care more than $15 for something like this so it's hard to be motivated. (But it was me who said I would. She paid for a cartoon. I just felt like doing it at the time D:)

Well she's getting way more than a cartoon, that's for sure! She's very lucky, if you want my opinion.

It might be too late to say this but the front legs are too short,

Not that it looks bad or anything, it's a beautiful piece of art work.

Just imagin the horse standing down right now and you'll notice the legs are wee bit too short.

The main should be more thick, horse hair sticks together even when in the wind.


Here is a painting of a horse with some good thick main hair which would look good on yours.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h2...HT_400_400.jpg

http://www.tainted-sky.net/draw/horsecomi34jpg.jpg
Any better? I just dont understand it I guess lol. People are telling me but I can't seem to do it...

urg. lol. it looks like an old mop....*gives up*

No don't give up .. never give up!

Your horse is amazing .. not many people can even draw a horses head lol,

A horse is one of the hardest creatures on earth to draw, so don't feel your not doing good because this is awsome work!

Here is one last photo that can hopefuly help.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h2...f/horserun.jpg

The thin streaks make it look almost ghostly. It's pretty actually. Try using bigger streaks different sized strands might make the mane look fuller. :)

Are you using photoshop? If so try using the burn and dodge tools with a slightly thicker setting to make the mane.

It's hard to see on this picture, but I did it here a little bit...if you go over it with that dodge tool or with a color over lay you'll add a whole nother layer to the hair, and it will give you some more thickness...you can also use a colored paintbrush with a lower opacity to give you that same ghosty look.

I'll see if I can sit down and do some 'red lines' a little bit later. :)

When I'm sketching a horse's mane, I start with the lightest and finest hairs to get a good base, then gradually build it up by getting dark and thicker, especially around the poll and roots. Then I would take a rubber and highlight the parts that catch the light, this creates a good contrast and gives the mane some body.

Of course, I know sketching is pretty different to what you do (and you do it very well!), but I just wondered if you can work on it using the same technique. :)

Audrey, just an idea, can you post the horse without the mane (the tail is perfect, no touchy touchy).. then people can draw red lines to help with the low.. its the middle section of the mane that makes me tilt my head & that loose swoosh on the forehead...

The body looks awesome though :D

I´ll try do a better one later at home but heres an idea.........just fill in more the blanks........you know more clumps of hair......

Thanks everyone....

I tried, again, at redoing the mane. I tried to think of how it would flow...

http://www.tainted-sky.net/draw/horsecomi4.jpg
I think it looks a little less like a mop but needs work D:

http://www.tainted-sky.net/draw/horsecominomane.jpg
no mane

also if you have any other advice for making it look "sharper" please tell me. I know the anatomy is wrong, but I'm not going to fix that now.

I need to ditch the bg don't i?

another attempt, I can seem to make it right either, lousy mouse thing..........

anyway I think just filling it in more and the details you just did on top of that would be great, and just the front legs a tad longer.........but other than that it´s great.........the personyou are doing this for will be thrilled when you hand it over.......

heres a long maned horse rearing
http://harvey.harker.org/u/harker/je...s/friesian.jpg
http://harvey.harker.org/u/harker/je...andalusian.jpg
http://daw.dyndns.org/thumbs/gallery...20Friesian.JPG
http://www.simecorp.com/artsmart/pho...HR_cindy_5.jpg

Read before looking at my red lines, other wise it'll look like I'm on crack or something lol

Start the hair from the bottom & work your way up(as in individual strains, bottom to top).. the upper hair is ontop like you know... BUT your *mop* makes it look like the hair is all coming from the top of the neck only & just covering the neck in a lot of places... I think your flow is mostly ok, but the hair needs to look like its coming from the whole neck, not just one place...

AS you know I suck at explaining anything, but I hope that makes sence... I only have paint here, so I cannot do anything (I'm still at work)... I use GIMP & I would use the blury round tool to make the hair (solid centre, but blured edges).

Do you remember that GSD puppy I did? (its of Travis when he was a little fella, a PT members dog)... It took too many hours to do the fur as I tried to draw almost all the hairs.. it was crazy! But when I printed it out on photo paper, people think its a photo of a real dog!

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Originally Posted by slleipnir

also if you have any other advice for making it look "sharper" please tell me. I know the anatomy is wrong, but I'm not going to fix that now.

I need to ditch the bg don't i?

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Nope.. thats what Layers was invented for :D

What do you mean, Jess about the layers? I don't want to change the anatomy because it's too much effort lol. I do layer my work. Everything is on a diff layer.

I think I'm finished. I don't know what else I can do unless the person it's for doesn't like it.

Do you dislike the background???

http://www.tainted-sky.net/draw/horsecomi5.jpg

I'm not that satisfied with it but I duno...if you paid me $15 for it would you be happy or would you want it to look better and more detailed?

I love it :D
The hairs look like they are coming out of the proper places now :D

I personally like the background