Gadding About With The Goblin: The Little Brat Beside Every Artist

 

Introduction

Every artist is accompanied through life by a little goblin at their side. Yes — each and every one. Even the most accomplished artists. And this little goblin happens to have a big voice, one that yammers in our ear more than we’d like. What does it squeal about? Simple: It seeks to prevent us from arting in the first place. That's its purpose, its passion and it finds many ways to do that.

In particular, this little goblin is especially loud and aggressive with suppressed-artists, those folks who squish down their creativity to the point where they don’t even art at all. Indeed, as Brené Brown observed…

There’s no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There are only people who use their creativity and people who don’t. Unused creativity doesn’t just disappear. It lives within us until it’s expressed, neglected to death, or suffocated by resentment and fear. 

It’s true. Everyone is born an artist! Every single one of us. Indeed, you were a child once with a strong and fearless creative drive with your markers, crayons, and Play-Doh. You had your childlike imagination and a want to express it, right? Of course you did! The mind of a child is a wondrous thing! But then that drive just waned, didn’t it? It just seemed to go to sleep inside of you, leaving you feeling emptier, less engaged, less you. Well, you can thank that little goblin for that unfortunate turn of events and, yes, it can be that powerful and long-lasting. But that drive didn’t actually evaporate away — it’s still there, waiting to be tapped and expressed. And this is important: Your creativity is important! In fact, it's life-changing. As Brené Brown further declares…

The only unique contribution that we will ever make in this world will be born of our creativity. If we want to make meaning, we need to make art. Cook, write, draw, doodle, paint, scrapbook, take pictures, collage, knit, rebuild an engine, sculpt, dance, decorate, act, sing — it doesn’t matter. As long as we’re creating, we’re cultivating meaning.

Bingo! Some call it purpose, some call it a Path, some call it fulfillment and satisfaction, some call it dabbling, some call it sanctuary, some call it decompression, some call it a mystery, but whatever it is, it waits for you. And, yes, it can be something within your reach if only you have the impetus to grab it! Don't you owe it to yourself to be your complete self again? Don't you owe it to all those visions in your mind's eye, eager to manifest through you? Indeed, there's more at stake here than you think. "That stroke you are about to make on a painting is as much you as the next word you utter or the next breath you take," said Harley Brown. Indeed.

As for would-be artists, those who still have an active drive but hesitation to create, this goblin has actually set up a proverbial dam in your artistic flow to block you. And so you have this turmoil inside, as your flow keeps crashing against that dam, making an internal mess. And so you deny it to cope or wrestle with it on the down lo, living a kind of creative angst as your creative side tries to break free of these confines. And it can drive you nuts. Artist, you must be what you are! The Universe is calling you to your purpose! Don’t ignore it! It's time to grab that Acme dynamite and blow apart that darned dam! "If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced," said Vincent Van Gogh. Bingo.

When it comes to active artists though, now they’re a different bunch. They have their goblins by their side, make no mistake. And they can be particularly clever and shrill goblins to boot. But no matter…rather than live in subjugation or conflict, active artists have learned to walk forwards with their goblins, and despite all their incessant screeching and obstructionist antics. They’ve learned to live with that pesky thing despite it all, maybe even make friends with it, learning to listen to its blather without being defeated by what it says. They just keep moving forwards with their arting, come hell or high water. "The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable," said Robert Henri. Yup.

So yes — you have this goblin beside you, too, as sure as the sun rises. You hear it, I know you do, but you may be denying it to cope, or perhaps you're misinterpreting its intent, misreading the message. Either way, it’s probably compromising your creativity already and in this, we want to address it head-on to get you back to arting! So let’s turn and look at our goblin, let’s talk about it so we, too, can learn to live with it better to get on with the delightful business of creativity!

The Goblin’s Manifesto

So what is this pesky little bother? Who is this goblin that bleats in our ear so often? Why, of course, it’s the ever-present, and all-too-loud “Not Enough” goblin. That little voice that constantly whispers — or yells, depending on how active your goblin is — “You’re not enough to create art, you’re not enough to be an artist, you’re not enough to do good art, you’re not enough to be anything more than you are, you're not enough to be anything more than you were allowed to be, you're not enough to be more than a one-hit wonder, you’re not enough, not enough, not enough…” And on it goes, ad nauseam like a broken record. Ugh! 

And this little goblin can poke you with many sharp sticks: Imposter syndrome, insecurities, procrastination, fear of success, perfectionism, laziness, avoidance, envy, irritation with materials or surroundings, self-doubt, fixation on the achievements of others, comparisons, fighting deadlines, spinning our wheels and not calling “done,” fear of failure, chasing external validation, quitting mid-way, boredom, incessant distraction, and on and on. Quite literally, your little goblin’s DNA is fear, evolving into a host of manifestations to stop you with “I’m not enough” being its pure genetic expression.

But there’s more to this equation than just the goblin, isn’t there? Yes — in the most important way! Why? Because there’s you! You’re part of this dynamic just the same, and you bring to the table an arsenal of Truths that, when embraced in all their prickly authenticity, are far more powerful and compelling than any shrill goblin.

The Truth, Your Truth

The thing is, “I’m not enough” really isn’t about creating art at all. That’s the irony of it. Your art is your art — it exists on its own terms, ready to deploy at your command. You just gotta smack that button! As counter-intuitive as that seems then, the Truth is that “I’m not enough” is more about what’s lurking inside your psyche: Your history, your personal narrative, your hurts and wounds, your wishes, dreams, and longings, and even your desire to be more than you were told you could be, more than you were allowed to be. Perhaps life beat creativity down in you, maybe someone you trusted was cruel or careless, maybe things went sideways to sideline your art. It could be any number of reasons, but the fact remains, the Not Enough goblin is speaking too persuasively in your ear. So how do we get it to chill out?

Well, the annoying thing is, Not Enough won’t ever pipe down. Fear is simply part of being human and part of the creative journey every artist must walk. But those who walk with the most poise are those who hear their goblin yet stride forwards despite it, side-by-side. But how do we get to that point? How do we walk with our goblin in confidence when it’s telling us things that specifically corrode our courage? Well, my friend, the only way around it, is through it. Rather than wait for the goblin to go away — it won’t — or lessen a bit in its yelling — it won’t — or change its tune — it won’t, we’ve got to face our goblin head on and have a decent conversation with it. Yes — we must face it. There’s no avoiding this step — all successful artists have done it and continue to speak with their goblins, and you can, too. Just be ready, because in so doing, you’ll probably have to ask some deeply personal, perhaps even painful questions about the kinds of things that actually stop artists from arting. For instance, rather than fixating on these questions:

• Why can’t I do this? What’s wrong with me?
• Why is everything I create so bad? Do I not have any talent?
• Why can’t I create my piece as good as so-and-so?
• This shouldn’t be so hard! Why am I struggling so much?
• So-and-so makes it look so easy! Do I just not have the ability?
• This didn’t come out at all like I wanted it to, what’s the point?

No no no. That’s your goblin speaking again and you’re making the mistake of being thrown off balance by it. Because really, it’s not a matter of whether you believe it or not, it’s whether you allow yourself to be distracted by it! Work against that distraction! Focus! In that spirit then, consider these questions instead:

• What am I afraid of if I fail?
• What scares me if I succeed? 
• What part of me am I protecting if I don’t art, if I stay safe? Why is that so strong?
• What narrative am I secretly adhering to? What storyline is really playing out inside me?
• Did someone betray my trust and optimism to squelch my creativity? Why am I still giving them so much power?
• Did an event or situation tarnish my drive to create art? That’s in the past, so why are I still stuck there?
• Am I being distracted from creativity by other things? Why am I allowing that to happen? 
• What am I sacrificing of myself by not expressing my creativity? Why is that my choice?
• If I was creative again, how do I think that would make me feel? What needs would be met?
• What would some new goals be, if I was creative again?
• Is Not Enough actually trying to protect me from something? Why? And is that really still relevant in my life?
• What is Not Enough actually trying to tell me? (Dig deep.)

If you excavate deep enough and address these questions in total honesty — if you look Not Enough squarely in the eyes — you can come to a place of understanding and reconciliation, and what was once a struggle becomes a calling. In fact, with all this, you might even come to thank Not Enough, and even more, to reassure it and cradle it with encouragement rather than regard it with contempt or shame. Add it all up then, and perhaps your next steps will even become more deliberate and strategic, and not so reactive and blindly taken. So boil it all down, and the Truth is that arting doesn’t happen in the absence of Not Enough, with the dispersal of fear, it happens in spite of it. Learn to embrace Not Enough then, and go make some art!

Conclusion

The trick is not expecting to become fearless or pretending to be fearless. You will never not be fearful in your arting to some degree. Fear is simply a part of the human condition, and so a part of arting. So no…fear isn’t going anywhere. Instead then the real trick is to learn how to move forwards with your fear but on your own terms, to move forwards with No Enough right beside you, but you’re picking the routes this time, not that goblin. Take back the wheel! You know what Path to walk, don’t you? So just shove that goblin into line and start walkin’! Get going, just start moving forward, one step at a time. Start small if you have to with baby steps, then work your way up to bigger ones, and sooner than you think, you’ll be running, coursing through your creative landscape with ground-sweeping strides! You see, creativity has a momentum and once it gets going, it’s very hard to stop, like a speeding train on greased tracks. So brave the Path that calls you, the route you know you’re meant to take, and hold that goblin’s hand nice and gently, and off you go!

You creativity sleeps and waits — longing, languishing, roiling. It slumbers inside you like a creative Cthulhu — but your supernatural powers were meant to be wide awake and stomping around, driving the world mad with your glorious creativity! So wake it up! Start casually if need be like go to a paint n’ sip, putter around in your art, work on something small and easy. Get that pump primed! After that perhaps, take some classes and workshops! They're all over the place and are a tremendous means to get the gears going. Then magic will happen — your art will start to nibble at your attention more than your goblin does until it’s taking big chompin’ bites and your fears give way to curiosity and enthusiasm! No goblin ever can withstand an onslaught of curiosity! "Stay firmly in your path and dare. Be wild two hours a day!," said Paul Gauguin. And as Carrie Kei Keim said, "You have a million excuses. Write anyway." 

So allow your arting to consume you completely and you’ll finally know what it means to be you again, the fuller and more engaged you, the you you were always meant to be. Welcome back, my friend.

“What separates artists from ex-artists is that those who challenge their fears, continue; those who don't, quit. Each step in the artmaking process puts that issue to the test.” 

― David Bayles

Gadding About With The Goblin: The Little Brat Beside Every Artist

Sharpened Savvy: Using Pencils In Paintwork

Introduction

You wanna know what's a nifty thingie for paintwork? Pencils! Yes! You can paint your piece with tremendous depth, precision, ease, and realism with a host of different pencils! Charcoal, conté, color pencils, pastel, oil...there's a plethora of options to explore! Each one has a slightly different effect and feel, so try as many as you can for a passel of effects and to see which you like best. But they're tremendous for dappling, hooves, facial shading, fleabites, speckling, ticking, primitive markings, and coloring the silky striations in manes, tails, and feathers, and a plethora of other touches.

What’s more, they offer a level of control, precision, and detail but paired with a smudge-ability and blur that few other mediums offer. Colorful, pigmented, and versatile, a pencil can be just the ticket for what you need! So let’s explore them further…

Pastel or Chalk pencils

I recommend the General's pastel chalk pencil in white (they come in other colors, too). Ed Gonzales got me onto this years ago and I've found it to be super useful for things like dappling, hooves, highlighting veins and capillaries, hooves, and facial shading. See, it being white makes it not just handy for dapple greys, but for any color if you can tint over it with a glaze. For example, just do your dappling, seal it with Dullcote, then tint over it with a colored glaze a few times to tint those dapples whatever color you want. So much pop! As such, I can use it for bays, chestnuts, palominos, whatever because tinting allows you to use it for solid coats, too. And it, being a sharpen-able pencil, can create all sorts of little details and "spokes" and branches to the dapples for that necessary jigsaw-puzzle-piece look so many types of dapples have like on dapple greys, sooty dapples, seasonal dapples, and some silver dapples (especially clipped ones). To add even more oomph, use a pointed Q-tip to smudge strategic portions to soften and blur portions so it all doesn't look so harsh and "penciled on" then spray with the Dullcote to set it all before proceeding to the next steps.

For feel, they're soft, powdery, and chalky, smudging very easily but depositing a lot of pigment even so. They often do best with a bit of smudging, too, as they'll look a bit too harsh and artificial as-is without some tinkering.

As another option, there’s the pencil option for pastels rather than just the pan or stick versions! Like, there’s the Faber-Castell pastel pencils, too, and they rock!

Conté Pencils

Try conté pencils for, say, the dark networking between dapples or to add that necessary dapple grey grain or to even detail out dapples even more or add speckles as needed. Then like with the General's pencil, you have to seal your conté work with Dullcote before proceeding. But I just love these pencils for dappling, networking, speckling, fleabiting, ticking, facial shadings, hoof work, all sorts of things. So handy!

As for feel, they work much like the General’s pastel chalk pencil, but are “stickier” in their pigment, or in other words, they don’t smudge as easily which is useful for certain effects. Think of them as an in-between a chalk/pastel pencil and a color pencil.

Color Pencils

You can layer color pencils for added coloration, detail, and depth, producing a whole array of possibility with extreme control and precision. Lesli Kathman tipped me off to these puppies years ago, and I’ve loved them ever since! 

You can use Derwents (and try the oil-based ones, too, they're nifty!) and Faber-Castells and Prismacolors. Just keep in mind a couple of things between brands. Prismacolors are more waxy and so tend to produce more vivid color. However, they are much more prone to "bloom," or getting a cloudy cast if applied too heavily. In contrast, the Derwents are less waxy and so are harder and hold their points better, and are less prone to bloom, but they are less intense in color. So experiment between the brands to see which you prefer.

Consider using a burnisher to smooth or blur portions of color pencils (this is too powerful for the charcoal, oil, and pastel pencils). Just be careful not to press too hard or you'll rip up your paintwork. This helps to smooth or "de-grain" and buff strategic portions as you need them.

As for feel, these are stiffer and more precise, and not very smudge-able. They pretty much stay put. One thing though, the different colors of these pencils can react differently to sealers so be sure to test each one first on a junker before applying to your piece. For instance, some of the pale colors can essentially disappear under sealer whereas some colors like the yellows, golds, and ochres become much more vivid and garish, so adjust accordingly.

Tips

Now getting used to these pencils takes a bit of practice and experimentation to develop a feel for them, so practice on a junker first. Also experiment with layering pencils with glazes and paints and airbrushing or drybrushing. Indeed, pencils can be integrated into every aspect of your work and actually look better when you do most of the time. But there are some general tips to keep in mind with pencilwork, such as:

• Keep pencils sharp with a really good sharpener, one that won't break your pencil core either. Or use an X-acto to shave a fine point if need be (be careful!). But you want that fine tip to really get all that detail in there without creating a blobby mess or "chatter." These puppies offer precision and detail, so allow them to do that for you with a sharp tip. 
• You don't have to press hard! Learn that gentle touch or you'll tear up your basecoat.
• Stay in scale. It's very easy for pencilwork to go out-of-scale as regimentation sets in, so be sure to employ plenty of mediating tactics like taking breaks, working upside down, scaling down your references to the size of your piece, inverting the color on reference photos, counting dapples, and such. 
• Consider pencilwork as layers in your overall scheme. In other words, it works really well even when integrated with layers rather than just as stand-alone touches. For instance, I like to layer them with airbrushing, dry-brushing, washes, and even oils. That helps to "set them back" into the paintjob rather than looking penciled-on in an artificial sort of way. Pencilwork can really look "painted on top" if not set back into the paintjob with layering, expert color use, or blending.
• Use Dullcote to seal and provide tooth again before proceeding to the next major step, especially if it involves glazes or paint layers. Charcoal, pastel, and conté pencils will just wash or smudge away without that step, and color pencils often need "re-toothing" for the next layer.
• Strategically smudge and blur pencil work to make it “sit back” into the paintjob more otherwise they can look too harsh as times.
• Be careful of color pencil "bloom" when they just get too waxy and cloud over. Keep your layers thin and Dullcote in-between them to add another layer rather than just trying to slather it all on in one go.
• Pencilwork takes a lot of time so take breaks to avoid regimentation or formula. Take your time.
• Squint your eyes to better judge the "lay of the land" with penciled dappling, and try to imagine it all "seated back" or tinted with the following layers. This is because pencil dappling can look really harsh when you first lay it on, and it's layering and smudging or burnishing that sits it back and makes it more subtle, blended, and nuanced.
• Start your pencilwork early in the process, not as one of the last steps. You want to integrate it into your overall paintwork, and starting early helps you do that best.
• Pencilwork is great for blocking in dappling to make a template. Like you can block it in with the General's white pencil to get it just so because if you don't like a portion, just wash it off with a damp Q-tip and redo that area! Easy peasy! Then Dullcote and then you can use paint or whatnot on top. But this gives you a lot less committed process that's so much more changeable than going in with paint right away.
• Pencils are terrific for fleabiting, speckled, or lacey effects, even ticking. Just keep the pencil sharp. In particular, I find that conté pencils are particularly handy for these effects because they're "stickier" than a pastel pencil but more smudge-able than a color pencil if you want to diffuse them a bit with a pointed Q-tip.
• Not only can you tint all this to colorize it how you want, but you can use different color color pencils to infuse different colors into your paintwork. They come in a huge array of colors so make use of them!
• Store all pencils blunt-side down so the points are pointed upwards. That lets you see the colors immediately and protects the sharp tips.
• Pencils are immensely helpful for hoofwork for all the different effects, so play around with them to see how great they are! In particular, they make "painting in the round" so much easier with all the up and down and sideways striations. But again, they do better when layered with multiple techniques, so experiment to find the process that works best for your methods.
• Pencils are perfect for making the mane, tail, and feathers look striated and wispy. You can get as bold or as subtle as you want, too, and use different colors to shade and highlight as needed.  Then consider layering in airbrushed striations to soften and blend, or oil paint tinting and blending to marry everything together.
• Pencils are nifty for amplifying that inner core of a dapple grey dapple for that diffused effect. You know, how the middle is that intense color which diffuses on the edges? You can achieve that with an airbrush, but you often find yourself fighting it and you have less control. A pencil on the other hand, one that can be smudged or burnished, delivers every time!
• Pencils are great for highlighting veins and capillaries as you can place them easily right on top of the vein, then smudge or burnish them a bit to soften and blend.
• Pencils are handy for shading and highlighting facial details, too, like striations and wrinkling or whisker bumps. They're also useful for coloring the insides of shaved ears, highlighting those ribs inside the ear. Try it!

Conclusion

Pencils are just so super nifty for certain effects in realistic equine paintwork, it’s uncanny! It’s like they were made for some of the things we have to do, I'm surprised more folks don't use them. Like they make hoofwork so much easier! And the striations in manes and tails and feathers? Beautiful and wispy! And a pencil will never spread out like a brush, so your line will always be thin and controllable if you keep them sharp. So give them a try! They can offer just the touch or effect you're looking for with all the control and precision you could want! I recommend getting a white one, a black one, and maybe a couple of browns to play around with first, then as you get a feel for it all, you can expand into more colors. The neat thing is, they're relatively cheaper and last a long long time for our purposes, so consider tinkering with them. They're very accessible and friendly!

So grab your sharpener and make a pointed effort to explore the wonderful world of pencils! They're vibrant, versatile, and so very useful in so many ways! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” 

— Kurt Vonnegut

Sharpened Savvy: Using Pencils In Paintwork

Neigh-rative: The Secret Ingredient To Emotive Equine Art

Introduction

In our art form, realistic equine art, we seek to accurately capture the equine in miniature, down to the smallest detail. As such, most of the pieces created can be thought of as representational art, much like those technical illustrations found in old books and magazines, or the bajillions of portraits that have been created throughout history. It’s a “this is a horse,” sort of thing. This is fine, of course, nothing wrong with that! Representational art has a strong and highly respected foothold in the art scene.

But the truth is, is that all there is? Is that the extent of our potential? Is that really the only point to all this? Maybe not. Because we can’t deny that it’s those pieces that transcend representational art that hit us harder. Why? They’re simply more provocative, having far more impact, meaning, and chutzpah. In short, they have far more to “say” than simply “this is a horse.” But how does this happen? What’s the magic ingredient here? 

Narrative. 

It’s through narrative that we can elevate our work past representational art, imbuing it with far more emotive meaning. With that then, it’ll inspire the audience more profoundly, speaking directly to their sensibilities to maximize our creative efforts and the lasting impression of our work.

We cannot forget that all art is a form of expression, no matter how cursory. Even a simple five minute watercolor painting of a flower is a human yearning to be recognized and heard. A child’s drawing of a smiley-faced sun is a statement of individuality and expression. This is because in that expression lies an essential truth: Art is really about communication and connection. It’s one soul speaking to another through a visual language. In turn, it’s narrative that taps into all that to focus the language into a cohesive storyline, and that’s what’s going to intrigue the audience and pull them into our visual story.

Besides, while skill, talent, color, shape, and all the other elements of our art are critical for representational art, just as the mastery of any art is, once that skillset is developed, don't we have to do something with it? So like every song, movie, poem, play, dance, and novel has a story, a scenario, can't our equines tell a story, too? Truly, the intangible quality that separates the competent work from the great work is a deep ethos that guides every toolstrike or brushstroke.

So what is a “narrative” and how can we inject it into our work to lend it more weight? What kinds of narratives are there for our scope of work? What does it mean to have something to “say”? Well, let’s discuss it!…

The Power of Narrative

So what is a “narrative” anyway? And why is it so effective? Well, when your imagination creates stories and expresses them in clay or pigment, that’s narrative art. Quite simply, narrative tells a visual story, compelling the audience to ask questions, to want to know more, igniting their imaginations. Think of it this way: You’re capturing one moment in a lifetime or one frame in a full-length movie, using clay and paint to convey the story of that moment. This approach also allows the audience to add their own interpretation to the prequel and the sequel, capturing their attention and inspiring their own creativity, making your piece hit all the harder. All the technical finesse in the world aside, it’s the really great pieces that leave the audience wanting to know more about the depicted story, giving them something to think about and imagine beyond the moment captured. In this way then, really good narrative art doesn’t have to present conclusions, but leaves things open to individual interpretation, literally allowing the audience to custom-fit your piece into their own life story.

More specifically then, narrative is essentially the driving message, idea, or feeling — the core communication — you wish to convey through our piece. It’s the purposeful intent inspiring the creation of the piece, the backstory behind it. It’s the thread that will connect you to the audience, the foundation idea that sets the tone for a provocative reaction. Quite literally, the narrative transforms you into a storyteller, a director of you own movie of sorts, and therein lies a lot more potential. As such, you don’t seek a “this is a horse” piece, instead you’re trying to drive home some communication to make a connection, using the horse as the vehicle. And the audience doesn’t even have to know the full extent of the narrative to have such a piece hit  them harder — it just does. Why? Because the creation of the piece was driven by weightier inspirations than simply “this is a horse” and that affects every aspect of its composition and execution. For instance, Stormwatch was created based on a solid backstory, an extensive narrative, that drove every aspect of his creation — and he hits hard. Really hard. Breyer’s Croi Damsha was also created based on a strong narrative, a core meaning, and she hits pretty hard, too. Breyer’s Cosimo is also supported by a core inspirational feeling, a founding sensibility, and he definitely grabs your imagination quickly. In Dreams was loaded with backstory that fueled her creation, and she certainly teleports you to her imagined moment pretty easily. And Bram was inspired by a very specific moment in time that seeped into every curve and line of his composition, and he certainly has a big impact. So infusing a narrative makes a big difference!

In this way, equine art can still be a “this is a horse” piece to satisfy our baseline focus, but all the while transcending that by employing a narrative to become a conduit for conveying meaning, to focus attention, to present a question, to raise awareness, and to inject weight and emotion to the visual message. Absolutely, used with intent, a narrative will direct the piece’s creation to add depth and consequence to the audience's interaction.

How To Infuse Narrative

So how do we actually apply a narrative in practice? Well, there are a few handy tricks! One is to think like a movie director insofar as your piece literally depicts a single frame in an ongoing movie, speaking to a specific moment in time. In this though, the most effective narrative pieces hint at preceding events and those still to come, so think how can you convey all that in your design.

Another trick is to consider how does your composition make you feel? What sense of place and moment and expression does it generate? Every toolstrike and brushstroke should then support that narrative. Indeed, what we do with our work is to use a visual means to convey information so chose the best composition and point of view to forward your story. For our brand of work then, we use pose, expression, gesture, posture, movement, line, curve, tone, shade, effect, even gender, age, and breed, and any number of other touches to communicate our message and imbue our work with personality and that elusive touch of soul. So is it dramatic, serene, dynamic, cute, lovely, workmanlike, or frightening, or whatever else? What is the driving impression behind your particular inspiration, behind your story?

This brings us to, third, create context. In this, both the emotional and situational context give a sense of space and time for your story, setting a specific tone and creating mood and atmosphere. This being so, we can even play with time. For instance, we can depict either a climatic event or, on the flip side, we can imply it by either portraying the moment before or after instead. In practice, this happens to be one tactic for building tension and depth to your narrative. Like what visual hints can you build into your moment that speak to your storyline? In this, try to immerse yourself in your own story. Imagine as though you were right there with that animal, experiencing the sounds, scents, sensations of that moment so you can better clarify and focus it all for your audience.

Then fourth, compel the audience to ask questions. Not beg questions — ask them, because they’re imaginatively curious about how your story started or continues. So we give the audience enough information to get their imaginations to work on extrapolating their own interpretations but not so much as to stop the story there. Again, what hints can we give them to continue it in their own minds?

Fifth, understand some useful elements of storytelling. Like what is the inciting incident that destabilizes the moment depicted in your story? Is it for good or ill? In response, how does your subject respond? Through a series of actions or expressions or postures? Is there a critical moment depicted in your narrative? How is your central figure reacting to that critical moment? Is there a resolution to your storyline? What events lead up to it? What happens afterward? How is your equine communicating this?

Sixth, query your inspiration with these ponderings to flesh out a storyline:

• What universe is this piece living in? What’s its reality?
• Posit the hypothetical, “Once upon a time…”
• What specific story are you telling through this sculpture or paintjob?  
• What happens before and after the depicted moment? 
• What’s your focal point? The place you want the viewer to focus on at first glance and how does that forward your story?
• What is the purpose of the storyline? The message? What’s the core theme, the driving impression? What do you wish to communicate?
• How will I use traveling eye principles and composition to guide the audience’s eye and emphasize key dramatic features or components?
• How will I focus on action and emotion? What expressions, gestures, posture, body language and whatnot can I employ to forward my story, to flesh out my moment in time?
• Can I incorporate symbolic elements to add more layers of meaning and insinuation? 
• What compositional elements can I incorporate to create relational tension to beef up my narrative such as the rapport between figures, colors, effects, objects, opposing forces or line, curves, and contours?
• How can I leverage color, effect, pattern, line, shape, contour and curve to guide the audience’s attention and forward the atmosphere of my story?
• What will be the emotional landscape of my subject in my depicted moment? What is the story from my subject’s point of view? What is my equine thinking and feeling at that moment? What will be their next move? What is their motivation?
• How do I want my audience to feel when interacting with my piece? What components can I engineer to forward that?

Then once you know your storyline, try to leave it open-ended a bit, allowing the audience to continue it with their own imaginations. In other words, try not to put a period at the end of that sentence but an ellipsis. We want their imagination to kick in, drawing them into our piece to provoke their curiosity and to build more onto our story in their own way. In turn, they can make your story their own story so your piece then becomes unforgettable in their mind, part of their own life experience. And that’s how we build a more impactful impression, by making your story their story, too, and now we’ve made that essential connection so intrinsic to great art.

Conclusion 

If you want your work to “pop,” it’s not just the skill, talent, and workmanship that will do that for you — those are givens we need to have in our work anyway. Nope. The bottom line is this: You’ve simply got to have your work move people, to remind them why they love equines in the first place. And what helps to do that for you are the narratives you inject into your work. Do that, and you’re going to grab people’s souls with each piece and touch their hearts and captivate their minds, and that’s the equine art that sticks with people the longest. We love equines so very much, they’re magic to us, and it’s through our narratives then that we tap into that magic to compel folks to cherish that love all the more.

Injecting narratives into our work is also a lot of fun. Truly, when we focus our communication onto backstories, messages, awarenesses, questions, and whatnot, somehow our creative excursions become all the richer and more compelling. In turn, this is how infusing narratives adds a ton of more meaning to our creativity, punching up our Voice and making our work far more unique, compelling, and authentic. In turn, narratives can also fire up our inspirations all the more only because we’ll be tapping into what our creative drives actually have to say other than “bay rabicano PAM.” And yes, we can inject narrative into even a paintjob by using tone, effect, and expression to lend mood, moment, and charisma to the piece. So narrative works on every level of our work, making it infinitely versatile and adaptive.

So create your story, be expressive and show action and moment in your work. Your equines have a story to tell so set them up in the best way to tell it. But allow them to leave it open-ended so the audience can imagine more of that imaginary world on their own. So dig deep and dare to explore your own imagination and what you have to say through your art — then say it, using the glorious horse as your Muse. Or going even a step further, you can depict the world from the equine's point of view, delving into the essence of horsedom to advocate for and affirm the agency of the animal.

Now all this isn't to say to anthropomorphize your subjects. In equine realism, we have to stick to natural equine nature and coordination. Instead, it's to suggest that speaking from the animal's point of view or telling a story of the equine has a lot more power than just "bay rabicano PAM." That imbuing a living, soulful personality and storied moment into our piece can project it beyond simply what it is, capturing the audience's sensibilities so much more effectively. Indeed, all the brilliant technical achievement in the world still falls short of its potential if it can't also capture our hearts in a meaningful way. 

So consider creating your work based on narratives rather than a representational focus all the time. Indeed, if narrative can help our art grab more people more effectively, why not? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! In fact, even the very best portraiture work seeks to be more than “this is Jane Doe” by capturing the personality, moment, impact, and weight of the individual in life, right? Put another way, it seeks to grab the essence of the individual than simply their likeness, and we can do that with our equine realism, too. So give it a whirl and see what your inspirations concoct in response! It could be that you strike a hidden well of creative magic inside you that will bump up your work to unforeseen heights of meaning! And what better way to connect through your art than that?

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way—things I had no words for.”

— Georgia O’Keeffe

Neigh-rative: The Secret Ingredient To Emotive Equine Art