Special Effects: How to Create Tricky Aspects of Horse Color for Beginners Part II

Introduction to Part II

Welcome back to this six-part series geared for beginner level painting techniques. Hey, we all started as beginners and in our art form, they could sure use a leg up since they have to compete directly against pros right out of the gate, for the most part. It’s a good idea then to share with them any tidbit of insight that could jumpstart their progress because you just never know where the next superstar will come from, the next artist who leads our art form into the future with bold new strokes! So with that, let’s just dive into this Part II with gusto…let’s go!…

Flesh Tones

Flesh tones are used for any areas of pink skin such as markings or mottling on the muzzle, eye, or ear, or other areas characterized by thin skin which can also include the flank, girth area, groin, etc. For example, some painters pink the elbow, flank, groin, between the lateral cartilages of the foot, and sometimes the cannon tendon areas. Just remember that pinking denotes unpigmented skin under a white marking. For instance, grey horses tend to have dark skin, so don’t pink those areas on a grey horse.

However, flesh tones are notoriously difficult for beginners to mix because it’s a delicate balance of colors that, if mixed incorrectly, can become too red, too yellow, too orange, too pink, or even too brown. So a quick and easy way to mix up a versatile flesh tone is to combine Burnt Sienna and Titanium White. Just don't make it too dark as a medium-light tone for your darkest shadings is more than adequate. Then use whites to create highlight colors or to blend the flesh tones into the white areas. You can even play around with a teeny bit of Burnt Umber mixed in if you want to mute it or add some extra dimension to the darkest areas.

Now to make a classic home-brew flesh tone is trickier but learnable. Basically, it entails a red, a yellow, a blue, and a white, and you can mute it with a touch of Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna. Different reds and yellows, blues and whites will yield different variations of flesh tones, so play around with a variety of colors to find a combination you prefer or what matches your references best. Now this is more time-consuming and touchy approach, so really practice and experiment with it, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a great way to create an accurate flesh tone.

There are three things you want to avoid. First, don’t create an off-tone such as a flesh that too red, too yellow, too orange, too pink, or too brown. Your flesh color really does need to be on target as closely as possible to read correctly, so practice at it. Second, don’t work blind. Always use good reference photos when painting flesh. This is because flesh tones vary in life and it’s okay to convey that variety in your body of work, so have fun with it. And third, try not to make your pinking “too hot.” Keep it subtle and soft so it remains looking fleshy and organic rather than "too much." Often times a hint is better than a hammer when it comes to pinking areas not on the face or groin.

Eyes

Eyes are truly the “windows to the soul,” making the ability to realistically paint a horse’s eye pretty important for recreating that inner spark of life in our pieces. The equine eye is also supremely expressive, revealing changes in mood, nuances of emotion, and points of attention so it can also be important for our narrative. Plus, we’re a visual species that interact through visual stimuli so much so that even mere eye contact is powerful unspoken communication. So when painting an eye, think of it this way: You’re engineering eye contact between your piece and the viewer. Really, the eye will be one of the first things a viewer keys in on to be enticed and charmed on an instinctive level. Through the eye then, the artist can instill a sense of a soul to trick the mind into suspending belief and, for a split second, interpret the piece as a living, breathing animal. But the stakes are high. Because, on the other hand, a clumsily painted eye produces quite the opposite effect. We’ve all seen these types of disquieting eyes…the lifeless stare or the possessed glare, or just as bad, the lack of precision or "cleanliness"? We want to avoid all of that.

But painting the eye is tricky business, indeed! There’s just so much going on in such a tight space, it’s easy to get lost in the process. But with a bit of technique and understanding, it’s all very doable. But let’s talk a bit about eye structure first so we know what we’re painting. The basic structures of the equine eye are:

• Cornea and Aqueous Chamber: Forms the obvious round shape of the eye. 
• Sclera: Comprising approximately 75% of the globe, it’s the white portion that comes into view when the horse rotates their eye. All muscles responsible for moving the eyeball within the socket attach to the sclera. It has a blood supply so it often has vascular details, and sometimes a mottled pigmentation around the iris. In fact, some sclera can be brown colored around the iris, so always use good references when painting eyewhites.
• Iris: The colored tissue surrounding the pupil that constricts or dilates the pupil to accommodate light intensities. It's the brown, rust, icy, blue, green, hazel, or amber portion of the eye we paint.
• Lens and Pupil: The pupil is the hole for light to penetrate. It appears clear, dark, or “mirrory” in normal light, and is a rectangular-ish oval in the horse, in normal lighting. The lens has tiny muscles to change its shape to alter focusing abilities at different distances. In short, it's that black dot we paint in the middle of the iris. 
• Nigra Bodies (or corpora nigra or granula iridica): Normal in horses, these small dark folds or bundles of tissue lay on the iris. They’re usually found on the upper part of the pupil, but sometimes on the lower part as well. They’re believed to be sunshades for the eye, guarding the lower portion of the retina from overhead sunlight during grazing. They're not often painted in because they can confuse the look of the eye itself, but they're a fun curiosity to know about.
• Extraocular muscles: Within the orbit are several muscles which attach to the sclera that move the eye within the socket, in all directions. These muscles are controlled by the cranial nerves, which come directly from the brain.
• Tapetum lucidum: Showing through the pupil, this is a reflective structure at the back of the eye that increases the light capturing ability of the retina’s photoreceptors. Visually, it glows in headlights at night, or creates what we call the “blue glint” in certain angles in daylight. Some artists paint the blue glint on their pupils with metallic blue paint.
• Nictitans membrane (third eyelid): A triangle mass of soft tissue with a T-shaped shield of cartilage embedded within it. When the lids blink, it sweeps across the orb, removing debris from the eyeball and distributing more tears. This structure is unique to the horse and only a few other animals. It's color can be fleshy, mottled, or brown, so use good references.
• Lacrimal caruncle: A small dark pad in the anterior corner of the eye that drains the excess fluids from the eye. It's usually flesh colored, but can be brown at times, so use good references.
• Upper and Lower Lids: Protecting the eye with reactionary closure, these lids shut fast and firmly. The upper lid has as straighter curve while the lower lid has a deeper curve.
• Eyelashes: Being sensitive, they can trigger a blink-reflex protecting the eye. Most sculptures don't have eyelashes often for artistic or logistical reasons, but they're fun to know about.
• Whiskers: Surrounding the eye are a few long whiskers used as feelers for eye protection. Our models typically omit the whiskers due to logistical reasons.
• Medial Canthus: Front corner of the eye, towards the nose.
• Lateral Canthus: Back corner of the eye, towards the ear.

Things to Keep in Mind about the Horse’s Eye Before Painting It:

• The pupil isn’t round, but a long oval or sometimes slightly rectangularish. Though it can dilate to become rounder, it shouldn’t resemble a human eye or dog eye.
• The pupil is set on a horizontal plane, always remaining more or less horizontal, approximately parallel to the ground regardless of head position. This is because horses have cyclovergence, or the ability to spin their orbs to keep the pupil approximately parallel to the ground to best spy potential predators. So study your references to find this nifty ability horses have — it’s cool!
• The iris is oval in shape, not round so study eyewhites in your references to replicate its shape correctly.
• Note any blotches or other discolorations, or even vascular capillaries on the sclera, all useful details. Likewise, the sclera around the iris isn’t always white. Notice how sometimes it can be various shades of brown or salmon? We’ll discuss sclera more in depth in a bit.
• The iris has striations radiating out from the pupil like bicycle spokes, like the human eye, which are especially apparent on blue eyes. On the other hand, the amber eyes of some champagne horses don’t always exhibit these striations, appearing more monochromatic, even a bit metallic.
• Note the rim of grey running around a portion of the iris, visible on many horses. This line denotes where the iris joins the peripheral cornea forming grey crescent-shaped lines on either side of the iris. These lines are called “trabeculae” and serve as drainage pathways for the aqueous humour to drain from the eye. 
• The horse has a third eyelid, located at the front corner of the eye, seen as a thin membrane that’s often brown, mottled brown, or dark pink in color. 
• The eye has a little bulb of pink flesh at the front canthus, the lacrimal caruncle that houses some tear ducts. 
• Don’t forget about the corpora nigra (black bodies) or granula iridica (iris granules) above and sometimes below the pupil. If you can swing it (which is a rare occasion), it can be a neat detail to add. Usually you have to be working on a pretty big eye to make it work well.
• Horse eyes can be many shades of brown, from amber to chocolate. They can also be various shades of blue from a pale silver grey to mottled cobalt. Greenish eyes also occur as a transition color during the lightening process of the iris with champagnes. What’s more, horses can have marbled eyes in which the blue and brown pigments are jumbled together. However, equines cannot have red eyes as true albinos like rats, rabbits, and such. This is genetically lethal in the womb for horses, so no…no red-eyed horses.

General Eye Painting Tips

• Try to paint the iris like it reflects light like a jewel. In this, when light hits the eyeball, it hits the top front of the eye and passes through and hits the iris on the opposite side in a straight line. Therefore, based on a light path that enters at the front and top of the eye, a standard placement for light, use the darkest shadings at this point of entry then use the lightest shadings directly opposite this point on the iris, just below the pupil. So in essence, shade and highlight the iris like a polished cabochon. It really makes the eye come to life and “pop” with interest and glow. It also dampens down on a possessed look often caused by a timid use of shadow and highlight. Just take care to blend the colors to achieve this gem-like quality.
• Be very precise and tidy when painting the eye and surrounding areas, everything here should be clear and decisive, not careless, wiggly, messy, or hurried. Absolute precision is your friend here. Indeed, the eye structures are very precise and so should your painting of them. Always have "clean" lines when painting eyes.
• Don’t be married to a preconceived notion of an expression because, often, the piece will dictate what looks best, despite your original intentions.
• Use a set of tiny quality brushes with very good points and longish bristles to hold a good reservoir of paint. In fact, having a dedicated set of eye-painting brushes is a good idea for this reason. Take good care of them and clean them thoroughly afterwards to avoid paint drying up by the ferrule and spreading the bristles apart.
• It’s important that your painted eyes “glow," like glass illuminated from behind. This is only achieved through a skilled use of tone and color, so keep practicing until you’ve gotten the knack of it. Indeed, that jewel-like approach is a nifty way to mimic this effect easily.
• You can paint your eyes whenever you wish…the first thing you paint or the last thing, and any time in-between. It’s up to you. Just be sure the surrounding fleshy areas are tidy, defined, and precise against the orb. Like we shouldn’t have lid color dipping onto the orb or eye color creeping up onto the lids. Keep things tidy.
• You can add metallics to the eye colors for extra punch and are particularly effective when painting the eyes of champagnes who can seem to have a metallic sheen to their irises.
• Shrink down your reference to the size of the eyeball you’re painting to get a better one-to-one comparison for guidance. This is especially helpful for painting blue eyes. (Print your references out on photo paper instead of printer paper for the best results.)
• Your paint mixtures should be on the thin side, about a 1% milk consistency. This will prevent a bumpy, lumpy, “braille” result. You want to slowly build up the layers of color and detail rather than bang it out in one go. That’s to say, you want the paint wet enough to flow well and stay put, but still be a bit blendable while not gumming up the works. Again, there’s a Goldilocks Zone of consistency so practice at it first on a junker model.
• If you want to paint in that blue glint in the pupil, simply thin down some dark blue metallic paint and paint a careful smear of that on there, staying just on the pupil. This’ll produce that “now you see it, now you don’t” blue sheen you want.
• Practice practice practice!
• (Recommended Reading: Pleasin' Peepers: Sculpting the Equine Eye)

Painting Brown Eyes

• The colors you can use are Titanium White, Burnt Umber, Blacks, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Van Dyke Brown, and Taupe (a handy softening or blending color). Adjusting these colors will create all the tones you’ll need, from amber to chocolate. 
• For a typical brown eye, paint the whole eye black (assuming you aren't inputting eyewhites). 
• Next, paint over that with a dark brown of your choice, leaving an encircling thin black rim. 
• Then lay in the pupil with black, being mindful to keep it parallel to the horizon. Also be mindful of the orb's rotation and subsequent pupil position if you intend to paint in eyewhites, too.
• Next highlight that lower back portion of the iris, opposite the point of light entry, often with Burnt Sienna mixed with some Raw Sienna for more punch, then blend. 
• Then at the point of light entry, slightly darken the area with darker shadings for more punch. Or you can do the dark areas first, it's up to you.
• Then blend the three color areas together, careful not to muddy them, staying mindful not to distort your pupil. But you can repaint your pupil if you need to.
• Add in the grey line of the trabeculae if you can see it, if your reference tells you to.
• Make adjustments so it’s all just right.
• Extra points: Add in tiny striations for added detail.
• Note: You can create amber eyes by leaning more heavily into the Raw Sienna and Taupe with a touch of Titanium White to create your gold tones.

Blue Eyes

Blue eyes are indeed arresting, but if done improperly, are notorious for looking possessed. To that end, some important tips to remember about blue eyes are:

• Blue eyes aren’t dependent on face markings or pinto patterns so much. In fact, they can occur with little to no overlaying markings whatsoever. In turn, bald face markings can have brown eyes or even marbled eyes. So it all depends on an individual’s genetics so work from a good, reliable reference. 
• Blue eyes come in a wide variety of tones in from blue-grey to silver blue-grey to a slate blue to navy blue to denim blue to even a brilliant turquoise. There’s so much variation! So aways — always — use good reference photos when painting a blue eye. A great reference is your best friend in this! To that end, follow that reference religiously in terms of tone and structures otherwise your blue eye won’t be so convincing. 
• Shade the blue eye using the same gemstone, cabochon method used on brown eyes to actively avoid a flat, lifeless, staring effect.
• Observe the details of variation. Like note that the bluer the eye, what tends to happen is that the blue patches become more pronounced and numerous as do the mottling and streaks. In other words, notice how the iris usually doesn’t become bluer by monochromatic intensity, but by the bolder mottling, striations, streaks or patches? One of the biggest mistakes in creating a very blue eye is to make it a homogenous strong blue color which usually results in a staring, possessed look.
• Blue eyes just have a lot of stuff going on in a tight space so it’s important to catch as many of these details as feasibly possible, keeping scale in mind. You won't be able to catch them all because of scale, but try your best to catch what you can. For example, iris striations are easy to see on blue eyes, becoming very important details to reproduce. Also notice the dark blue line running along the circumference of the iris? Often, just to the inside this dark line, a pale grey and thicker line is sandwiched between this and the iris striations, the trabeculae. It’s details like this that will take your blue eye to the next level. 
• Know your eye structure when painting a blue eye because they all become very obvious with those pale blues.
• Be sure to match your blue tones to the blues in your reference. This is very important to create a truly believable result. Off-tone blue eyes are a common error.

Painting Blue Eyes

• To paint blue eyes, use black (warm, cool, or neutral, depending on what your reference tells you), Titanium White, and a blue that matches your reference.
• To start, find the medium blue tone in your reference and mix that color then paint the entire eye with it.
• Then take your black and boop on your pupil as precisely as you can. Now you have you basic canvas and anatomical guide. 
• Now you can approach painting a blue eye in two ways — literally or artistically, your choice. Literally is simply following your reference to the letter, and that works beautifully. Artistically, on the other hand, is shading and highlighting the iris in that gemstone manner to add dimension. I recommend painting literally when you paint your first blue eyes to get a feel for the process. Then as you gain confidence you can add some artistic touches like shading and highlight if you wish — or not, it’s not necessary. Just a matter of taste. 
• Don’t overlook the splotches, mottling, and streaks many blue eyes have, for detail.
• Expect to do a lot of back-and-forth work with painting a blue eye to get it just right, but just don’t compromise your dark pupil. Repaint it in if you have to, at the end.
• Extra points: Capture as many details as you can See, like the striations radiating out from the pupil on the iris to any striations that encircle the pupil as well.
• Note: If you wish to paint a glass eye or wall eye, simply use more white in your mixes. If you need darker blues, ease up on the whites and lean more into your blue pigment. If you need to mute the blue a little bit, think about adding a teensy dab of black to create more of a blue-grey. There’s a lot of options so play around with the possibilities and follow your reference as closely as you can. And you can paint other variations with the blue eye method as well such as green eyes which instead of using just blues, you can mix in a bit of golds or yellows to green it up a snidge for a young champagne. Experiment and see what works with your reference. An important thing to notice though is that a champagne’s green eyes tend not to have the patchiness and striations on the iris blue eyes often have since the green is a transition color. Likewise, a marbled eye is achieved by combining the brown and blue techniques onto one eye. It’s a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a wonderful touch of novelty.

Sclera

Eyewhites are created by the sclera when the orb is moved, and which lends so much expressive power in our paintwork. However, sclera isn’t always white but can be riddled with or a full spectrum of reds, pinks, browns, salmons, mochas to even some greys. This is due to the blood supply to the eye, the colors of the membranes, and how the iris blends into the sclera. Also, the border between the iris and sclera isn’t always crisp, clean and perfectly oval. Sometimes it can indeed be mottled, blended, irregular or patchy in places. Closely study eyes on living horses and in photos to get a better idea of these details. 

Tips For Painting Sclera

• Be sure that grey line of the trabeculae is present as it’s really obvious when the eye is rolled forwards or backwards, upwards or downwards. 
• Study how eyewhites vary in position and degree, depending on the horse’s different head positions, focus of interest, and expressions.
• Ironically, the less white you lean into when painting sclera, the more realistic the eye will appear whereas the more you lean into white, the more cartoony the eye will appear. So try not to to use straight white for sclera as it’s too stark. Mute it with Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna to soften it and make it more flesh-like.

Painting Sclera

• You can paint your sclera before painting the iris or afterwards, your choice. However, I recommend painting it first so you can better place your pupil later.
• Good colors to start with for painting sclera are Titanium White, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Black (warm, cool, or neutral) and Taupe.
• To start, mix Titanium White and Burnt Sienna with just a scootch of Burnt Umber together, producing a medium pale muted pink; this is your standard mix. Paint this onto the eye in the location you wish to create your target expression, staying mindful of the iris’ oval shape.
• Take a small portion of this mixture and deepen it by adding a bit more Burnt Sienna. Add this darkened color to either “tail” of the eyewhite to lend dimension. You can also add in a teensy bit of Burnt Umber or Raw Umber to this mix as well for variation.
• Take a small portion of the standard mix and lighten it by adding more Titanium White. Thin this mixture a little bit with water and paint tiny blotches or streaks in the middle, between the deeply pinked “tails.”
• If your reference calls for it, mix up some Titanium White and black to make a soft grey and add in some grey splotches…or salmon colored or brown, depending on your reference.
• Then neatly dab in the lacrimal caruncle with the appropriate color as shown by your references.
• If you wish, use a thinned deep pink mixture (Burnt Sienna and Titanium White) and mix in a bit of Burnt Umber and use this mix to delicately line the outer rim of the third eyelid, defining it. Just be careful not to create Appaloosa-like sclera on a non-appy as this might be off-type. Also, be sure to avoid making the third eyelid too exposed or large since this would indicate injury or disease. Keep it subtle and small. Again refer to your references for guidance, and be mindful of its color varieties.
• Extra points: Take a small portion of the standard mix and mix in Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber or some such color to create a burgundy-red to create little capillaries criss-crossing your sclera. Don’t go overboard, just two or three teensy ones will do. This isn’t a necessary detail as it’s not always apparent, but it’s a fun one.

You want to avoid four things when painting eyes. First, be sure to not create a “braille” eyeball with lots of brush strokes and dollops of color. Keep your paint thin enough to be smooth on the eyeball. Second, don’t be afraid to use drying retardants for your paint if they’re available. They might make your job easier, especially for acrylics. Third, keep the details on your eyeball clear and distinct so you don’t end up with a confusing mess. Precision and clean lines are your friends when painting eyes. And fourth, don’t veer off-tone with your eyes, but stay true to your reference. It’s easy to get caught up in the business of painting an eye, but stay on target by checking against your references regularly.

Conclusion to Part II

Phew, that was a giant, big ol’ bite, wasn’t it? But hopefully it was a satiating one, an amuse-bouche and full course meal all in one! But perhaps it’s becoming clear to you how important quality reference photos actually are to work from. Essentially, you’re dead in the water with out them! They’re your guides, your clues, your mentors, and your gospels to the point where your paintwork will only be as good as your best reference photo. In this way, your weakest link isn’t your developing skillset, it’s the quality of your references which is exactly why our artists typically have legions of reference photos collected over the years in ginormous personal libraries. When working in realism, good, reliable references are simply fundamental to the creation of authentic work, as important as the materials you use and the archival workmanship you apply. So put a lot of thought into what references you’re using for any given project because, yeah—it makes a monumental difference in the outcome. On that note, images generated by “AI” are always—always—inappropriate to use so avoid them like the plague. They’re simply always wrong and will make you recreate errors. Here's a good list of horse color references you can confidently use for painting, compiled by Lesli Kathman. Anyhoo, we’ll continue our exploration of more special effects in Part III. Don’t miss it!

"Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.”

— Edgar Degas 

Special Effects: How to Create Tricky Aspects of Horse Color for Beginners Part II