Animal Portrait: Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales
As someone who recently built himself a bar in the basement after retiring from a 30+ career at Anheuser-Busch, it's safe to say that my dad (OK, mostly my mom) has filled the room with decorations inspired by this company, whether it be a giant A and eagle or 99 bottles of beer on the wall. Now that I think about it, I should probably be upset that it took this long for them to come to me to add my touch to the room.
I suppose I could have drawn a dalmatian if I had wanted to stick to the dogs that I am usually drawing to represent the company, but no matter how much poise that dog has atop the wagon, he/she will always play second fiddle to the giant horses pulling him/her around. If you're from St. Louis then you understand how excited watching the Clydesdales trot around Busch Stadium is on opening day. Everyone else probably doesn't understand our enthusiasm seeing as it's pretty much like watching an inching NASCAR race with only one participant, but those horses are majestic darn it!
Now back to the point. Long story short, my parents and I took a trip out to see these giant beasts at Grant's Farm in order to take some reference photos, and after fawning over the commercial actor Stan (he was the colt in this Superbowl commercial), we finally got around to taking some photos of the grown-ups in between petting them and making sure they weren't trying to eat my hair. They have "horses may bite" signs for a reason! Which is how this drawing came about.
Goodness, so much for long story short. Sorry about that!
Reference Photos:
Paper Used: Strathmore Premium Recycled Drawing Paper (400 Series) cut to 11×14″.
Prismacolor Colored Pencils:
Dark Umber – PC947
Sienna Brown – PC945
Rosy Beige – PC1010
Ginger Root – PC1084
Peach Beige – PC1085
Deco Peach - PC1013
Cream – PC914
Dark Green - PC908
Olive Green - PC911
Apple Green - PC912
Pale Sage - PC1089
Tuscan Red – PC937
Henna - PC1081
Sky Blue Light - PC1086
Black – PC935
90% Cool Grey – PC1067
50% Warm Grey – PC1054
30% Warm Grey – PC1052
White – PC938
Time Spent: 35 hours and 49 minutes.
Up Next: Currently I am trying to find a good looking dog to be the subject of a portrait I will be donating to Art Unleashed, a fundraiser being put on by No Kill Columbia MO in the hopes of raising enough money to build a new spay/neuter clinic. I know that's enemy territory for this KU graduate, but it's a good cause.
Until next time! Lauren H.
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