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 How to draw a horse

Materials used:
Pencils - H, F, B, 2B, 4B, 6B
Paper - Strathmore 100lb. sketch paper
Erasers and sharpeners

The Head

(FIG. 1) - I began with an H pencil and drew the complete outline of the horse. Your focus in the beginning should be correct proportions, and not major details. Draw everything once than continue to go over as many times as you feel comfortable until everything appears to be where it should. Is the head lining up correctly with the neck, are the eyes in the correct spot in proportion to the ears. These are the sorts of things you want to complete in the first stages of the drawing. 

(FIG. 2) - Now that I'm comfortable everything is in proportion, I've moved onto filling in the details. Focus on shading that is lighter than it should be. You don't want to go as dark as possible in the beginning stages. It will be to difficult to fix your mistakes later if something isn't right and you've gone too dark. Begin pulling out some of th minor details as this point but don't focus on perfection. You'll have gone over the same details 3-4 times before finished. Setting the minor details correctly will occur in the last stages of shading. 

(FIG. 3) - I've now added a second layer of shade to the face and pulled out more details in the process. By this point I've grown confident that all the details are in proportion and have added darker shades. There is no turning back at this point.

(FIG. 4) - Notice how the neck has some minor details being pulled out but that there are also spots where no detail has been filled in at all.

(FIG. 5) - Here is a full view of the head and neck. I continue to focus on those areas and leave the horses mane until the end.

(FIG. 6) - After a final layer of shading to the face and neck I'm now ready to draw the mane. Notice the patch on his back at the end of his neck is left untouched. This is because some of the mane moves into his body. It's ok to complete some areas before even starting others.

(FIG. 7) - This is the completed drawing of the head, neck and mane. It turned out excellent. In total I've added four layers of shading, each time becoming more precise with the details.

The Driver

(FIG. 8) - This is the intial drawing of the driver. Again, worry about proportion only and not fine details when beginning. When you're confident you've reached that point you can move onto the shading. Don't be overly perfectionistic about the precise proportions however. Once they appear to be where they are begin moving into shading. If something is not 100% correct, you'll be able to fix it with each layer of shading added.

(FIG. 9) - I approached this area by shading what had the fewest details first.

(FIG. 10) - By this point I've added a light layer of detail. I continue to use my H pencil knowing I'll have to erase areas of shading I'm currently adding. If you get to focused on making it perfect the first time, you'll get drawers block. It's happened to me many times. Be sure to add the shading as it appears but remember you'll be able to fix mistakes later.

(FIG. 11) - You can see with the driver I'm now beginning to add more detail as well as a darker shade. With the second layer of shading I've increased the darkness of my pencil from an H to a B. It's not a huge jump but will still allow me room for erasing inevitable mistakes in shade or proportion.

(FIG. 12) - The third layer of shading is now added. By this point I know everything is where it needs to be and I'm ready to pull out the final details and go as dark as I need to.

(FIG. 13) - Almost complete! I've used my 6B pencil to finish the darkest parts to the helmet and finished the shading of the glasses. Now just have to add the final details to the helmet.

(FIG. 14) - Done!

The Midsection and Legs

(FIG. 15) - Again, this is the beginning stage of the drawing. I've broken it down this way to show how each section advanced through the stages. No fine details here. I'm only focused on getting the proportions correct.

(FIG. 16) - Once I'm confident the proportions are correct I can begin lightly shading areas which stand out most, or require the least amount of detail. Go light with your pencil. I used an H pencil for the initial layer of shading. Don't get hyper focused on fine details at this point. Draw them in and worry about making them as good as possible after each layer of shading.

(FIG. 17) - I've continued shading the areas where there is little detail. Shading as much as possible early on will help you better envision how the drawing is progressing, if everything is in proportion and where you might need to correct.

(FIG. 18) - Notice how I've continued to shade everything with the same lightness (H pencil). I have used my 2B pencil to highlight dark areas where I have no concern of detail or darkness.

(FIG. 19) - This shot is to emphasize the darker shading from the lighter. Everything was done with a lighter shade because I knew I had to pull out more details later on. However the black streak on the leg would remain black no matter what, so it was ok to go ahead and make it as dark as needed.  

(FIG. 20) - This shot is to emphasizes the different shading I used despite not having some areas drawn at all. I personally find it best to pull out as much detail as possible to help me visualize where I am and where the drawing is going. 

(FIG. 21) - This is a close up view of Fig.20. There are only two layers of shading done at this point. I've chosen to work from the back to the front because it seemed less daunting. I felt the most difficult part of drawing the horse was giving the appearances of vains and sweat, which was mostly concentrated in the front legs and midsection of the horse.

(FIG. 22) - This is a pull back from Fig.21 to show you the areas I've left lightly shade or not shaded at all. You can see by this point there are two to three different layers of shading laid down in some parts.

(FIG. 23) - I've added a second (and in some places a third) layer of shading and pulled out more details throughout the body of the horse. It's looking very good and I'm ready to apply the final layer. 

(FIG. 24) - The final layer is added and the details look fantastic!

(FIG. 25) - Now it's time to tackle the track and the last part of the drawing. I don't approach this any differently than any other part of the horse. Find the main aspects of the track that jump out at you and lightly shade those so you can set your proportion and reference points.

(FIG. 26) - I've chosen to draw the background of the track first. Much of it appeared blurry in the photograph so I wasn't concerned with fine details. I pulled out what appeared to be the darkest areas first and shaded in the background. Because the background was blurry in the photograph I than rubbed what I had drawn with a tissue to give it the appearance of blurriness. I didn't want anything to appear to be sharp or crisp.

(FIG. 27) - Added much of the detail to the track, pulled out the blacks in the background and went dark where I felt comfortable enough to do so.  

(FIG. 28) - Here is the completed look of the front of the track. 

 (FIG. 29) - A close up of the back of the track and the dirt being kicked up by the horse.

 (FIG. 30) - The final product!