Here's an important shift: don't look at the photo — look at the horse.
A photo is an interpretation — it captures a moment, a light, a certain energy.
But what we, as artists, want to capture is the living horse behind that image.

 

Try to imagine what it was doing before, what it will do after. Does it feel the warmth of the sun, the breeze in its mane? Dive into its body, its movement, let a story emerge.
It doesn't matter if your imagination is “true”: this intention will guide your line and bring life to your drawing. And most importantly, you make this horse your own, rather than copying the photo.

 

Much of this happens unconsciously, because your hand will never exactly reproduce what your mind has imagined.
Staying open to what emerges on the page is key: the intention to see the horse differently opens a field of possibilities and enriches your practice.

1. Choose a horse photo you like.
2. Observe it for a few minutes, focusing on the horse, not the image — its body, its gaze, its energy.
3. Draw it from this observation.
4. For comparison, do it again with another photo, but without this immersion in the horse.