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Sketches and ramblings of a legendary nerd

How to draw tang (t'ang) dynasty horses

18/12/2015

2 Comments

 
Ceramic horses are some of the finest examples of equine art to have survived out of Asia. When it comes to drawing historic horses, the Han and T'ang dynasties are my personal favorites, because of the popularity of tomb sculptures. 
Historic Horse Sculpture, China tomb horse
This horse is ready to carry his owner through the afterlife. Collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art

With the establishment of the silk road, horses become serious status symbols. Horses quickly become the badges of wealth and power for the upper-class Chinese. 
​
Chinese historic horse detail
Chinese historic tomb horse - detail

HOw to Draw Horses - STep by step

Step 1: Shapes are your friends. 
Picture
Step 2: Flesh out your lines. I like to add a little shapely idea of what tack might go where at this stage. If you draw lightly, it'll be easier to erase in Step 3.
Picture
Step 3: Sketching in the lines and details. Horses of ye-old china were short, stocky beasts until the heavenly horses show up. Even then, nature is going to favor the tough.  
Picture
If you're interested in a general, handy-dandy-save-the-world-cheat-sheet on historic horses of China, you can check out this page from htdhorses.com
2 Comments
Marcus
2/4/2017 10:33:20

Pls ...do you know any assistance. STUFF .for me to prepare to do a sculpture of Tang horse in clay or plaster.
Ie how to get proportions....metal armeture....weight saving forms

Cheers

Reply
Jess link
5/4/2017 15:30:16

Hi Marcus. For sure! We have more references and photos of Tang dynasty horses than you could ever want to encounter. If you're going sculpty clay, then wire and foil are your friends. (And cheap!) If you're thinking to use paper mache or plaster, newspaper and tape are a cheap as chips way to bulk up your sculpture.

Let me hunt up some information for you.

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