I’m absolutely not horsey, so the hardest part of this job for me is drawing horses. They’re surprisingly hard. Thelwell nailed it, especially the cute ponies, but for Horse & Hound I’m more likely to be drawing a thoroughbred, and I don’t want to offend anyone.
There’s a truism I have to get across, even more than for humans. You can have more fun with people, whereas I can’t just do a goofy cartoon of a top Olympic horse; I need to be more respectful. Readers will notice inaccuracies.
I don’t pretend to understand horses; it’s an enormous field. But Thelwell wasn’t horsey either. You just have to have feeling. We go racing a bit at Beverley and I’m always looking at the people. For an outsider, the horse world is full of amazing stereotypes – there’s the rural horsey type, the townie racegoer, there’s so much in there.
For me it’s a whole new and very visual world with all the different disciplines, the characters, the props, situations and different backcloths.
This story is from the July 09, 2020 edition of Horse & Hound.
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This story is from the July 09, 2020 edition of Horse & Hound.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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