Horses in the House!

I was recently commissioned to paint a mural of horses in a Fort Collins home. With my medical illustration background I always want to depict things accurately, so I photographed local horses, searched online, and began sketching. Here are my first sketches of horses in various positions:

With the help of Photoshop, I added solid color and arranged the horses into a preliminary design for the mural:

Using feedback from the homeowner, I sketched more horses in particular positions:

Incorporating some of these elements, I created this new composition:

With my client Joe's approval of this final sketch, I began transferring my design onto the wall. I brushed outlines of the horses with a light color, modifying the size and positions of each and darkening the outlines until I was satisfied with the final composition. Click on any small image below to pull up a slideshow:

At this point I was ready to "flesh out" the horses in full color:

I asked my medical illustrator friend Lisa -- in Denmark -- to review my paintings for anatomical correctness, and this was some helpful advice and an image she sent of one of her own horses:

"...the placement of the humerus... The point of the elbow should be close to the level of the bottom of the chest/belly..." - Lisa Engel Belhage, CSU medical illustration classmate

Finally it was time to add a background to the mural, so I presented a few different Photoshopped options for my client to choose from:

Joe's favorite was the beach scene, so that's what I painted for him.

When all of the above was done, it seemed like the mural needed something more to look complete, and the client and I agreed that clouds would add just the right touch. Here I am with the finished mural -- signed, sealed, and delivered!

Gale with completed "Horses in the House" mural

Detail of Gale's completed horse mural 2024

Again, click on any image above to pull up a slideshow. Use the left/right arrows to scroll through ALL the images in this post. Thanks for your interest! All these photos and more can be found on my website Horse Murals page.