When I draw a horse or other animal to order, it is always an acquaintance. Even if I'm already familiar with my model.

⠀

Creating a portrait is like traveling together. A journey can be a measured walk with polite conversations, or it can be an unexpected adventure, when suddenly a lot of new things are revealed in the person who makes up the company on this journey.

⠀

Even when I can talk live and observe who I am depicting, it usually does not give the openness that manifests itself in the process of drawing. I don’t even know what mechanisms are involved here, but every time I am amazed at what I feel in the process.

⠀

It was the same with Riya. I saw her live several times and she was perceived as very reserved and closed to me. Even a little harsh. But how everything changed when we began to talk to her through the picture!

⠀

I suddenly saw a very tender mare. Thin, flowing, like the wind between the stalks of dandelions. She delicately stepped onto the canvas and began to listen to the world around her.

⠀

Riya is a representative of the Ukrainian Riding horse breed. I remember how, as a child, I liked photos of stately URH, but I never saw them live. When I grew up, representatives of this beautiful breed also somehow did not increase in my environment. But I really wanted to draw someone from the URH one day.

⠀

So this order also fulfilled my long-standing desire.

⠀

Media: canvas, oil, acrylic, gold leaf

Size: 50x70cm