Ringo - Horse Portrait Painting by Andrew Hunt

Ringo - Irish Thoroughbred
Horse Portrait painting by Andrew Hunt

(Acrylic on board)
Jim from Southern Ireland got in contact to discuss commissioning a portrait of his wife's great love - her horse of course!
As it stood, he had just a few photos of Ringo. However, having emailed them over to me, they just weren't of a suitable quality to use as reference. So, with the distance being too far for me to visit on this occasion, it was down to Jim to have a go at taking some more pics whilst his wife wasn't around.
I gave Jim some basic guidelines on how to approach photographing the horse, and with the able assistance of a good friend, he spent a day taking lots of shots, supplying me with a wide range of options.
With the decision of whether a close-up or full body was preferred yet to be made, I mocked up three different potential compositions for the painting, for Jim to make his choice from.
With minor tweaks to the layout, he choose a composition that was in fact, halfway between the two.

The owner's response:
"Well done it’s awesome!!! You are truly amazing - Ringo is there in all his full glory and character, and Harriet just loves it - we didn’t quite get tears, but we did achieve awe, delight and social media frenzy!
Andrew, the colours and texture you have achieved are incredible."
Jim
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The two alternative compositions - one close up, and one full body are shown below. The lead collars wouldn't have been included in the actual painting.