People who know me well, know that I have a lifelong love for horses. Horses were some of the first subjects I drew as a young girl, and I’ve been drawing them ever since. I’ve had my equine illustrations published in clients’ books, in ads, and graced anything I have the opportunity to draw on.

So when my friend asked if I could draw a cartoon illustration of a horse for the Australian stud farm she works for, I jumped at the offer.

Bringing the Idea to Life: The Creative Process

I always like to start with free movement, picking bold colors and tapping into my creative vision. Much like the writing process, I start by just getting my ideas down, then refine, edit, and embellish.

Initial composition sketch (left) and pencil sketch to get general form for the horse.

To develop my golfing horse, I looked at photos supplied of the stallion, as well as a wide variety of Google Image searches. For a reference on form and shape, I looked at golfers, golfing horses, rearing horses, strong golfers (the horse needed to look buff), and photos of All Too Hard (the stud featured).

Once I had the horse’s basic form down, I began developing the background.

The golf hole needed to look incredibly hard, and we wanted to have a little fun with it. Through online research of “the hardest golf holes” I noticed that the golf courses that showed up often had drop-offs and were along sheer cliffs and water. Also, they featured greens that were isolated from the fairway. I played with these ideas, working to best use the limited space I had based on the end product’s dimensions.

I loved the client’s idea of sharks, and thought having water would break up the green of the hole and add some nice visual interest. I wanted to make the hole look really far away, hard, playful, and a still have a sense of realism. These were golfers that would be seeing the sign, and I wanted them to immediately relate to the image. I dropped some of the early ideas that were a bit outlandish, for a simpler look and feel.

At this point, I moved on to inking the illustration and refining the details. For this type of project, rather than use pen and paper, I switched to my digital artboard. I use a Microsoft Surface Pro and Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud for this stage. The great thing about this method is that I can essentially use my hand drawn sketch as an outline to trace with the digital pens. Also, when working digitally it is much easier to make adjustments and fix any errors.

Design proofs sent to client for review. Included a very quick colorization to better bring to life my vision for the project.

Before each new stage of the project, I always send the design to my client for review. By including them in the creative process it helps ensure that my art aligns with their vision. Even though sometimes it is tempting to just forge ahead, by pausing to send it over for review I am able to save time over the course of the project by making changes at easy-to-adjust times.

“Great job! It looks terrific, great composition and drawing. Awesome.”

– Vinery Stud, Client – 

For this, I used the technique I learned from Aaron Blaise at the Adobe Max Creativity Conference. First, I laid down solid colors, blending as necessary. Then I used various Photoshop settings and layers to add the shadow and highlights, which adds a nice depth to the illustration.

The Final Illustration and Design

This was a great project to work on, combining my passion for horses and my knowledge as a golfer, and the best part was my client loved it.

I also found that it helped me tap into the fun surrounding the work I do. The topic, and the fact that I was working with one of my best friend’s company, made it instantly enjoyable. But I am going to keep that mental state with me for future projects, because it really showed in the quality of the work, the ease of ideas, and the quickness of completion.

~ZieBee

Looking for a custom illustration or design? Get in touch to see how I can bring your idea to life!

Project Notes

Tools Used: Sketchbook and Pen & Pencils, Microsoft Surface Pro, Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud.

Skills Used: Project development, bringing the client’s ideas to life. Sketching, conceptualizing, and ensuring the client knew what I was working on (especially important for virtual projects). Digital artwork and design, as well as creating a print-ready file. 

Client: Vinery Stud, based out of Scone, NSW, Australia

Timeframe: From start to finish, completed in a month to meet their print deadline.

About the Author & Artist

Hello, my name is Mackenzie and I am a multipassionate fusion creative. I love animals, the great outdoors, and creating long lasting, deep connections with the people in my life. It is my goal in life to spread love and laughter, and to help brighten the world one moment at a time. My art, photography, writing, and creative projects bring me great joy to create, curate, and share.

If you have a story to tell, want to start a business, or simply want some new photos taken or new art in your life, please get in touch, I would love to work with you.