HOME | DD
EmpressIllyria — Wind beneathe my Wings
Published: 2008-02-02 18:00:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 4441; Favourites: 70; Downloads: 628
Redirect to original
Description
Status: CONCEPTUAL(to become a painting at a later date)
I sketched this out yesterday morning (time approx: 20 minutes) as I felt strangely compelled to do so for a future painting.
This image is one that has been in my minds eye for some years now, and the idea was concieved (or the Muse struck me) when I was riding my beloved mare along the roadside with a friend and she asked me to do something for her. After it had finnished she described this vision of large wings sprouting from my back and my black mare and I taking off to the heavens. As she this image solidified to my consiousness, like the reveal of somethings deliberate approach through a shadowed mist... clear as day to my mind what it was.
I get this vision in my mind every time I happen to hear the song "Trapping Angels" by Tori Amos, and think about the deeply personal meaning that song has for me. In fact a collection of lyrical images flashes through my mind when I contemplate the lyrical content of that song... visions painted in both sight and sound, the words that arrange themselves into invocations of evokative scenes involving "worlds of torment, and UN-NAMABLE beauty" that angels fall, or can have their wings broken, cut, or bound in some way to somehow render these heavenly beings into something far LESS than they truly are.
The Angel from another world, trapped and held captive in this one... mutilated and tormented and forced to endure indignities too depraved to ever speak of... the weight of what she must feel... and then the escape for a moment in the flight -without wings- of the black Arabian mare... for in Ancient Arabia it was always the MARE who was considered to have worth beyond price and was never for sale, and it was always the MARE and NOT the Stallion who was rode to war! And of all horses, some of which may be faster than the Arabian, there is no denying that the Arabian was bred to be swift and tireless as well as light of foot... for it is of this breed alone that history has said they are to "Fly without wings". The wind made flesh...
and the wind beneathe MY wings.
Related content
Comments: 8
Another sketch that I've wanted to comment on...the horse and rider...they seem so comfortable and fitting together. Is the horse of andalusian or spanish breeding of some sort? I know you had your arab mare in mind at first, but it seemed a bit more baroque stallion type. The way these two are portrayed together, it makes me think of how I want to draw my two characters. I love the anatomy, especially the hair (I don't care if hair is exaggerated somewhat, though this seems very natural and pretty to tell the truth.) and although much of the linework isn't complete, I can't wait to see the finished version judging from what's there so far. Please keep up with the good work like this; this pic is one of my favorites from your gallery. ^_^
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
We all tend to see what we want to see, but conformationally it is very definately an Arabian, for a Baroque or Iberian horse you would see a longer face with a much larger muzzle, a wider front end, lower set to the tail, and higher neck carriage if we were going for conformational accuracy to breed charicter. A CORRECT Arabian is actually not too teribly far removed from the ideal conformation to the classical riding and actually does "frame up" and pull together an ideal siluette with the connecting curved lines, espeically in neck carriage, as well as the elevated knee action which alot of people seem to associate with the Baroque breeds. But she (the mare) actually does have the distinctive Arabian breed trademarks clearly in the linework already. Take note of the tapered head, small muzzle which fits neatly between the spacing of large eyes, also note the lines of a dished face even from the angle of view, the curved neck which is set foward to aproximately a 50-70 degree angle (to a proper Baroque style it would be completely verticle from the wither) and highly set tail carried well into the air... in the Baroque style the hindquarter would have a more goose rump with the tail comming out low rather than set up on the rear...
I should do a sketch of that actually...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmm....now that I look back at it, I see what you mean about the high tail set and the tapered muzzle, though I also thought part of the high tail set might be from the horse's movement. I was kind of thinking of the chest and body being more solid than that I expected from an arab...maybe it is due to the front bodied view, and that I had to comment quick before cutting my cpu. It might also be because I expect that many people tend to place arab features in their character figures to make then more appealing in some senses, much like horse breeding today tends to steer body types to be more like this. In truth, I am likely biased in this matter, since I love anything that features baroque horses in it, and seeing a horse in a more collected pose does tend to skew me to think baroque, but now that I look more carefully, I see what you mean. The correct angulation of the neck and tail setting is something I'm not particularly experienced with actually, so I won't act as if I'm quite as familiar with exact measurements. But I will say that regardless how it is seen, perhaps you can be pleased to say it evokes the ideal image for an individual's beliefs? I wouldn't mind seeing a sketch of the different features of both breed types, especially since its hard for some artists to show such features true to life (Including me..XD). In any case, this sounds as if it would also be an interesting work, and I'd be glad to see it! I didn't know that much about arab type being expected to confirm some degree to classical riding as well...guess you learn new things every day, I suppose. ^_^
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
My great love has always been the Arabian horse, so to that end I always admit my own bias... I admire and adore them. But I also have a great love of the admirable qualities of other breeds, and the Iberian horses have a great many qualities deserving of exaltation. I've worked with Iberians (Lusitano, Andalusian, Alter Real, Criollo) and Friesians, as well as their crosses (I own a Hispano-Arabe and a Luso-Arabe, and have always adored that cross, as well as currently working with "Arabo-Friesians" which are the current rage in Europe and will likely become a thing here fairly soon... one of my clients is breeding a number of them) and I have always celebrated their beauty as well.
On the classical riding aspect of Arabians however, remember that the Arabian was used to "IMPROVE" the vast majority of most of the modern horse breeds at some point, this includes the Andalusian and Lusitanos (although it is very very long ago in their case) and also remember that the Spanish Riding School uses exclusively Lippizan horses, and they are HEAVILY influenced by Arabian blood, infact the majority of their top performing horses carry the name "Siglavy" (which is a deviation on the classical Arabian bloodline of "Saklawi"... which has countless spellings but phonetically sounds pretty much the same any way you spell it) to denote that they are descended from the sire line of an Arabian horse named Siglavy, who was one of the breeds foundation sires. Lippizans from the official stud farm at Piber are traditionally named with a combination of the sires name and the mothers name to track the bloodlines... so for example "Siglavy Flora" would be out of a Siglavy line stallion and a mare named Flora. If you look at the shoulder conformation, topline, and upper leg angulation of most performing Lippizanners, they are the very same angles of a well bred Arabian.
Another note to the quality of Arabian conformation is their contributions to the modern day warmbloods. Many warmblood registries still employ Arabian blood (the Trekehner is thought of in most circles as the "PERFECT" warmblood, and they are frequently HALF Arabians, as many Arabian's are invited to their inspections and pass easily... several of mine among them actually).
Anyway, the main reason you dont see a whole lot of purebreds making marks of quality is simply silly human pollitics, and bias based on "breed reputation" rather than actual standards or results. As I said to someone else in the comments, I own a mare who universally changes everyone's mind who meets her... the most jaded ANTI-Arabian people fall completely under her spell... horses like her are rare, but she represents all that is so celebrated about the classical Arabian, and its enduring quality is much the same now as it was back in history.
I should also mention that I am not above the "artistic liscence" when it comes to exagerating the traits one wants emphesized in my artwork, if you look through my gallery here or any of my sketchbooks you will see all kinds of "EXTREME" modern type Arabians with that ULTRA-refined and "Impressionistic" look about them. But I am also a firm believer in the "less is more" approach, and that when something begins to approach a state of perfection... such as certain individuals always will... there is simply no way to improve it and in those cases "less is more". You dont want to cover it up or distract attention away from it in any way because it is that sublime all on its own... (this is often how I feel about a couple of my prized mares... you dont want to help "Decorate" them at all, because the "deccoration" only takes your attention away from the absolute spelndor of their natural brilliance... some need all the help they can get, and some simply radiate beauty all on their own!)
👍: 0 ⏩: 0