Centaur

1994
Acrylic
14" x 17"

Back in the mid 90s I got on this mythology kick (mermaids, fauns, faeries, marshwiggles, etc.). Centaurs were a particular favorite. I did a number of sketches featuring centaurs; some were inspired by specific myths, others by books like Prince Caspian. Then there were those like this one that had no specific story attached to it; it just started with a sketch of a head (actually a hairstyle). I added a body, then decided to make it into a centaur. However the first version was pretty awful anatomicaly, so I found someone to model for the human portion (torso and head) and used my sister-in-law's horse for the equine portion. The only thing left from the original sketch was the hair. Both the first (failure) and second (better) versions of this piece were done with my standard ink & watercolor style. But desiring to push it further I created this third acrylic version. You can see the second (watercolor) version here.