Horse Portrait

I LOVE horses.  That’s not news, its been this way since I peed my first saddle (sorry mom).   So its only fitting my first art post to my freshly formed blog would be of a horse.   This horse is named Fizz, and is an endurance horse.   I am very interested in that sport and have joined a FB group to learn more, and this is where I found Fizz.   The photo was kindly loaned to me by the owner, who used it as her avatar. 
Why I wanted to paint this is easy—look at that expression!  And the light on her tousled mane, her deep liquid eye, and I like the endurance tack she’s wearing. 
I started this on a piece of Art Spectrum light blue paper.   sketched it out with vine charcoal, and proceeded with all brands of pastels.   its not a big piece, only 9.5x11.   But I’ve been away from my easel for a while and thought it would make a fine warm-up.