How to Draw a Chincoteague Pony Mare and Foal

Welcome to the second article in my “How to Draw” series! Since this month’s theme is Chincoteague ponies, today I will show you how to draw a Chincoteague Pony mare and foal.

Things You’ll Need

• Paper
• Pencils (A regular No. 2 is fine, but if you’ve got good drawing pencils, I recommend H, HB, 2B, and 6B)
• Eraser
• Clipboard (optional)
• Blending stump (optional) (can be substituted with wadded up tissue paper or toilet paper)

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The Drawing Process

Like before, we start with the photo we want to use. I chose this one because it had a good view of the side angle, as well as clear muscling.

First, draw your base lines. A horse is made up of simple shapes, and you can use those shapes to draw the outline of the horses. Here I drew the baselines in blue over a different horse, to give you an idea of what this looks like.

So, using the first picture, draw your base lines. Use a light pencil in the H or F range, since these can be easily erased. The knees and hocks are circles, the chest and rump like giant egg shapes, and the head is a big circle and a little circle. Take note of the foal’s pronounced forehead and long muzzle.

After you finish the base, begin outlining. Look at all the smaller details, like the mare’s pronounced underjaw, and try to make a basic outline of the body. I had to redraw the foal’s head eleven times to get it right. Also, be nice to the paper and don’t scrub the eraser too hard, otherwise it might rip. HB or 2B pencils do really well for this step. Do the mare first, then the foal.

After you’ve gotten your outline right, now it’s time to refine the details. Zoom in on the pic, look at those muscles, and use a B or 2B pencil to sketch them in. Look at the muscling around the head, eyes, and nose, and don’t forget the neck and shoulder. The foal’s muscles aren’t as defined, and the mare’s neck muscles are extremely defined. Don’t forget to add that hair on the ends of her fetlocks. This is also when you draw the mane and tail and define those pinto patches.

Finally, it’s time to erase the baselines and get coloring! I used a medium charcoal pencil, an HB pencil, and a “brown” and “medium deep almond” Crayola pencils to color in the mare and foal. Making note of the shadows in the photo, use more or less pressure to create highlights and shadows. You can also use some light hatching in the background to create an effect of sky and grass.

And there you have it!

I hoped you enjoyed this article! If you do this yourself, take a photo and send it to me by emailing eotmlistmanager@gmail.com. I’d love to see what you all come up with!