Discover what’s in store for this course and get acquainted with your instructor’s extensive background and expertise in drawing horses.
Drawing Horses with Terryl Whitlatch
Creature Art Teacher Course
Learn the anatomy, movement, and spirit of horses.
In this extensive course, renowned creature designer and animal artist Terryl Whitlatch teaches her approach to drawing horses through anatomy, gesture, movement, and observation.
You’ll study skeletal structure, muscles, proportions, locomotion, heads, legs, hooves, foals, and expressive horse drawing techniques through detailed demonstrations and lectures.
Horse Anatomy
Animal Drawing
Locomotion Studies
With Terryl Whitlatch
Animal Drawing
Locomotion Studies
With Terryl Whitlatch
Horse Anatomy Studies
Learn skeletal structure, muscle groups, proportions, heads, legs, hooves, and the forms that define believable horse anatomy.
Movement & Locomotion
Study gesture, balance, gait cycles, and locomotion to better understand how horses move and carry weight.
Drawing Demonstrations
Follow Terryl through lectures and drawing demonstrations focused on observation, construction, and expressive animal drawing.
Meet Terryl Whitlatch
Learn from acclaimed creature designer and animal artist Terryl Whitlatch, known for her work on Star Wars, The Lion King, and Disney Imagineering.
Lessons
01 Horse Species and Anatomy Overview
Explore the horse family tree and its classification, and gain fascinating insights into the unique biological traits that define these animals.
02 Horse Skeleton Overview
Using human skeletal analogies, Terryl introduces her “construction drawing” method to help you understand the horse’s underlying bone structure.
03 Schematic of Horse + Rider Relationship
Draw the horse’s skull and full schematic to deepen your understanding of their anatomy and how it relates to the rider.
04 Demo: Drawing the Full Skeleton
Follow along as Terryl draws the complete horse skeleton in detail, exploring why skeletal knowledge is essential for character designers and how it varies across different horse groups.
05 Drawing Horse Muscles Demo
Learn to identify and draw the horse’s surface musculature, bringing the underlying skeleton to life with form and volume.
06 Horse Concept and Character Design
Terryl shares her design philosophy for creating horse characters, revealing how environment shapes their forms, and analyzes real examples from animation to inspire your own designs.
07 Storyboard Breakdown: Super Bowl AD
Go behind the scenes as Terryl walks through her storyboard for a Budweiser Super Bowl commercial from the 90s.
08 Believable Flying Horses
Discover Terryl’s approach to designing a convincing flying horse, grounded in how real physics would shape its form and movement.
09 Horse Anatomy: Drawing Dynamic Poses
Deepen your understanding of horse musculature with a focused look at the legs, bringing greater accuracy and energy to your dynamic poses.
10 Drawing Horse Anatomy: Rear View
Explore the musculature of the horse’s neck, tail, and back from the rear perspective, and learn to draw the underside of a hoof.
11 Review Session: Terryl’s Drawings
Continue learning about differences and similarities between horses families, while exploring Terryl’s sketches.
12 Horse Locomotion
Analyze the horse’s natural gaits: walk, trot, and run; alongside various jumping movements to bring authentic motion to your drawings.
13 Coloring the Forest Unicorn Part 1
Get introduced to Terryl’s digital painting workflow, starting with laying down a solid base color as the foundation for your forest unicorn.
14 Coloring the Forest Unicorn Part 2
Continue refining your digital painting by adding shadows and highlights to build convincing volume and depth.
Bonus Tip: Crestwood Miniatures
Terryl recommends Crestwood Miniatures as a great source for 3D printed horse models.
Bonus Video: Zebras
Discover the fascinating story of a zebra family that vanished into extinction and the remarkable efforts to bring it back to life.
