Dedicated to horse lovers everywhere, this 125-page book, The Wonderful ART of Drawing Horses, is a complete drawing course recommended for ages 8 and up. The softcover book includes 75 lessons for aspiring artists and horse lovers. The author admits that he was not a horse artist specifically until he had the opportunity to live on a farm with these magnificent creatures, which piqued his interest in designing this course.

The lessons begin with very basic sketching techniques that have the student filling in missing parts of horses, and learning size, shapes, movement, and basic anatomy of the horse. Interspersed through the drawing lessons are small writing and creativity assignments, as well as short quizzes, which really makes this an extremely thorough course. As the student completes the beginner assignments, they move on to the intermediate level where they learn the finer details of equine artistry. Also included are famous works of art featuring horses, giving the student a fine appreciation for classic art in their current area of interest – the horse.

Towards the end of the book, the student learns how to use color to enhance their art work, both in the book itself and on the included marker cards. There is a small sketchbook in the back of this book, where the student can freely draw and practice the techniques they have learned.

Since there is space throughout the book for student drawings, the only materials needed to complete this course are drawing pencils and pens. Students can also use colored pencils and markers for the chapter that teaches color techniques.

My 11-year-old horse lover is currently working her way through this course. Her horse drawings are transforming from unrecognizable creatures to artwork that she is happy to display. Her favorite feature of this book is the step-by-step lessons that build on each other, allowing her to learn and work on and master one aspect of her horse drawing at a time.

As a parent, I appreciate the many sample drawings that are scattered throughout the pages, labeled with the artists’ name and age. The author did not choose the ‘finest’ drawings, but rather drawings from children of all ages and artistic abilities. These sample drawings have inspired my daughter to display her work, even when it is not perfect, because the included drawings look very realistic as well. This course has focused on her love for horses, and learning how to display that love through artwork. It has been an enjoyable course so far, and she works on it at her own pace without any prompting. I highly recommend this course for your horse lover, or for anyone who would like to improve their artistic abilities. It is currently selling on the publisher’s website for $14.95.

-Product review by Erica Beyea, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, April, 2017

Another Reviewer's Perspective:

The Wonderful ART of Drawing Horses
Barry Stebbing

Art is a big deal in our house. Horses are a big deal with our daughter. So we were excited to get the opportunity to review the book, The Wonderful ART of Drawing Horses by Barry Stebbing and published by How Great Thou ART Publications.

The Wonderful ART of Drawing Horses contains over 80 lessons centered around Lydia’s favorite animal, the horse. It contains reproducible pages, for in-home use, that your student can use the techniques that they are reading about. The lessons are broken down with the easiest starting at the beginning of the book with each lesson advancing on techniques that the student has previously learned.

There are roughly 20 lessons that also cover several artists including Charles Russell, Frederick Remington and even Leonardo da Vinci. The lessons cover information about the artist’s personal life, and also their careers with examples of their artwork that includes horses. The Wonderful ART of Drawing Horses really gives an overall art appreciation education and not just drawing since these lessons also include some comprehension materials to encouraging them to answer thought provoking questions comparing artists.

There are lessons in language arts, creating your own story and how to illustrate your story, obviously with horses.

I was very impressed that there were also lessons that covered horse anatomy, which was great to go along with her horse unit study. One lesson showed her how to make a horse flip book, which she loves. But it wasn’t all serious. There was a lesson on how to draw cartoon features. There was also a lesson on how to draw a maze, and include it inside your art.

There are a few quizzes places throughout the lessons to check and see what information your student has retained. They refer back to not only drawing information but also drawing techniques that have been taught.

The Wonderful ART of Drawing Horses does not require any extra special materials. A set of drawing pencils, a set of colored pencils, a black drawing pen, a set of water soluble colored markers, extra sketch paper (there are several sheets provided inside the back cover of the book but our girl needed a few more), and a #7 paint brush. We had all the materials already laying around.

You could very easily stretch this art book through an entire school year, covering 2 lessons a week. It’s very easy to individualize these material with your students. I have to admit that we read through some of the educational lessons and mainly worked on the drawing. So I was easily able to customize it for Lydia. You could easily use The Wonderful ART of Drawing Horses to complete a full horse unit study since it does include so many subject areas.

We have enjoyed the lessons that we have completed so far, and we are excited to continue our progress. I can’t wait to see what other drawing books that How Great Thou ART Publications has for us in the future. We both highly recommend using The Wonderful ART of Drawing Horses for your own horse lover!

-Product review by Renita Kuehner, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, April, 2017