Samuel Raphael Art

This was the first painting I did, and so I started off relatively simple just focusing on the head, trying to achieve an accurate likeness and representation of his character. Before I started painting I studied a lot of different photos and videos of King of Stars to get a better sense of his colouring and the way he moves. When I paint it’s very important for me to have the best understanding possible of my subject so that from the start I know how I’m going to approach it, in terms of colour and tone. This means looking at many different reference images that might have slightly different lighting.

The second painting I did was the biggest of three and definitely the most challenging. It proved very difficult to get the proportions correct of the full horse and the jockey and I spent hours trying to make sure it was accurate and life-like. Something that struck me from the videos I saw of King of Stars was the power that he possesses. In this painting of him running and fully in action I wanted to try and convey that strength with as much energy and movement as possible. To do this I paid a lot of attention to the anatomy of his legs, creating a strong contrast in these areas to really highlight his athleticism.

The last painting I did of King of Stars is my personal favourite and is the combined result of the experience I gained from the previous two paintings and hours of looking at photos and videos. By this point I felt far more confident with the proportions and mixing the correct colours and tones. In this painting I wanted to find a mid-point between the first two, focusing in on the incredible character in his face whilst also maintaining a sense of his strength and power through the body. I paid the same close attention to the anatomy of his legs whilst also going in detail on the face to create the best likeness possible.