FINAL PIECE

Here is the final piece with all nine Grand National winning horses (2006 - 2014) together in a grid for easy comparison:

'How to Win the Grand National'

By Claire Taylor

Here are the final nine pieces I have drawn ready for my final piece (pencil drawing with digital painting overlay)

I went to my local yard to ride a thoroughbred horse so I could get a first hand idea of their size and build, and their temperament:

I have done a bit more research into horse anatomy and did some quick sketches on photoshop which show two of the most prominent muscles on a horses body - the chest and the top of the leg.

CHEST:

LEG:

I also had some of the final piece horses i had already finished printed out so I could see what they looked like away from the computer screen. I kept their white backgrounds at this point so it would be easier to see if the colours/contrast had come out as I had hoped.

I could also use this A2 print out as an example of my work when I am at an equine event with my trade stand for my sideline business of drawing people horses and dogs.

RESULTS!

Unfortunately, both Tidal Bay (1) and Triolo D'alane (4) were brought down by another horses, so I was unable to see how much their conformation would have influenced their run.

However

My first choice horse, Balthazar King (9) finished second out of 40 runners, which shows that picking a horse based purely on their conformation really can work.

THE BIG DAY HAS ARRIVED

*THE CRABBIES GRAND NATIONAL 2014* 

I'd better get my bets on...

Time to see if my research has paid off. Based almost entirely on what the horse looks like, and not focusing their form, the three horses I have picked for the big race are:

(9) BALTHAZAR KING

(1) TIDAL BAY

(4) TRIOLO D'ALENE

All three horses are relatively similar in their conformation, two being bay and one chestnut. Not to big, not to small. Not to compact, not too rangey. They all look as though they are powerful enough to take on the worlds toughest steeplechase without the risk of tiring from carrying too much weighty muscle.

Even if they do not win, I would love it if they all finished or were at least not brought down by other fallers. This would mean that my way of choosing a Grand National winner, based on the horses conformation and not form, could become a valid method for picking a winner for future races.

Wish me luck!

I have experimented with changing the background of one of my horse drawings as I think it might look better than a plain white background.