Mongol girl riding a horse [WIP]

[Perihelion]

Big thanks to Eyecraft for helping me with the composition in IRC. Anyway, I'd love some feedback on this as I work on it! I'll probably add more vegetation leading up to the rider and away. It's supposed to be the steppe, so there will be grasses.



Something is bugging me about the rider, but I'm not sure what. Suggestions? The horse's legs are also a little funky, so I'll continue to work on them.

Edit: I forgot to post my refs!
http://www.equine-world.co.uk/memberpics/images/cc3.jpg
http://www.ponyriding.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/galloping.jpg

[ErekT]

Couple of perspective issues: The girl sits very far "up" on the horseback, and it looks like she's about to slide off the horse. Same problem with the horse's tail. Try to move em both down a bit.

[Decroded]

I'm not very good at this but I made some tiny adjustments.

[pikminboy111]

the way i'm looking at the shadow it looks like it needs a little more for the head of the horse. is that just me?
and the horse need hoves.

[Perihelion]

Thanks for the feedback, guys! And for the edit, Decroded!

The saddle is supposed to be a Mongolian saddle, which is quite high, although my sketch of it is very odd-looking at the moment. I'll work with it some more once I get around to detailing the saddle, and if it still looks weird, I'll lower it. Good point about the tail.

Pikminboy, the light was supposed to be coming from the upper right. I'll probably lengthen the shadow more after the horse, but it's still rough for the moment. The horse is also not done. It has hooves; they're just not detailed yet.

[Decroded]

 Ok I just think her legs look too short so maybe if its a high saddle with high styrups, then her knee should be really bent? At the moment u have a normal looking pose but just compressed her bones to bring it higher so try extending the knee further forward.

[piffany]

Here's a reference for a lady riding a horse:



I think she can sit up more and wear a long dress that extends below the body of the horse. Also, to let the hair look more natural in the wind, they shouldn't line up so evenly. The wind could have a stronger effect on the back pigtail than the front one.

[Jeremy]

[...]I think she can sit up more and wear a long dress that extends below the body of the horse[...]

Imo this doesn't really fit 1200s Mongolia, or the (hurried) speed she's going at.

Your reference is a pony, but Mongolian Horses have that distinctive look (Stocky, cropped mane, big head, black socks). I think the green hue of the backmost hills doesn't really work, that desaturation effect generally looks more grey-purple (Unless it's hills or something, which are already green )

Other than that, looks nice. I really like the composition you have going on

[8bitbeard]

I think you should even bend the back of the rider much more.
Think of the rider and the horse as one figure, and try to find lines of "energy" that both share.



See how the line of the riders back shares the same direction and shape as the horse neck and rear?
Also an important element to get across the dynamic riding is that the rider does not actually sit on her bum.


You might also want to tone down a bit your focus on the hair of the rider and find other ways to show the fast movement (give her some kind of scarf, etc)