Horses on the Move

Who loves horses? Artist Deborah Butterfield also raises and trains them. Gallop along with her and draw these beautiful beasts on the run!

• 1.

  Deborah Butterfield was born on May 7, 1949, in San Diego, California. As a young woman, Butterfield was drawn between the pursuit of a career in art, or a career in the veterinary sciences. She had a great love of horses all of her life, and, although she ultimately chose to pursue art, she continued to work with horses.

• 2.

  Butterfield lives on a ranch in Montana, where she raises and rides thoroughbreds and trains them in dressage, a highly formal, precise method of showing them. Butterfield is fascinated with the horses’ movement and physiology, which is apparent in her sculpture.

• 3.

  Although she began her sculpting career with realistic, plaster mares, Butterfield’s horses have evolved over the years. She now constructs her horses from recycled and natural objects, building them over an armature of wire. The horses each have a natural, realistic pose, although the materials she uses are unusual. She eliminates most of the detail of her subjects, focusing on the horse’s posture and form (see <EM>Palomino</EM>, 1981, or <EM>Riot</EM>).

• 4.

  To create a realistic horse drawing of your own, find pictures of Butterfield’s sculpture, as well as photographs of horses in motion. Edward Muybridge photographs highlight animals in motion, and would be a wonderful resource for this study.

• 5.

  Use Crayola® Crayons to draw a picture of one or more running or galloping horses. Include the horse’s main parts and eliminate unnecessary details, much as Butterfield does. Color your horse realistically, focusing on the horse rather than its environmen

• 6.

  Compare your horse drawing to the horses constructed by Butterfield and Muybridge’s photographs. How are they similar? How are they different?

Benefits

• Children examine images of horses in motion, observing their physiology, posture, and form.
• Children research the life and work of contemporary artist Deborah Butterfield.
• Students draw a horse in motion after studying Butterfield’s work and compare it to her sculpture.

Adaptations

• For some children with disabilities, it may be helpful to observe horses firsthand, to examine toy horses, and sculpt them with Crayola® Model Magic® before drawing.
• To create a 3-D horse sculpture, construct a basic armature for your horse from Crayola® Model Magic®. Form it in a position natural to a horse. Dry. Collect a variety of recycled household objects. Look closely at the objects, noting their shape and size
• Study the work of earlier sculptors who explored the horse, such as Edward Remington and Leonardo DaVinci. Compare their horses to Deborah Butterfield’s horses.