Painting dapples

Every year for the last ten years, Canadian oil painter, Lynn Cassels-Caldwell has generously shared her knowledge and experience with painters of all skill levels on the NaMoPaiMo Facebook page. This year is no exception. I love this basic, but also incredibly helpful primer on painting dapples. Thank you, Lynn, for everything!

Painting Dapples

by Lynn Cassels-Caldwell

I love seeing lots of people attempting dapples for the first time this year, or trying new mediums for dapples. I’m totally obsessed with painting dapples in all colours!

I always use a good reference photo to go by, because I want to be accurate, and avoid making stuff up.

What helped me most with dapples was to spend a lot of time to really study photos of dappled horses outside of any model painting. I also practiced on paper and on old bodies, going exactly by the reference photo. I even count the dapples.

I think the most important thing is to understand the dapple pattern, which I describe as like a vague, fuzzy honeycomb. I think dapples can be done well in any medium or technique if you know the pattern.

Try printing out a clear photo of a dappled grey horse (a high resolution image works best to see printed detail), then use a pencil, pen or marker to just trace around all the dapples to see their shapes and how they interconnect.

I currently use oils exclusively, which gives me the result I'm after.

For me, it takes many, many layers, but generally I work oils from dark to light, then go back over with transparent oil glazes where needed to refine the shapes.

When I used pastels I worked from light to dark, again using many layers, then refining shapes with coloured pencils.

Thank you, Lynn! You truly are the Queen of Dapples. I know you've helped a lot of people - including me! - today!