Portrait by Angie Bridges
Apart from having both a BA and MA in Psychology, North Bay artist Angie Bridges seems to know an awful lot about the soul animal and how to draw them. She makes capturing horses and other like animals on paper with a graphite stick or colored pencil seem effortless. Here, Bridges discusses her interest in equine art and portraiture, why art helps her function in the hustle-and-bustle of daily life and how her work ethic came to be so unrelenting.
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NF: Are you a college-educated artist or self-taught?
AB: I am largely self-taught. I did take occasional drawing classes, though. The main thing I took from those classes was a discipline to develop an eye for realism. My best instructor had me drawing a still life cardboard box about 2/3 of the semester. If a shadow or line or whatever was slightly off, I wasn’t done yet. I hated boxes after that class, but I improved a lot.
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NF: Have you had any experiences in which you’ve gone without formal representation because you are not formally educated?
AB: I am really new to actually showing and selling work. I only started seriously pursuing getting my work out there May 2010. My first show was last September at the Draft Horse Classic in Grass Valley, CA. I didn’t have a problem being accepted into the show and the other artists were very welcoming. I haven’t sought out a gallery as of yet.
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NF: What sparked your interest in Equine Art/Portraiture?
AB: Art was just a hobby to pass the time until recently. I’ve had a few friends and family request portraits and my business grew from word of mouth. Though my work isn’t limited to horses, it is primarily what I’m asked to do. I didn’t really see it coming, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I hadn’t considered entering any shows before, and honestly I haven’t a clue about getting into a gallery yet. I’m very much looking forward to where it’s going to go from here.
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NF: Did you have a love of horses or other related animals as a child?
AB: I have always had a love for horses, and began riding at the age of 9. I was hooked from there, and it would be an understatement to say that working with horses was a greatly positive outlet when I was growing up. I still love working with animals in general, and I currently have a couple of parakeets keeping me company at my art table.
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NF: Does your work only focus on equines or do draw human portraitures, landscapes, etc?
AB: I do branch out into other subjects. Human portraiture just isn’t much fun for me at all, but I have done them. I usually get asked to draw pets, and that has kept me busy for the past few months after the show in September. I love drawing wildlife, and I would like to work more in landscapes.
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NF: Your work is dominated by equines. Do you feel this may or may not hinder or increase the amount of commissions or offers you receive for your work?
AB: Right now in this economy, it’s hard to find people with extra cash to spend on original artwork or portraits. However, generally speaking, people who own and show horses have a little cash to throw around. Since I’m starting out, I’m trying to build exposure and just get some work done; and equine subjects are working for me so far.
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NF: Are you merely an artist by profession or do you have another ‘9-5’ job?
AB: Right now I’m working part time as an after school literacy instructor. I have a group of fourth graders that keep me on my toes.
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NF: How does this extra stress of a formal position effect the amount of time in which you devote to your art?
AB: I draw because of the stress at work. I’m not really taxed for time at the moment, or have a heavy workload in commissions yet. It would be a nice problem to have eventually.
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NF: Do you find yourself with a lot of free time or are you consistently working on new pieces?
AB: I’m always working on something. Right now, I’m trying to push myself further in graphite realism. So I may not be cranking out picture after picture, but I would say I’m growing a lot during this time as an artist.
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NF: Do you have any major influences when it comes to your work?
AB: I can’t really point to one artist, but I remember having a fascination with Renaissance art as a teen. I would say that it probably has some amount of influence on my work, since my high school art projects were largely replicating those works.
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NF: What do you like most about creating portraits of horses and other related animals?
AB: Each portrait has the same challenge: to present an image that is supposed to reflect the personality of an animal that the buyer intimately knows. At first, I was a little intimidated and wasn’t sure if I was ever going to capture personality on bristol board, but so far it’s been really fun to see what happens when I reveal each work. It’s especially amusing when the owner interacts with the portrait like they interact with their pet (baby talk, jumping around, etc.). I find that my experience with reading equine body language helps me greatly with my work.
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NF: How long you say you’ve been an artist?
AB: Well, this is complicated for me. I don’t think I’ve ever really felt like I could call myself an artist until I got through my first show. Even then, I had to say it a few times for it to seem real. For some reason I had it in my head that my work was better than average, but nothing to write home about; and certainly not going to sell or be seen in a gallery. I still somewhat wrestle with this, but I think I became an artist as a teen. Teen years are crazy, and art became my way of processing and expressing myself for the first time. I started to really think about my work around that time.-
Click to enlarge/view.
NF: Can you explain your work ethic and process for the piece entitled ‘Arab Portrait’?
AB: Arab Portrait was drawn from a photo. I actually work with the image on my computer in Photoshop CS2, so I can zoom in or alter the image as I work. As far as my process, I’m somewhat sloppy on how I go about the actual drawing. I don’t always go left to right to avoid smudging. I do whatever interests me at the time, and that’s usually either the eye or nose. I also tend to work in sections of the horse’s anatomy. So I will take the nose, block out shadows with a rubbing stump to get a feel for the structure, and add in layers of details.
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Deaming by Angie Bridges
NF: What was your inspiration for the piece entitled ‘Dreaming’?
AB: I ran across this horse as a stock photo actually. I loved the lines in it, as well as the horse’s expression. Spots are always fun to do as well. I hardly ever “create” a pose or horse in a work. I like portraying horses as they are in life, especially if they are less than the perfect stallions that are often shown in art. I like drawing things people recognize or can relate with. I often get the same response from people when they view my work, especially horse people. They know the texture of the horse’s coat, the prickle of whiskers, the sound of hooves pounding the earth; so it’s a huge compliment to me to hear them express their reaction in different senses.
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NF: Do you ever draw or complete your pieces in front of the actual horses that the pieces portray?
AB: I haven’t done it in front of a horse, but other animals I have done in person. The most fun was with a gold capped conure named Goldie. My aunt had just bought the bird and was still getting used to living with a family. She wanted attention one day so I sat her on a perch next to me as I was completing “Dreaming”. She was fascinated with the sounds of the pencil. So I took out my color pencils and started drawing her. She would dance when I was working on it, and when I would hold it up for her to see she would kiss it. My aunt framed it and put it next to Goldie’s cage. She still fluffs up her feathers and kisses it.
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On behalf of Northern Focus and Angie Bridges, thank you for reading! For more information on Angie Bridges and her artwork, please visit: http://bridgesequineart.vpweb.com/.
