Horse Portrait, "Big Red" 6x8" Oil, SOLD

I have been trying to expand my horizons by painting new subject matter.  This is my second horse painting.

SOLD

I have to say I did enjoy the challenge.  He looked so spirited and I got excited about his red coat against a green background.

It's always fun to stretch a little, try something new.  I would like to do more of these, but I think my biggest challenge will be getting interesting reference images to work from. We have plenty of horses in our neighborhood, but they usually run to the other end of the pasture when they see me approach with my trusty camera.

Do you have any special techniques for getting images of animals?