Horse Art, Oil Painting on canvas by Welsh artist, John Carwithen, Cardiff, Wales.

Horses are, like Nudes, are very beautiful and so difficult to paint well. Both have subtle lines and exact proportions, which is why I like painting them. Horse art is demanding, but satisfying and I particularly like to see them in a landscape setting.

Oil painting is my favourite medium, but there is one watercolour here too. I`m particularly happy with the sheen oil paint gives me with my "Running horse" painting.

I prefer to take my own photographs and see the horse in the flesh, but it`s not essential or always possible. I can get a better idea of personality this way and taking good pictures is quite difficult with such a large animal in trying to avoid wide-angle effects that distort the proportions easily.