Equine Portraits
An equestrian friend and barn owner reached out with a special holiday request—custom graphite portraits of her boarders’ horses to feature on personalized Christmas cards. She had previously received a graphite portrait of her own horse as a gift and wanted to share that same joy with her friends. The idea of turning my equine artwork into something so meaningful and festive was too good to pass up, so I eagerly took on the project.
From Graphite to Graphic
Armed with pencils and erasers, I set out to create six individual portraits for five different card designs. Working from a mix of reference photos—some with less-than-perfect clarity—I had to rely on both artistic intuition and careful adaptation to capture each horse’s likeness. Once completed, I digitized the portraits and formatted them to fit standard 5x7 card stock. The final result was a set of beautifully personal holiday cards that thrilled both my client and her boarders. Having started my drawing journey (at a wee six years old) sketching horses, this project felt like a full-circle moment—proof of my artistic evolution and a reminder of how rewarding it is to create something that brings others joy.
Borace
A class zine project became a reflection on kindness
and the overlooked wisdom of elders.