I needed to do a painting that took all my concentration, so I chose a hard one off my huge list of conceptual painting ideas to paint.

Horsepower was a word created to compare the steam engine to what a horse could do. In this time of AI emerging to compare with what humans can do, I thought it worth thinking about, but was very difficult to express visually.

I settled on the aliveness of warm colors, capturing an abstracted horse head in motion– so you can see both a silhouette and a 3/4 view simultaneously– vigorous mark making to express both energy and power, as well as bit, bridle and reins. The head is wagging back and forth while pushing forward with strength and tenacity. And like most conceptual work, if I had done it on a different day, I would have done it differently. However, the focus settled me, after such a wrangle with this exuberantly forceful beast.

See the entire work of Horsepower above. It is 22″x30″ and done in pastel. See close up details below.

Click here to purchase the original painting.

Click here to obtain prints and merchandise of this image.

What do you think?