1. When adding white markings how do I add them on top of the horse and make them look natural? I want my white markings to look crisp but also blend with the piece.
2. How do you all sugget I go about smoothing out the horse's body and/or changing the overall color?
3. EYES!!! How in the world do y'all draw eyes to match the rest of the pose/expression?
4. And do you suggest doing background first or horse?

1. If you want your white markings to show more of the definition & detail of the horse stock underneath, then play with different layer settings. Also, with a soft smudging brush, go along the edges of your white markings to "feather" it out. This helps the edges look natural and apart of an actual coat rather than something painted on with sharp edges.
2. For smoothing out the stock horse's body, everyone has slightly different techniques. Some smudge, and some use other tools. I personally only denoise the stock image. For color changes, it is a lot of trial and error, playing with different colors, layers, and layer settings. I believe there are some tutorials on DeviantArt & YouTube, and likely some here on this site as well in the art help section.
3. I find where the eye naturally is in the stock piece, and then with one color, I make a half-moon on the bottom half of the eye. With a slightly lighter shade of the same color, I make a thin line along the middle of that half-moon. Then I smudge it to blend, and play with layer settings to get a look that I like.
4. Personally, I source all of the stock images I'll need at the same time. It helps me get a picture in my mind of the finished project. Then I place the background stock, and if I'm blending two or more stock pieces to create my desired background, then I go ahead and get that done. Then I start working on my horse. So much of the horse's details will depend on the background you choose - such as lighting and shadowing, color tones, etc.

WildWillow said:

Hi! Welcome to the game!

1. If you want your white markings to show more of the definition & detail of the horse stock underneath, then play with different layer settings. Also, with a soft smudging brush, go along the edges of your white markings to "feather" it out. This helps the edges look natural and apart of an actual coat rather than something painted on with sharp edges.
2. For smoothing out the stock horse's body, everyone has slightly different techniques. Some smudge, and some use other tools. I personally only denoise the stock image. For color changes, it is a lot of trial and error, playing with different colors, layers, and layer settings. I believe there are some tutorials on DeviantArt & YouTube, and likely some here on this site as well in the art help section.
3. I find where the eye naturally is in the stock piece, and then with one color, I make a half-moon on the bottom half of the eye. With a slightly lighter shade of the same color, I make a thin line along the middle of that half-moon. Then I smudge it to blend, and play with layer settings to get a look that I like.
4. Personally, I source all of the stock images I'll need at the same time. It helps me get a picture in my mind of the finished project. Then I place the background stock, and if I'm blending two or more stock pieces to create my desired background, then I go ahead and get that done. Then I start working on my horse. So much of the horse's details will depend on the background you choose - such as lighting and shadowing, color tones, etc.

I wish you luck on your art journey! I really recommend looking through art help and checking out all of the guides - there are a TON of great tutorials there.

Here is my tutorial, I geared it more towards artists who are just starting out or who are beginner-intermediate. :)

https://horseeden.com/forums.php?f=17&t=57169