I have a question; where do you find all your stock? Favorite providers?

This one is a little difficult to explain. I look for places on the horse that I want to be more defined. You have to pay attention to where the light source is. A leg in a shadow will have much fuller highlights than a leg in direct sun. What I started out doing is cruising DA and studying how other artists use highlights. It also helped me to study photos, and take notice of where the horses are naturally highlighted, i.e. muscles or defining face bones. Usually I just add highlights to the areas already highlighted on the horse. I just make them more dramatic. :)

I use DA, Pixabay, Unsplash, Flickr, and my accidental subscription to Adobe Stock. I would not recommend Adobe Stock; if you have money to spend on stock photos purchase some from Shutterstock. They have all the stock that Adobe does and more, and are much less expensive per image.

I create a new layer behind my horse, then use a large soft round brush with a light color from the background. Then a set the layer mode to screen and adjust the opacity to create a subtle look.

PAINTING HOOFSIES?!

Lib, how do you make realistic lighting in the background?

Another few that I was gonna ask earlier and forgot lol

4. Would you ever consider doing a peice (premade maybe?) one version completed with gimp using the exact same stock and concept and one with PS?

5. Do you have any tips for someone starting out with mane and tail painring

6. Do you prefer smudging manes and tails or painting them

When I'm choosing my horse and background for a piece, I think of a few things. Can I get the lighting to match easily? Will the colors of the background compliment the horses finished color? Does the horses pose fit the background well?

If the backgrounds lighting is obvious different than the lighting on the horse you image will always look off, 100% of the time. If the horse I'm using is lit from the side I'm not going to put it in a background that has the light source coming from directly above. Also, don't forget to add properly placed shadow. Pay attention to lighting in real life and photos. Different light sources cause different types of shadows. I bright sun will cast a bolder shadow then a dim lamp.

I like my background colors to compliment my horse's coat. If I am using a white horse, I might pick a background that has a little bit of white in it; flowers, clouds, bones, rocks, etc.

It's important to fit the horse's pose to the background as well. If the horse will be climbing a hill in the finished piece, I'm not going to pick one that is obviously standing on a flat surface.

And lastly, I like to create a new layer, clip it to my horse layer, and using a large soft round brush I will give my horse some hues from the background. Say the horse is standing in grass, with a blue sky above. I'll take the green from the grass and paint it on the horse's legs, and give his back just a touch of blue. Then I set the layer on soft light and adjust the opacity as needed.