While attending this year’s Edinburgh fringe festival, 34-year-old comedian Andy Field experienced a sudden, spontaneous urge to start drawing horses. Admitting he had not practiced art since his school days and lacked formal skills, he decided to challenge himself by documenting his progress online. His project, titled “Drawing a Horse Every Day Until I’m Really Good at Drawing Horses,” gained immediate traction on TikTok and Instagram, where his initial, cartoonish sketches were met with widespread support. According to a ndy Field was midway through his standup run at this year’s Edinburgh fringe when he was struck by an unusual urge – the urge to draw a horse. “I hadn’t sat down to draw anything since I was at school,”, The 34-year-old comedian. “Drawing was a skill I didn’t have.”. With its four identical straight legs and cartoon eyeball, the subsequent horse Field posted to TikTok and Instagram was rather naive. If some commentators were hoping Field was going to draw the same horse every day and gradually work on his understanding of proportion and perspective then they were left disappointed. Because Field’s project is really a joyful celebration of drawing for fun – of following a daft idea and seeing where it takes you. As part of his droll commentary on each day’s effort, Field likes to name each horse. I mean, it’s not life or death, is it?”.
The series quickly became an internet phenomenon. His first video alone attracted over a million viewers, and by day three—which featured a horse resembling a platypus—the audience had grown to an estimated two million. Field is now approaching the 80-day mark, having produced a diverse array of equine portraits that range from the creative to the absurd. Notable entries include a horse playing an electric guitar, which he named “Jimi Horsedrix,” as well as a skateboarding horse and an homage to Muhammad Ali where a horse knocks out an equine Sonny Liston. Over a million people watched the minute-long video of him drawing that first horse with a four-colour ballpoint pen. An Ali-style boxing horse knocking out an equine Sonny Liston (day 58), a skateboarding horse (day 29), a horse turning the tables and drawing a portrait of Field (day 24), and a horse on its knees playing a guitar solo (day 21), we’ve had howling horses (day 67). The one resembling male genitalia was given the moniker Gentle Brian. As does his colourful swirl of horses eating each other (day 27, given the name Seabiscuits), field has also launched a merch range: the day three catastrophe makes an appearance on a T-shirt. On day 50, Field redrew his first attempt, to show how far he’s come. Sticking to his promise of one horse per day hasn’t always been easy.
However, the project has occasionally veered into unexpected territory. On day 48, Field intended to capture a zoomed-in, grotesque perspective inspired by Ren & Stimpy cartoons, but he ended up creating a sketch that looked distinctly phallic. Similarly, parents are cautioned that day 69 features a piece depicting horses engaged in oral sex. These mishaps have not deterred his audience; instead, they have fueled a sense of community. Field notes that many viewers now watch the daily updates with their children, appreciating the comedian’s refusal to fear mistakes. Sometimes, that’s not a place anyone intended. On day 48, Field decided to focus in on a horse’s face, but ended up sketching something that – to his evident horror – became increasingly phallic. “I was picturing those shots in a Ren & Stimpy cartoon, where it’s so grotesquely zoomed in and you’re getting all the warts and sweat and veins. Said parents are best advised to avoid day 69’s image of horses observing oral sex.
Field has resisted the urge to follow every piece of technical advice he receives from the comments, preferring to maintain the “joie de vivre” that makes the series feel authentic. His interest in horses actually began as an ironic joke, where he would request framed horse pictures for his birthday. Over time, that humor evolved into a genuine creative pursuit. He has even visited the National Gallery to study the work of George Stubbs, though he admits he is more comfortable sketching horses wearing sunglasses or channeling the energy of his kitten, Toast. He might have visited the National Gallery (day 19) to take tips from the master of horse drawing, George Stubbs, but he’s more at home doing horses wearing shades (day 64) or horses infused with the spirit of his new ki. A bunch.”, how many horse pictures did he receive? “Oh. He might have visited the National Gallery (day 19) to take tips from the master of horse drawing, George Stubbs, but he’s more at home doing horses wearing shades (day 64) or horses infused with the spirit of his new kitten, Toast (day 56). According to field, His love of horses started ironically: whenever someone asked what he wanted for his birthday, he would request a framed picture of a horse. “It was just a funny thing to ask for,” he says.
The process has involved several challenges, including sketching from a windy campsite at the End of the Road music festival, where he had to pin his paper down to keep it from blowing away. He has also experimented with different media, including a disastrous oil painting on day 54 that served as a milestone for his 100,000-follower goal. Despite the mess, Field views these failures as essential, maintaining that art should be about fulfillment rather than objective perfection. And was forced to film himself drawing from a windy campsite (days 14-16). “People were criticising m, soon after Edinburgh finished he spent a weekend at the End of the Road music festival on the Wiltshire-Dorset border.
As he looks toward the 100-day conclusion, inspired by the band Geese and their song “100 Horses,” Field is planning a significant finale.
He has already seen vast improvement in his technique, noting that he now understands the anatomy of a horse—including the “horse cleavage” between the neck and front legs—much better than when he started. When asked if he has achieved his goal of being “really good” at drawing, he laughs off the pressure. To Field, being good is defined by the ability to sit down, create, and feel fulfilled by the process, regardless of the final result.
