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I didn't vote for the AK but these look really elegant. Beautiful art.

Looking very good! My first impression of them is that they look very Akhal Teke overall. The only thing that immediately jumps out at me is the ears on the adult. They look a little small and oddly attached and I usually notice how large and strongly set AT ears are. As I look at the adult more, I think the position of the head could be a little more extended, like the space between the cheek and the neck a little more open and well-defined. Also, I'm not sure how to describe it, but I notice in a lot of the ref photos that the arch just a little behind the poll is more bent, or maybe that's more so on stallions? As for the ribs showing, I actually like it, but maybe if other players would rather a more muscled sport version the ribs could just be a little less prominent and just lightly indicated by the highlighting and not too much shadows? That way they would show but not give the horse a really boney look overall. As for the foal, it looks to me to have a very "pursed" face like an Arabian foal. I do see that one of the ref photos looks like that, but many of the AT foals look a little softer in the face than that, so maybe just to make the breed characteristics more distinct the AT foal could go in that direction?

Great work! I can't wait to see these in the game. :)

Sure, I mean a softer expression, with a smoother face and not a lot of details casting harsh shadows, like these photos:




Looking at these ref photos again, maybe a better way to describe the head position and attachment issue I mentioned on the adult is that the ref photos show the throat latch being so prominent that very little to none of the cheek is left as part of the actual profile if you looked at it as a silhouette. The second foal photo particularly shows that, though a little more extreme than some. Also, the first foal shows a good example of the angle at the top of the neck that I mentioned. It looks to me like that angle is because the crest ends there and doesn't curve all the way over the top of the neck into the poll (like a Fjord would have, the other end of that extreme.) Akhal Tekes seem to have almost no crest, so to me the neck looks more angular.

I agree with the "ribby" look. I know that the Tekes are a very athletic breed being more on the fine boned side, but a less ribby look just seems more appealing and still staying within the body type parameters.

I think the head could be held higher on the adult, with the neck a little more upright and maybe just a tad longer. Personally, I like them lean, and kind of racing-fit!

One thing that might be hard to get across is their hooded eyes, but if there's any way for that to make it into the art, I would be so stoked. It's looking beautiful though! Very excited about this one.

This photo shows a good example of how I think the head and top of the neck could be:

It screams Teke at first glance! Before I provide feed back on the lines, is this a general sketch? Or the proposed line art?

A couple of key things I see right away, is the proportions of the neck and head to the body look off, I can't tell if it's both, or if it's that the head is too large.

The withers are built like a step, instead of a rounded slope. Where they attach to the neck there is a flat that is throwing off the top line. They can have some very pronounced withers, like the picture @Cavalynn posted above. It looks like the withers started off wanting to be pronounced, and then got shy and tapered off quickly.

I don't mind the ribs at all, ribs on a horse is fine and not a sign of emaciation. But I would like to see a fuller hind end on it. The image below looks close to your line art:



It's a little harder to tell with the Palomino in desert lighting, but his hind end is more curved at the top and sloping down the thigh. You'll want to avoid straight and concave lines, which can give the appearance of muscle loss or emaciation. They don't need a Quarter Horse badonkadonk, but it subtle line changes will make a difference.

:-? I think I'm in the minority here, but the ones with no ribs showing just look like Warmblood crosses to me. They don't look "Teke". :-??

I think if the ribs are "promintent" on the body it looks very different then just shading of ribs. You can see most of the pictures the horses are super fit, but only shadows of the ribs are showing. If the horse looks "gaunt" with a lot of rib showing I dont find that nice looking at all ( LOL in fact it brings out my Italian "mom" and I want to feed them til they are chubby )

I think if the head carriage were swapped , it might be a better over all look. AT are really "haughty" looking with their heads up and almost looking " down" on you. That might also give them the look with the eyes being hooded. Most of the foal pictures I have seen are with the head positioned like the adult drawing.

Looking at it again, I think if you filled out the booty a little more, it would balance the head better. For the most part, your hip and shoulder are going to be equal in size. I think that it what is throwing off the front end looking large.

Ammit, forgive me for doodling on your lovely line art here. Disregard if you already have something better going on.

I’m just excited and focusing on this was a great de-stresser for the down time I had in an otherwise crazy work day lol

What I did was:

-Changed head angle
-Made head slightly smaller
-I think I lifted the head a little, too, arguable could have lifted it a touch more
-Altered the through latch
-Changed the neck/chest connection a little
-I did add slightly more wither, although I don’t personally feel it’s necessary.
-Rounded the hind end just a touch
-Took away the ribs lol




This is, of course, just a suggestion and I’m not expecting it to be followed. Just throwing it out there. Something is still not quite right with the neck. Lol

Ah! good eye! I forgot to adjust that back after I changed the neck lol
I was thinking length would help the neck, too.

It was fun fooling around with it though! Thank you :D

I am terrible at picking things out in drawings lol but I feel like the neck could be a just little more vertical and maybe slightly leaner. I'm not fussed about the ribs myself as it looks like a very fit Teke and i like that it's distinct from some of the other breeds but I'm sure either way is fine.

Yay! I had fun doing it :D

I also like the adjustments @paradoxphoenix made, but I would make the neck slightly narrower/more slender, and add light shading to the rib area to show the leanness. The two words that always come to mind for me when thinking of Akhal Tekes are "long" and "lean", especially the more typey ones.
Like others have already mentioned, I think the original art Ammit posted has the ribs just a bit too prominent, but I do agree that they should be showing to some degree.
I might even lengthen the neck and barrel just a touch, and smooth out the lines a bit more. To me, they always look very long and smooth.

@MackZ I agree - maybe even make them leggier?

While breed book images popularize the really thin ribby Akhal Tekes, when you look through pictures of most examples it doesn’t seem like most show ribs. Even the most slender, typey ones.

"I always prefer people mark up the image as often people make suggestions and I have no idea what they are talking about. "

I was always hesitant to do that, because it's not my art work. But if you didn't understand what I suggested above, I could do that tonight when I get home.

Reminder folks:

"Rib feedback is noted. What do people have other than the ribs? "

The look of the gold Palomino AT is what I think of when I think on the breed. Rib shading would be fine since most race type horses show a race weight while they are working and AT are used on the flat (race track) where they come from. I also love the look of the buckskin filly too - so elegant. The black foal is amazing too, although technically his color is brown, dark bay or seal brown, one of my favorite coat colors for a horse.

Edit: I think I fixed the photos and added links to where they came from.

I found a few more pictures to point out the shape of the neck and throat. The topline of the neck should be a little more angular, and as CheshireFarms says the throat latch should be curved, so the cheek is almost smoothed over in profile. The very top of the throat where it's attaching under the head should almost be a wider point to the neck than just before. Also, looking at more photos, I think maybe the cannon bones could be shorter, especially the back ones.





I particularly like the neck and withers and barrel in this photo:


This shows a good neck shape too:


This is also a good example and a better overall ref image:


Source webpages:
http://www.karakumstud.com/web/karakum.nsf/PermaLinks/TNKH-733QM6
http://www.karakumstud.com/web/karakum.nsf/PermaLinks/TKEH-76YV8Q
http://www.karakumstud.com/web/karakum.nsf/permalinks/TKEH-6G5H6X

Thanks, everyone for the feedback. There is a TON of conflicting posts here so it is going to take us a while to comb through it all and figure out which feedback we want to implement. I am going to close the thread here for our own sanity.