Member Feature: VANESSA WHITTELL

A passion for all things art, design and horses

Artist, designer and rider Vanessa Whittell creates large contemporary equestrian paintings.

After studying Fine Art & Visual Design at Kwantlen, Vanessa worked as an illustrator, graphic designer and art director for 25 years. Now a professional artist, her background in art, design and riding has led her to create equestrian art in a modern abstract style that explores “The art of riding”.

Born in the UK and having grown up in Langley, Vanessa has been immersed in horses since she was three. From pony club, to hunter/ jumper, to upper level eventing, Vanessa is now concentrating on dressage along with a new-found interest in working equitation.

a design standpoint, most photos don’t make the best large wall art. Photos usually have too much detail and leave little to the imagination. A custom horse painting can be designed to convey an intentional idea or feeling and be specifcally designed to suit your space.

Although her paintings are based on peoples’ photographic reference, she doesn’t simply copy from a photo - her process begins with simplifying the selected image and creating a focus on the significant parts, then through redrawing and painting the image is developed and edited based on client discussions.

Through intentional design and composition, atmospheric tonal range and planned color palettes, in her signature paint technique, a custom painting is brought to life.

Vanessa lives in Fort Langley, on a horse farm with her husband, two dogs and four horses.

Learn more about her work at vanessawhittell.com

“It seems I am best known for paintings that are amusingly termed “Equestrian portraits without the vanity”, a style where the horse is the subject and the rider is often cropped out of view.

Vanessa offers a line of large canvas prints focused primarily on dressage and hunter jumper but the majority of Vanessa’s work is from commissions. “I think because I grew up in a horse community - doing custom paintings was inevitable”.

As riders these days, most of us have lots of photos, but from