Three Horses at a Misty Rail, in Cold Wax

On a working ranch, three horses stand shoulder to shoulder at a timber paddock rail: one bay, one grey, one chestnut, all with heads dipped toward a hay net. A barn wall rises behind them and a slim, pale band of morning sky lies overhead. The frame is a tall 9:16 portrait, with the scene's dominant line travelling up through its whole height. Treat the whole thing as a cold-wax painting. The surface is made of short, heavy wax-and-oil strata, flattened deposits, dry scuffs, wide scraped windows that open onto the colours underneath. Paint body stays matte; no gloss, no fluid blending. Lighting is cool, low morning sun raking from the right over the horses' backs, which show up as scraped windows of bay brown, silver grey and chestnut. Warm mist curls from the nostrils, and the barn wall is built from weathered red and umber strata. Palette: bay, silver, chestnut, umber, red, pale blue; the mood is matte, heavy, quiet. Exclude people, readable text, signage, brands, logos. Do not invent a Western look; this is ordinary working farmland.