Update

Hmm, let's see, what to show this week? Here is a photo of some models sitting in my airbrush station:

This doesn't mean they will be airbrushed necessarily, I just put them here after spraying with primer because there is an exhaust fan behind them. These are the last stragglers that I'm prepping before I start concentrating on painting. I have over 30 models to paint! I can't believe I collected that many in just a few years, and what's more, I can't believe that they are almost all prepped. I really put my nose to the grindstone to get that done. The Scarlett Gypsy will be the NAN donation, I'll be working on her next.

The semi-rearing appaloosa is done and will be going to eBay soon, probably on Sunday. I've got several pictures of him on my website. I didn't realize it, but when I re-designed my website, I forgot to put a "New" page in there, so he's in the "Appaloosa" gallery.

Another thing, just for fun, is a picture I took of my oil painting palette

As you can see, I'm very messy. It's one of the reasons that it took me so long to start painting with oils, I had to figure out how to situate myself, hold the model, not dip my sleeve in the palette and then the model, etc. Unfortunately, my house looks a lot like this too (I'm not kidding).

Update

A couple more layers on this one. She looks soft right now because I glazed a light gray over her. I think I'm going to let her rest for a few days and then go in with some pencils or pastels.

The semi-rearing appy is just about done, I glazed his eyes today but still need to do a couple of touch-ups. He will probably be for sale sometime next week. I hope I can get some good pictures of him. I don't know why, but suddenly I can't get good photos. I think it's because I've been taking pictures during the day, yet also using artificial light, so the mix is hard for my camera to figure out. Who knows.

I'm almost done prepping the Scarlett Gypsy NAN donation and should be able to start on her very soon.

I have been so, so busy lately. I've been neglecting my blogs and letting some things (like the PAS re-sculpt and the Percheron medallion) sit while I focus on painting and prepping. I hardly ever go to the forums like Blab, I barely have time to look up any more :-0 I've also decided to focus more on my flat painting, so I've been spending a lot of time on that after I finish with horses for the day. I always go back and forth on what style of painting I want to do, and lately I've been getting interested in pushing for a higher level of realism and polish in those flat paintings, so it takes a lot longer to paint one.

Weekly Update

I changed the eyes a bit on this one, I think it looks better now. He looked too nice with the other eyes. They aren't glossed yet, and I may do just a little more to them. I still need to work on the hooves a little bit, but then I really need to stop. Hopefully he will be for sale in a couple of weeks.

The color is pretty good on this photo. I've gone back in to start lightening some dapples. I think this is about the 7th layer of paint. At some point I'll probably seal it and use some colored pencils/pastels. I'm never sure, I just go with what feels right for me at the time.

In other news, the Scarlett Gypsy prepping is going very smoothly, she should be ready to start painting by next week. I'm still researching colors. And I've made a huge dent in prepping my bodies, I am so happy about this. I hate having unprepped bodies hanging over my head. I'm down to about the last nine bodies, and then I can spend all my time painting these beautiful sculptures instead of sanding and filling :-)

Web Site

I'm in the process of updating my website, so in case anyone goes there, the links to the detail pages in the galleries aren't working yet. I uploaded everything to the server last night, thinking that it would be in a "test" section, but it just over-wrote my old web site. I'm not the brightest bulb when it comes to technology, so I'm lucky anything's working at this point ;-0

The web site is basically the same, too, in fact I would say it's a little more ugly than before. This is because I had to switch from a different web design program, and learning to use the new program and learn CSS was extremely difficult for me, so I had to simplify in order to keep it manageable for myself. I just barely have a grasp on it all. I used to think that I was an intelligent person who could learn new things easily, but I'm finding it harder and harder as each new wave of technology sweeps in. I'm becoming one of those old people who can't figure out how to make their gadgets work!

Semi-Rearing Head

I'm putting the finishing details on this guy now. I need to just let it go, for some reason I can't stop fiddling with this model. I'm still not sure about his eyes and I want to keep messing around with it. I hate when I get like this, because I've spent far too much time on this model already. There comes a time when I just have to say goodbye to it...

In other news, I got the Gypsy Scarlett that I'll be doing for the NAN donation. I wasn't sure if I would like her tail based on the uncast photos that Stacey had on her website, but in person she's a real doll. She looks like a powderpuff, and has the sweetest face! So I know she's going to be a pinto, but I'm not sure yet about the color. Because she's so girly and delicate-looking, I'd like to make her a delicate color. I'm thinking palomino or a chestnut, or maybe even gray.