A Model Citizen

Update

2012-02-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

Equus Max is sooo close now, I'm just waiting for his horseshoes to dry. I'm trying to use thin layers of metallic paint, but there's something about metallics that makes them have less covering power, yet they take the longest time to dry. I still have another layer to do on them, too, but I may add a tiny drop of drier to see if that will speed the process.

Anyway, here is where Elsie is at right now. She's going so much faster than Max. I think I will work on her legs or head next.

Here's the other side of Oliver. I've put some color on his hooves. I'm going to brighten up his whites very slightly and do a little more roaning on him next.

I put some hoof color on Johann, too. I was originally planning on giving him a sock or two, but now I think I might leave his legs dark. Maybe a small snip and star, or a star and stripe instead. I don't know. The colors I am using for this guy are so transparent that it's basically just glazing over and over on him. I also have to sand him every couple of coats. I just love that regal face!

I guess it was hoof week in the studio. I want to tone down the color a bit on this guy, and the pangare isn't quite the right color yet, either.

Here's a sales piece I've been working on as time permits. He's going to have a lot of roaning in addition to his pattern, and I'm not sure if he will have one or two blue eyes.

Another sales piece that I haven't had much time to work on. I've just started roaning him. I was thinking of giving him some sabino marking, I'm not sure, though. It would be pretty minimal.

Okay, that's it for this week! Sushi is coming along and I've got a couple of other minis going, and one model that I will show only when it's finished, just for fun. I've got to surprise you with something, right?

Brush Mystery

2012-02-01T08:45:00.000-08:00

I ordered some brushes from Dick Blick the other day, and today as I sorted through them, I found one that didn't look right. The brush pictured on top is what I thought I was ordering, the Escoda Kolinsky 1208 series brush. The brush on the bottom is what I got.

Now, I know that brush manufacturers change their handles sometimes, so that could be the case, and unfortunately, this brush was the only one that didn't come with the little plastic tube that protects it. It's not frayed, but the brush hairs look like they are a different shape than the brush on the top in this picture.

Blick lists two brushes on their order page, a pointed round and a detailer round. I ordered the detailer round, but now I'm thinking that what I received was the pointed round. To make matters worse, the packing slip lists it as "retouch brush" which isn't mentioned anywhere on the order page.

Here's a closeup of the two brushes. Again, the one on the top is the one I wanted. Do they look the same to you? I wet the bottom one to bring it to a point, and when I did that, it looked very similar to the top one, but still, to my eye the base of the brush hairs on the bottom brush looks a little thicker than the base of the top brush. Blick lists the mm size of the brush, but the smallest unit that shows on any of my rulers is 1mm which is too big.

I called Blick and the CS rep insisted that I got the right brush, but I really don't know. This is a frustrating aspect of ordering things online; if there's a problem there's almost no way to figure out the truth. I went to Escoda's web site, but all of their pictures show a brush that looks like the top brush, and they are based in Spain so I'm not sure what kind of response I will get to any questions I might have.

I can still use the brush, but next time I have to order I'm going to hesitate to order this brand because I don't know what I'm going to get.

These brushes are not cheap and I don't want to spend money on something when I'm not positive I'm going to get the right thing.

Weekly Update

2012-01-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was too lazy to clear off my photo table this morning, so here's a little group shot of works in progress taken from the airbrush booth. I'm doing something a little different with Elsie and working up her light areas more aggressively first. You might remember from previous posts that I did some drybrushing on her before starting to roan and that has helped speed things up.

Max is almost ready for me to do some of the final roaning on him, I think, and with Max and Elsie together I will have my hands full for the next couple of weeks.

These smaller models are moving along much more quickly than the traditional sizes I've been working on, so I am thinking that I might try a ratio of 3-4 mini-sizes for every traditional size that I paint in the future. That way, I'll still be able to get some things out there, while also being able to work on a larger project which is much easier on my eyes.

I'm feeling bitter right now because I thought we were going to get a lot of snow here in the Seattle area, but it's not anywhere near what they predicted. That always happens, yet I always get my hopes up. I really miss those midwestern winters...

First Update of Year

2012-01-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

I'm doing some detail work on Equus Max and he's drying right now, so have been able to work on all the other commissions and some other things in the meanwhile. It's such a refreshing contrast to do roaning on a smaller piece after that big monster! This is the first layer on Elsie.

I've done some roaning on Oliver and worked on his pattern. I just glazed some brownish grey over the white areas, and will go back over that with an off-white.

Another Oliver! This is the first layer of oils.

I've got the first layer of fleabites laid down on Sushi. I'm not sure exactly where to go from here, I will probably do some pencilwork on her and see what that looks like. There are so many variations of "fleabitness" that I see, and it's hard for me to visualize how to translate this pattern in paint.

Johann had some more work done, too, but I'm going to wait a bit to show another photo. That's all for now. I'm feeling productive so far this year!

End of Year Cleaning

2011-12-28T09:48:00.000-08:00

This is about the cleanest that my studio table gets. There's no getting around it -- I'm a slob. This is our cool retro kitchen table. I have an actual room set aside for my studio but I tend to work here a lot because the light is better. I covered the top with a piece of plexiglass. It's usually so cluttered that I end up holding the model in my lap while I work.

I wish I had a picture of the awesome cake that I made for Christmas. It was a spice layer cake with cream cheese frosting, the first layer cake I ever made, and it turned out great. The slices were beautiful. It tasted good, too ;-)

Hope you all have a great new year!

Weekly Update

2011-12-14T17:38:00.000-08:00

I've got a couple more layers on Johann now. He still looks too orange, I can see this is going to be a difficult color that will need a lot of finessing. He's going to be more of a browny-gold with sort of chocolate darker areas. It's hard to describe. So I'm still in the process of toning him down.

I've been working on the roany patches of Oliver. I wanted to get some of the roan work established first, and then I will go back and tighten up some of the markings. I worked on Elsie's mane and tail but she still looks pretty much the same so I'm not showing her photo, I'll be setting her aside to dry for a bit and then will start roaning on her.

And here's the fleabit Sushi that I'm doing. I'm trying something a little different with her and doing the initial fleabites in oils. It looks really stark at this point but there will be a lot more layers and blending in later. I'm really enjoying the larger flea bites and the fact that they're different sizes and more random, it's so much faster than doing a roan where a lot of sections need to be pretty uniform.

And that's all for now! I doubt if I'll post anything next week, so Happy Holidays to all of you :-)

2011-12-07T08:28:00.001-08:00

I know I've been AWOL from the blog the last few weeks, as you can see I've been busy working on Equus Max. I've worked up his roaning and now I'm going to focus on his head, legs and mane and tail before I go any further with the roaning. I need a break! I can't tell you how many days have gone by where I've worked for hours, only to think at the end of the day: "it looks the same!" He's finally starting to get somewhere now. I really made a mistake by not doing a scumbled lighter gray base before starting the roaning. I'm a slow learner and stubbornly seem to do the same wrong things several times before a new idea sinks in. I've done a little scumbling over the hairs here, but will need to do more.

In the photo above, I've photoshopped the ribbons and the frosty mane and tail. His ear tips have rubbed off so I'm touching that up, that's why his ears have white tips.

Here he is from the other side:

and here is a shot of his chest area:

You should be able to click the photos to enlarge them.

This week I was able to work on Elsie and a little bit on Oliver. After I work on Max in oils I will need to let him dry for a while, so I will get a chance to work on my other pieces. I'm looking forward to it!

Uh oh!

2011-11-23T08:09:00.001-08:00

Hope you all have a fun and safe Thanksgiving!

Oh, my bleary eyes!

2011-11-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've been spending the bulk of my time now working on this gigantic Equus Maximus. He still has a long way to go, but I can definitely see him starting to take shape. I did some scumbling of paint under the initial roaning, but now I'm doing more hair-by-hair roaning on top of that. I wish the photos showed the complexity that is going on. He has only been sprayed with Krylon matte fixative, which is actually kind of satin, but after I do more roaning on him I'll spray him with Dull Cote and that will flatten the color and make the contrast pop a little.

This guy will probably be taking up most of my time for the next couple of weeks, so forthcoming blog posts will be sporadic. Sometimes it's relaxing to work on a piece like this, but after days on end, my eyes are not happy :-0 I also get really tired (or really antsy) from sitting in one position for so long, it's like I get into a trance and forget to move or look up.

I have managed to work a little bit on Elsie. I still have some more to do on her body color, but she will also be a roan. At least she's small!

Ollie's picture is a little blurry. He's going to have roany patches on him, so I'm starting to work on that before I tighten up the pattern.

Warm Greys

2011-10-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of warm grey color that I've been trying out recently. I like both of them.

The one on the left is Sennelier Acrylique Warm Grey, and the one on the right is Old Holland Warm Grey Light oil paint. They're both pretty similar which is good for matching acrylic colors to oils if I need to do that. They are so warm that they're almost brown in color (in fact, both these colors are a mix of browns with white). I've added titanium white as a tint and mars black as a shade on both of these for comparison.

The tints are really nice, great for highlighting, light dapples or to incorporate into the base color for white markings or a grey horse. The darker shades are great for greys again, muzzles, and also for some grullo colors. Out of the tube, these greys would make a great base color for a classic champagne (haven't tried that yet but it looks like it would work), or a dun or brownish grullo color. They're also a good base color for chestnuts, can be mixed with a darker brown, black, etc. for a variety of grayish-brown colors. Very versatile!

The Sennelier acrylic is pretty thick so will need to be watered down before use, and the Old Holland oil is thick also, so you might want to try a medium or thinner to help smooth brushstrokes. I used to hate how thick and hard Old Holland colors were, but I really like this color so I've gotten used to it.

Weekly Update

2011-09-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

Hmm, let's see what I've got today. Turko is drying but I'm so close to finishing him up now, I'm happy with how he's turning out. A lot of things are in the drying stages at the moment.

Johann's body is still slightly tacky to the touch so I started on his mane and tail. I'm doing the darks first so it looks kind of like mud.

I'm still adding white on Oliver, I went into the grooves with a darker grayish color and now I'm going over that with the lighter white. I still need to do his legs.

One thing I'm finally starting to remember is to do the underside of everything first. I can't tell you how many times I've painted the body up to a pretty finished state, only to realize that I haven't painted the underside of the mane, tail, etc. Elsie has a lot of underside crooks and crannies so I'm making sure to start on those areas before I go too far with her body.

This picture came out a little blue. Max is drying right now so I started on the base. I will do some more pencil work on him, and then some roaning with a detail brush after that. If you're interested in seeing more detail on him, I think I uploaded this picture at full size so you can click on him for a bigger picture.

Here's a Taboo that I've just started roaning. He's going to be a chestnut roan overo, and I wasn't sure if I should start with the pinto markings or the roaning. I opted for roaning. I kind of hesitated to show this picture because it looks so terrible in this early stage. Also it's about 5 times bigger than the actual model.

That's it for now! Since so many things are waiting to dry at the moment, I've been putting the finishing details on the chestnut Jezebel I've been working on. Hopefully she'll be available for sale in the next couple of weeks.

Weekly Update

2011-09-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Johann has his first layer of oils. He's a little too red-caramel colored right now, I intend for him to have more brownish points and a cooler gold base color.

Ollie also has one coat of oils now. I'm doing something a little different with his white markings, I usually start with a white coat that has a tint to it, but this time I'm using straight titanium for more covering power.

Elsie's basecoat airbrushed in. This is about as worked up as it ever gets in airbrush for me, I'm so inept with it. When I paint I tend to get over-excited and start doing things fast, and with airbrush I've found that it really helps to go slowly and with a more measured pace. That's hard for me to do!

Here's a detail shot of Equus Max. He's got about 3 or 4 layers on him at this point. Roans are one of the things that I am able to move slowly with (sometimes too slowly). I actually practice breathing slowly and looking up a lot while I'm doing them. I find if you go too fast with a roan, you make the marks too long and it ends up looking streaky and unnatural.

Here's a Nevada sales piece that I'm trying to sneak in when I can. He will be a dun overo.

That's all for this week!

2011-09-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the Rose Reiner, finally finished! This was my first Traditional sized full roan, and he was really a challenge. I still feel like I'm learning when I do these, and with this guy I really made a mistake by starting with too dark of a base, so it took a long time to build up the color. I used pencils, dry pigment, and acrylics in various areas for the roaning. I tried keeping track of the time that I worked on him, and he clocked in at 212 hours (including prepwork). That's just way too long. So for the Equus Maximus that is also a roan, I'm adding some glazes/scumbles of a lighter color in paint to try to shorten that painting time a bit. I hope it works!

Here's a little Ollie that I've just started. He's going to be a pinto. I just love this guy's face, he is so adorable.

Here's that classy Johann, I've given him a warm basecoat.

Jezebel is just taking so long because I haven't had a chance to work on her. I'm adding her markings and still tweaking her color a little bit.

That's all for this week!

Who Created Me?

2011-08-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

I've had this little model for years and years, and I have no idea who sculpted and painted it. I bought her at the first model horse show I ever went to, which was a Midwest Congress in Illinois. I think I was 12 or 13 years old, so that would make it 1979-80? I had to beg my mom to take me to this show, which was at a Holiday Inn in a distant Chicago suburb. I remember being overwhelmed by the amount of models there, it was jam packed. Kathleen Maestas was there, and I think Julie Froelich, but now I'm not sure. I remember being awed by the smooth hair job on the works that I thought were Froelich's, but now when I see vintage pics of Julie's work, it looks like she worked exclusively in mohair. The ones I saw used the smooth hair like Faye Cohen, so I'm not sure if it was Faye or someone else now.

At any rate, there was a woman at the show who had a whole slew of these little ceramic (?) horses, all sculpted and painted by herself. I don't remember her name, but the last picture here shows her signature mark. Does anyone know who it could be? I never saw any of these pieces again in the hobby, and always wondered who she was and what happened to her.

As I was wandering the aisles at the show, my mom helpfully offered to keep this gal in her purse for "safekeeping," and when I pulled her out of the purse later, her leg was broken off. So much for purse safety! I've lost the leg over the years but have kept her around in the hopes that I can identify her someday.

Update

2011-08-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the Hank commission that I recently finished. He was really difficult to photograph, just getting a shot of his head was a challenge. I'll try to get the rest of his photos on my website and Facebook this week.
I'm still busy with roaning the reiner and Equus Max, but hopefully I'll have a couple more photos by next week.

Weekly Update

2011-07-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Poor Jezebel has been neglected for a while while I work on commissions, but I got a chance to do a little detailing on her yesterday. She's going to have white stockings and a thin white blaze. Sorry for the blurry hind end!

Here are a couple of closer shots of Hank. I still want to do a little more to his head and various minor things. He's got markings that are kind of crisp in some areas and then roaned out a little in other areas.

I'm starting to refine the dapples a bit on Turko, and I blocked in the colors in his mouth.

That's all for this week!

Weekly Update

2011-07-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the Rose Reiner mostly, here's where he's at right now:

This is the part where I tend to get stuck. I'm never sure how to proceed from here. Do I want to keep adding hair detail? Do I use dry pigment to soften it up a little and then add more hair detail? I think it needs a little more work but it's so hard to know what to do. I've put so many hours into it that I dread screwing it up by going too far, and then having to backtrack for several more hours.
I have some time before I determine how to proceed as I work on the other side. I'm starting to procrastinate because I don't know what to do.

Weekly Update

2011-07-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

I have been really busy working on these roans, here are a few shots of the Reiner, who is finally starting to look acceptable to me:

I start to feel really overwhelmed when working on roans because they take so much time. I feel like I'll never finish! I'm experimenting with a test horse to see if I can come up with faster technique, but I really like the effect that I get with the way that I do it now. I really don't know if it's worth my while to do these. I'm keeping track of how many hours I spend on this one, and it's already way, way up there. It will be interesting to see the total hours in the end.
I'm still waiting for approval on Sushi, but I consider her done at this point, here are a couple of shots of her:

I gave her a big belly spot:

I've been trying to touch every commission piece each day, as well as one sales piece, but I haven't been able to meet that goal at this point. I've been putting in extra hours each day, I really want to get my sales pieces out the door so I'll be able to buy a fresh horse to work on (Dante....I hope...)
I plan on getting pictures of my newly finished pieces up on my website and Facebook hopefully by next week. And that's all for now!

Weekly Update

2011-06-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

I was sick last week so I lost a couple of days in the studio. I did manage to get some work done though:

Here's the Rose Reiner with some more work done on his hip, shoulder, and legs. You can finally see that he's going to be a roan!

I worked a little overall on Turko, there will be more dappling on his hindquarters so it won't look that stark, but I needed to emphasize some of the darks before I went forward.

Hank is starting to come together now.

This is still the first layer of Equus Maximus, he still looks really terrible. Of course those lines won't be on there when he's done. He's got some reverse dappling, and I noticed that one side's dappling is bigger than the other's, so I will need to fix that.
That's about all for this week. I completely spaced out and forgot that NAN was last week, I don't know if any of my pieces were there. Congratulations to all the winners and I hope it was a great time for everyone :-)

Weekly Update

2011-06-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, Blogger sure changed their dashboard, I'm not sure if I like it or not. I'll have to get used to it.

I don't have a whole lot to show this week. I'm having a heck of a time getting good pictures of Equus Maximus, I've got one layer of roaning on one side of him now, and partially done with the other side. This is the best I could get at the moment, you can't really see much yet:

Next up is a roaning detail of the Rose Reiner I'm working on, I've also worked a bit on the blanket. I'm right at the point where I'm starting to emphasize some areas and then leave other area alone to create depth. I will probably switch to a brush pretty soon on this one.

And last is Turko, who's had a little bit done to his legs, and I've put another layer of light color on him and started playing with the dappling a bit.

Well, from this post I can see that Blogger hasn't worked out the quirky nature of their "compose" mode despite the update to the look of the dashboard. I always have to go in and delete extra spaces and fiddle around with things. I could start ranting right now! But I won't...

Update

2011-06-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

Sushi is close to being finished now, I still need to work on her mane/tail and eyes, I think, and a couple of things I need to touch up. I might do a little more to the dapples, also. I think she photographs best from this angle, from the side she ends up looking a little distorted (even though she's not).

I've gone back and forth on the whites and body color on Hank, I'm letting him sit to dry for a bit before I work on him some more.

Turko's mane and tail won't be so garish when he's done, I usually just lay down a color and see how it looks relative to the rest of the piece. He's only got a couple of layers on him so far.

That's all the photos I've got this week, I took photos of Equus Maximus, who has one layer of roaning done on one side, but there was a lot of glare and you could barely see it, so maybe I will try again next week. He is really kicking my butt!

Some Yellow Ochres

2011-05-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

I got a couple of new neutral yellows so thought I'd do a little comparison. They really vary from one manufacturer to the next.

W & N yellow ochre seems to be the most neutral, it makes a nice tint and I use it a lot. I like the consistency of it, too.

Rembrandt yellow ochre is new for me, I was surprised at how yellow it was, but it confirmed my thoughts that Rembrandt's colors tend to be kind of garish, in my opinion. It's nice and buttery but has a lot of oil in it, and is somewhat transparent with low tinting strength.

Old Holland Mars Yellow is pretty yellow, too, it's actually more yellow than it looks in this photo. It's opaque and dries fairly quickly, which would make it useful for base coats. I don't like the consistency of it, very stiff.

W & N Raw Sienna is another neutral yellow that I use a lot, especially in mixes with white. I use it a lot in hoof colors. It looks slightly greenish out of the tube, so I wouldn't mix it with any blue-ish color like ivory black or payne's gray because you might get a green color.

Old Holland Gold Ochre is another really stiff paint, and it's pretty yellow. It makes nice subtle mixes, though, so I like it. I use it often in combination with raw sienna and burnt sienna.

I got the Schmincke Norma Gold Ochre to compare it to Old Holland. What a difference! They're like two different colors. The Schmincke is a burnt yellow, closer to Raw Sienna. It makes a very pretty toasty color when mixed with white. I'm still getting used to the color of this one but I do like it. I have been very impressed with the quality of Schmincke Norma paints. They have a great consistency, not too stiff but not oily, and the colors are very rich. The downside is that they're expensive and the tube is only 35ml, compared to 37ml for W & N and 40ml for Rembrandt.

Update

2011-05-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hank is coming along pretty well. I'm working ont the whites right now.

Here's Sushi after I've added a little pastel and some acrylic work to her roaning. I've started on her stockings, too. She has a big belly spot, I'll get a picture of that sometime.

Dafydd has had some refinement to his color and dapples, and I've started adding markings.

Turko is still in early stages, He's going have dappling on his hindquarters and shoulders.
That's all for this week!

Weekly Update

2011-04-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Blogger is not cooperating with me today, so if this post is all jumbled up, that's why.

Sushi has another layer of roaning, it's finally starting to show.

I've started adding more to the blanket on this Rose Reiner. He's got two full layers of roaning on him, and now I'm going to start making more variation in the roan pattern. I'll also be going back and forth with the spots and pattern.
That's all for this week!

Update

2011-04-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

I recently finished this mini Nahar, I'm very pleased with the color. I am hoping to get more pictures of him on my website today. I will be offering him to members of my Yahoo mail group, so if you're interested, please sign up.

Weekly Update

2011-04-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here's what I've been working on lately:

It's hard to see at this point but I've started putting some roan markings onto Sushi. This is just the first layer so placement of everything is subject to change. I'm going to try to make the roaning look really patchy.

Here's the other side of the Rose Reiner. I'm still on the second layer of roaning on him, so not a lot to see yet on him, either.

Dafydd has had some more work done to his mane/tail, some darker areas and a little work on the dapples. I'm going to let him dry for a few days before I do any more on him.

Here's a closeup of the Equus Maximus. He's going to be a blue roan, so I've sprinkled some airbrush speckles over his coat to get him started a little bit. I probably could have made it a little heavier, but personally I prefer the look of many layers of hand-roaning. I usually go in and scumble some paint around, too, as well as using some pastel at times.

Hank is slowly coming along. So hard to photograph!

I love this sculpture and have super-high hopes for the paint job on him. He's going to look so cool! I love his face. His movement reminds me of the painting of Napoleon on Marengo, so I've given him a military name, Captain Winters, while I work on him. I actually thought I might like to try sculpting a rider for him, but I know I don't have time to do it. I could definitely see him with military tack and a cavalryman riding him, though.

I've darkened up Stormy a bit. I'm going for a kind of dusty bay look, I still need to add some reddish tones and darken his backside more because he is also going to be a roan.

I'm feeling better about Sushi now. I normally do my roaning with pencils and/or acrylic paint, but I think I am going to try the fleabites on her with oils. I've never done fleabites before, and never tried roaning with oils, either, so we'll see how it goes. I may have to switch to something else. I'm always up for trying something new, though!

I just looked and 7 out of the 12 models I've got in production right now are going to have some type of roaning or fleabites, so pictures may be sporadic in the coming weeks. There's just not much to show until it gets to a certain level of finish. I will try to intersperse the roan work with the non-roan work just to give my eyes a break.

Weekly Update

2011-03-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a full body shot of the Rose Reiner I'm working on. Right now, I'm working on his second layer of roaning. I'm trying to incorporate the blanket in with the roaning as I work. At this point it takes me several hours to do each section of roaning and then I spray it before continuing. I'm working in sections: barrel, right hindquarters, shoulders/neck, underside, etc. Once I get 3-4 layers of roaning on him, it should start to speed up a little.

I've started putting color on Hank. He's in that really ugly streaky mode.

I'm still in the process of warming up Sushi's color.

I posted this Mercurio picture on a forum and on my official Facebook page, but for those of you who don't go there, here he is in his finished form.
That's all I've got worth showing this week! Lots of roaning to work on, so pictures may be sparse for a while.

Weekly Update

2011-03-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have so many pictures to show this week, I had to leave some out! Here's the Jezebel that is going to be a red chestnut. She does look more red now. She'll probably end up being more orangey-red. Thanks for the tip, Jenn!

I'm warming up Sushi's body while cooling off her mane and tail, I think she's starting to head in the right direction now.

I've just got a base layer on the Hank commission right now. I'm excited about the color and pattern of this guy, but I don't know what it's called so you'll just have to wait and see.

A monster! I love this sculpture, he's so cool. He is going to be a roan. I hope my eyes hold out!

Dafydd has another layer, I've darkened his neck a bit and worked a little on his dapples. I have to work on the mane and tail next because they're bugging me.

Here's one of the mini Nahars I've been working on. I'm really happy with this rich bay color.

Okay, that's it for this week, hope you all have a great St. Patrick's Day for those of you who celebrate it! It's my husband's birthday so I'm off to get ingredients to make him his favorite treat.

Don't Give Up

2011-03-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I have to remind myself of that when a piece is at this hideous stage. I knew I was going to have trouble with this color, and sure enough it is starting out with the wrong colors, wrong values, everything is wrong! How this Sushi looks right now reminds me of one of my very early attempts at painting when I was about 12 year old. I wish I had a photo of it, but the colors were almost exactly the same. Back then I did give up, and was so discouraged by my results that I didn't pick up painting models again for over 15 years. I didn't realize that I could continue painting and it would eventually look better. I thought everything had to look perfect right from the start lol! I'm glad I know better now ;-)

Here's a detail shot of the Rose Reiner that I'm working on. This is the 1st layer of roaning. I think I'm going to try something new with this one and incorporate some of the blanket in with the roaning and go back and forth with it.

Lots of chestnuts coming up. They always start out too orange. This guy is on his second layer.

This Mindy is going to be more of a toasty reddish-brown when she's done.

Nevada has another layer of oils. I really like the simple, clean shapes on this sculpture.

I've finally started on this Jezebel after customizing her tail and forelock. I'm planning on making her into a red chestnut. I haven't done a really red chestnut before and I think I'm going to have problems with that color.
That's all for this week! I think I'll be able to spray a couple of things that are almost finished and there might be a new face to see next week as well. Have a great one!

A Day in the Life

2011-02-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

I'm always interested in seeing other people's spaces and work setups, and also in hearing how people spend their workday, so I thought I'd share a typical workday for me.

I get up early every morning: at 4:00 am! I start every morning with some exercise, when I have energy and motivation. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't exercise at all.

After breakfast, I start working. I try to start every workday with some drawing. I usually do line drawings of my kitchen, or sketches of my cats/husband or "talking heads" from the tv. Drawing is the one thing in my life that I can truly say I have confidence in. I'm a good draftsman and it brings me great enjoyment. I'm past the point where mistakes would make me cringe and I would stress over every little thing. Now it's simply a joy.

Time to start on models! Here's my little oil painting setup. I hardly ever clean my palette. I tell myself that I will hold the model on the table, but I always end up scrunching down in that chair with the model in my lap. I usually listen to NPR while I work.

Here is my airbrush setup. The lower half holds paint and a few models-in-waiting. There is a fan that goes out to a fireplace behind it. I have one of those horrible loud compressors, it always makes me jump. I usually just do base coats with the airbrush, otherwise I would have to get a silent compressor.

In the afternoon I start painting my "flat work." It's not horse-related, as you can see. My eyes are usually pretty tired at this point so it becomes a bit of an endurance session now.

Here's my flat work setup. I don't know why I keep this palette clean and the other one dirty. I paint until the evening, about 7:00 pm.

No day is complete without Jeopardy! I always make grand plans to do some digital artwork in the evening, but unfortunately my energy is really low at this time, so it's usually off to bed soon after this.

(Semi) Weekly Update

2011-02-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

I think I skipped last week. Okay, several things to show this week:

Here is the Paige Patty reiner that I finished up last week. I like the angle of this pose, I can see envision him with tack.

Here's the Rose Reiner with a couple of airbrushed base coats on him. I did a little hand-painting too. You can't see it in this photo but he has a faint spattering of airbrushed white to get him started a little bit with the roaning. I may do a little more in certain areas before I start roaning in earnest.

I'm still really nervous about this Sushi. I'm not sure how to continue. Should I use acrylics or oils for a body coat? Go right in with fleabites or work up the body more and then do some fleabites? Use paint or pencil for the fleabites? Maybe both. I have a feeling she's going to take a really long time.

Here's Dafydd with an airbrushed base coat. The color isn't exactly right but I think it will be good enough for a base for me.

This Sushi is going to have a lot of bling, so I had to add some white to her legs to remind myself not to paint any more black down there!

Taboo is closer to being finished. I'm still working on his blanket and some details. He will be a sales piece on eBay, hopefully by the end of this month or early March.

I dropped this poor Mini Nahar and three of his legs broke off. I was so mad at myself for letting this happen. The legs broke very clean so they will be easy to repair, but the ear is going to be a challenge for me. I couldn't find the eartip. I have had very poor results using the superglue/baking soda remedy, so this will be another learning experience for me as I have another go at it. I think I'm too messy with it. The precise application of glue or baking soda is not my strong point.

I'm getting the dreaded taxes ready over the next couple of weeks so posting may be sporadic for a while longer.

Lots of New Stuff Today

2011-01-26T09:29:00.000-08:00

While I've been waiting for things to dry and detailing other pieces, I spent some time starting a few pieces. It felt good to be able to touch every single one of the sales pieces that I have planned for this year.

But first up is this Mercurio, who is coming along much more quickly than I had expected. Good news since I've had this guy for far too long. I still have work to do on him, but this photo illustrates my favorite point in a paintjob: when I can see everything starting to come together and I know that the end is in sight. It can feel really daunting to spend several months on one piece, to the point where I wonder if I'll ever finish, but when I get to this point it literally feels like a weight lifts off of me and I feel a surge of confidence because I know I can do it now.

And this is probably my second favorite point in a paintjob, where I have finished prepping and have just started to add color. It looks horrible, pretty much unrecognizable to the finished product, but it's here where I can let my imagination go and just have fun and not worry about anything. I actually started painting this guy but then I felt that he was a little too tight on his base, so I've been loosening the holes a little bit so it's not so hard to stick him on the base.

Taboo has another layer of acrylics painted on him, not sure how much farther 'll go with that before I switch over to oils.

Here's the Sushi that is going to be a fleabit grey. I am very nervous about doing this color and I'm really not sure how I'm going to go about it. I will probably do a combination of colored pencil and tiny brushwork, among other things.

I sure love this sculpture, I can't wait to get more color on him.

This Nevada is going to be a dun pinto. You can see how poor my airbrush skills are in this photo. I originally painted a light pangare color, but clumsily covered it all up with the body color. So I don't know whether airbrushing actually saves me time or not, since I'll have to fix that.

I have a really cool chestnut color picked out for Mindy, I hope I can pull it off! It won't look anything like this, I can tell you that much.

Vixen is going to be an appy. This is two layers of acrylic hand painting.

Imp will be a black blanket appy. It's kind of an extended blanket.
That's it for now. I'll be continuing the detailing of my current commission pieces, as well as putting more color on the Rose Reiner and the bay Sushi.

Update

2011-01-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, back to blogging! I've been spending lots of time on the dappling for Alvaro and Mercurio, as well as detailing on the Paige Patty reiner, but I still want to wait before showing them again. I thought I would show a couple of detail shots of the dapples. Mercurio is more of a sooty buckskin color and Alvaro has more caramel tones. I'd say I'm about 85% done on Avaro and the reiner, and probably 65% on Mercurio. When I get down to the more detailed parts of any painting I slow down considerably, to the point where it sometimes feels like I'm making no progress.

Hmm, what else? Here's a (blurry) shot of all the mini sales pieces I plan on painting this year. I really want to be able to finish all of these this year.

And here is a new oil paint that I tried out that I really like:

It's called "Modigliani ochre" and is a really nice dull flesh-like color. It's a mix of red iron oxide, brown ochre and zinc white. Here's a little swatch of it:

It's not as warm as it looks on my screen, I'm very happy with it as a starting point for flesh tone mixes.

Somebody wants to be a model!

End of Year

2010-12-30T09:11:00.000-08:00

This year seemed to fly by and I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. Although I do feel that I'm learning and getting better with each piece, I had grand plans for how fast I'd be able to paint and was hopelessly inadequate in that area. I hope to be able to organize my time and techniques more effectively in the new year and get more works out there.

I am down to the last of my blank resins and am pretty sure I can get them all done in 2011. So far I've had really good experiences with commissions, so I do plan on continuing with them, though it will probably be spring before I can take any more on.

I have to admit that this wasn't a great year for me money-wise, and trying to deal with money issues and survive as an artist has been a real challenge for me. I am hopeful that I will be able to turn the corner soon and be a little more successful in this area.

The main thing I want to focus on in 2011 is to simply relax and enjoy myself more, and not get so caught up in worrying about things that I have no control over. I think I should be able to do that ;-)

I hope everyone else has a healthy and prosperous new year!

Holiday Update

2010-12-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be in and out of the studio the next week so this will probably be the last post before Christmas. I have been really productive and am really far along on Alvaro, Mercurio and the reiner, but I don't want to show them until I've got more details on them. So here are a few things that I've just started or are still in early stages:

Sushi is on her third layer of oils, I think. She's going to have some light dappling on her shoulder/back area, and then a surprise! You'll see...

Mini Nahar has another layer of oils. I think I already said that he'll be a straight bay, I'll probably give him a sock or two and some kind of facial marking.

I've softened the dapples a bit on Mercurio at this point. I just love this sculpture.

Here's another Taboo that I just started. He looks so terrible right now! He's going to be a red roan overo (maybe some sabino) I've been looking at a lot of reference pictures lately so I can't remember.
I've also done some research for a Nevada and the Stormwatch that I will be starting (probably next year). I'm finally getting down to the bottom of my resin list! That means that hopefully by the middle or end of next year I can start concentrating on more current resins as they become available. I definitely don't like having a big herd of unpainteds on my shelf.
That's it for this time, I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season!

A Naples Yellow Comparison

2010-12-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

Naples yellow is one of those great "horse-y" colors, but I have found that it really varies from one manufacturer to another. Each company seems to use different mixtures of pigments to make their color, and it can range from a bright yellow to a subtle neutral. I've been cycling through tubes to see what manufacturer I like best, so here's a few that I've tried lately.

I like Rembrandt paints in general because they are very smooth and relatively cheap (plus their tube is 40ml vs 37ml for most standard tubes). However, some of their colors tend to be garish, and also they tend to use more oil so I have started steering away from them a little bit.

The first color on the left is Rembrandt Naples Yellow Light. As you can see, the tube is almost full because I didn't like this color. It's too light for my taste, and it almost has a greenish cast to it. The color to the right of it is Naples Yellow Deep. This one is better, and I have used it on models, but it's still too yellow and falls into the garish category for me. It can always be modulated by another color, but I'd rather not take the extra time when one color will do.

Next is Sennelier Naples Yellow Deep. I really like this color and use it all the time. It's a nice neutral yellow, and the consistency is buttery without too much oil. I don't use a lot of Sennelier colors because I had a really bad experience with a stringy tube of paint from them once, but this is one color that I will definitely buy again.

Finally, there is Winsor & Newton Naples Yellow. This is slightly more yellow than the Sennelier, but it's still a very nice color. The problem I have with it is that it has lead carbonate in it. I didn't realize this when I ordered it online. I don't like using paint with lead in it, not because of the toxicity so much, but because the lead makes the paint heavy and difficult to brush out. It's a weird feeling and doesn't work well with the lighter synthetic brushes, it needs a good stiff brush to work best.

There are still a few other brands left that I'd like to try, but I need to use up the Sennelier first. It lasts a long time!

Weekly Update

2010-12-01T07:46:00.000-08:00

Sushi has a simple airbrushed basecoat and a thin layer of oils on her now.

I worked some on the dapples on Mercurio. He still looks a little polka-dotted and regimented at this point.

I got a chance to work a bit on this Mini Nahar. He's going to be a straight bay. It was really relaxing to just put some paint on and blend it, and not have to worry so much about hair growth, patterns, size of dapples, etc.

I'm still debating what color to paint my Stormwatch. I'm leaning towards roan right now. When I look at him, I see pinto, but I don't know. I could do a roan pinto, but I'm just not sure. So indecisive!
That's it for this week :-)

Weekly Update

2010-11-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

Wow! We got blindsided up here in the Northwest with a winter storm, lots of ice on the roads. I thought my husband was going to be stuck on the highway overnight, but he made it home from work after 6 hours. I normally love the snow, but not when my family gets caught in it.

Anyway, on to the horses. I'm still working on the basic colors and shading of Mercurio. His dapples look like polka dots right now but that will change. I love the way Brigitte portrays movement, especially at the trot, both Lajjina and Mercurio have this beautiful presence and natural look.

I've been doing lots of little things to the reiner, started adding some mottling, worked a little on the hooves, and fiddled around some more with the spots. I've washed some more color over the blanket where I am working with the roaning, and added some color for ticking (or whatever it's called, I'm not good with nomenclature). I will go over all of that with blanket color.

I'm just putting in a basic airbrushed base coat here on Sushi. I love the way this resin looks in person but she's kind of hard to photograph because she's walking in such a straight-on pose. It makes her head look more angular than it is, I think. Some models are just really hard to photograph.

I've been able to work a little bit on Taboo. I'm really enjoying working on him and trying out some different techniques.

Whew! Well, that's all I've got to show for this week, I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Computer Problems

2010-11-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

Argh! I'm having some computer problems so may not be able to post anything for a while. One diagnostic test showed a corrupted hard drive which doesn't sound good, so I'm going to be doing some more testing today and the computer will be tied up. I may not be able to check emails consistently, either. At least it's still under warranty (I think). I really don't want to drag this thing to the shop...

Weekly Update

2010-11-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

I missed a week! I'm back this week though with a couple of pictures, including a new face

Here are two SM foals that I've been working on, they are so cute! I'm not sure if I'm going to be selling them or not.

Here's the latest Alvaro shot. Since the previous photo, I have worked some on his base, his head and overall darks. I'm letting him dry for a while and then will go back in with the lights and more detail work on the dapples. His hooves of course are not done yet.

I've made some of the reiner's spots a little bigger, and worked some on the roaning and legs. I also put some darks on his mane and tail, and have just started putting color on the hooves.

Here's the new guy, an Eberl Mercurio. He's going to be a sooty dappled buckskin. I've just put a coat of airbrush color on him to start to establish color and shading.

I'm just waiting for the base to dry on Lajjina before I take more photos. I may be able to spray the base today. I have also decided that I'm going to try a fleabit gray the Sushi that I've got. I'm really nervous about doing this color, I've never done it before and am not sure how I'm going to do it. I really want to try this color though, and I think it will suit this mold well.
That's it for this week!

Weekly Update

2010-10-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

Not too much to show this week, I had to wait to spray some things and have been sick for a couple of days, too. I'm getting some work done, but I've been moving around the studio in slow-motion because of it.

Here's the reiner from a different view so you can see his face. I also decided to make some of his spots a little larger. You can't really tell in this photo, though.

I'm still working on Jezebel's tail, I'm happier with it now. Note the new kitten's foot in the background!

The Apple Techie's color is close to where I want it now, I think. I'm going to work on her mane and tail a bit and then start on her blanket soon.
That's about it for this week. Alvaro has had work done to him but still looks about the same, and I should have some final pictures of the Lajjina resin next week (hopefully).

Brush Review

2010-10-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more brushes I found that I really like.

This is the Black Gold by Dynasty 20/0 filbert brush, I didn't even know they made these. Filberts are oval shaped and are good, all-purpose brushes. When they're new, they have a dull point to them, and as you use them they spread out and become good blenders. As you can see, this one is well-used and paint has dried into the ferrule. This brush is great for painting small areas on minis, painting around spots on blankets, and small detail areas on larger pieces. I just love this brand of brush, I buy Black Golds all the time. You can get them at Dick Blick and the price is right at $2.80 a piece.

These are Silverwhite 1503S filberts. I like the long handle Silverwhites, too, but these short handles are a little smaller and easier to handle on small models. These were pretty pointy when I got them. I really like this brand also, the white nylon brushes are very nice for scrubbing color in, and I can also use larger sizes for glazing. I happen to be partial to the filbert shape because it seems to last longer for me. I don't take care of my brushes very well, and flats and brights tend to get hard at the base pretty quickly (for me). Anway, these are excellent all-purpose brushes for either oils or acrylics. They're also pretty cheap at Dick Blick.

I've been lax about posting photo updates, but I should have something next week.

Weekly Update

2010-10-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

I have been so absent-minded lately! I meant to do a brush review this week because I found a couple of brushes I really like, but I forgot to take pictures of them when I was doing my weekly photography, so I guess that will have to wait 'til next week. So here is the reiner I've been working on, I've added some more roaning to him and put a couple more layers of white on him. Soon I will start dulling that white down and working a little on his body and legs.

I'm still in the process of re-doing Jezebel's tail. I'm never sure whether I should add little bits at a time or try to do the whole thing at once. Usually, when I add a lot of material and try to do it at once, I end up rushing through it and it doesn't look as good, so this time I'm trying to go slow and build it up in smaller segments.

I'm adding layers of white to Taboo. I'm using oils for the blanket on this one, very thin layers that I'm scumbling into the coat. If I need to, I finely sand the layers with 600 (or is that 6000?) grit sandpaper.

Here are a couple of Mini Nahars with a simple airbrushed basecoat. One will be a straight bay and one will be a bay pinto.
That's about it for this week, I've been enjoying watching the WEG this week, thankfully they're showing it live on Universal Sports channel so I don't have to watch the dreadful NBC regular coverage. So many gorgeous horses!

Weekly Update

2010-09-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

I am playing with the lights and darks of Alvaro's dapples now. I made the smaller dapples on his back a little darker and put a few more layers on him, and also a glaze of burnt sienna to warm him up in some areas.

Here's another view of the Patty reiner. I'm still working on whitening up the blanket. It won't be that white when I'm done, but I like to use a more opaque white for covering on the lower layers. I'm also giving him some roaning around the edges of the blanket.

I'm not sure what base color this horse is. The reference photo I'm using looks like he's got a silver mane and a dark chestnut tail. His body color looks like a dark liver chestnut. I don't know if a chestnut horse can have silver in it or not, or if that is something that happens because of the appaloosa genes.

Thanks to Cece and Jenn for giving me advice on Jezebel, I have torn her tail apart again and am trying anew.
That's all for this week!

Weekly Update

2010-09-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

It's problem-solving day for me today!

Previously I had said that I thought Jezebel's tailbone was a little too long, so I dremelled it down and re-sculpted it and the result came out exactly the same (see top photo). I thought that was funny. In the second photo I have Photoshopped some of the tail out, I think the second photo looks more realistic as far as the length of the tailbone, though the top photo has overall more balance. I would love to hear others' feedback. Disregard the weird lines on the second photo's tail, that is my poor Photoshop attempt at the clone tool.

Here's the Apple Techie I've been working on. This is another example of a problem I'm trying to solve. Generally, I will do 3-4 layers of oil paint, let that dry, then spray it with Dull Cote to see what the effect will be. When I do this, I almost always find streaky areas, causing me to go back in with oils and repeat the whole process again. This is one of the things that takes a long time, fixing these little areas that don't look as blended as I want them to be. Here's a closeup of the leg to show you an example of the streaky area (right above the knee).

I don't know, maybe it doesn't look that streaky, but it bugs me and I just have to go back and paint over it. I almost feel like I have OCD sometimes! Part of the problem might be because of the transparency of the paint and/or the medium that I use that causes more transparency, thus requiring more layers. It could possibly be the lighting too. I haven't had good results when I've tried painting in thicker layers, so until I can figure it out, I will just have to slog through with this slow, time-consuming way.

I have been given the opportunity to paint a couple of Brigitte Eberl's Sushi resins that were cast for Tom Bainbridge, I thought I'd post a couple of photos of her at different angles since most of Tom's angles are straight on. The casting on her was superb, what a relief to get an Eberl that will be easy to prep! One will be painted for Tom and the other I will paint for sale. She is really nice, beautifully proportioned and she has a sweet, type-y look. I'm not sure what color I'm going to paint mine, I'm open to suggestions! I was thinking of possibly a rose grey, or maybe a pinto. I just don't know yet.

Okay, next week I'll have more progress shots.

Weekly Update

2010-09-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Lots of updates this week!

I'm still working on Lajjina here but she's getting very close. I still want to fiddle with the dapples a little, work on her hooves and eyes and the base.

The reiner is starting to get a blanket, but he's still in that hideous-looking stage. I'm not sure if I'll keep that patch on his hindquarters or fill it in.

This little foal has a playmate that is mostly done. I notice some streaky areas on the bay section of this one, so I'll have to do some more work on him.

I am happier with Jezebel's tail now, though I need to refine it a bit more. It looks like her tailbone is too long. I didn't notice that until I took this picture.

Alvaro has had a couple of glazes and a little work done to the mid-tones on his dapples. I need to do his other side the same way, then I think I'll work on the lights some more. I haven't done much with the base.

I actually forgot to take a picture of another model I'm working on, she can wait 'til next week I guess.

And introducing:

Smoky! We decided to adopt a kitten sooner rather than later after our older cat's death. We didn't want our other cats to get too territorial or set in their ways before introducing a new cat. We got Smoky from an awesome shelter in West Seattle, isn't he adorable? Unfortunately our other two cats got fevers (and Smoky had a cold) after we brought him home, so I've been shuttling animals back and forth to the vet for days. One is still not feeling well yet so it's really causing a lot of upset in the studio. Hopefully they'll all be back to normal soon and I can return to an even keel of working.

Weekly Update

2010-09-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for your kind words about my cat. I'm happy to say that I got back into the studio after a couple of days off.

Alvaro is coming along. He was slightly floppy on his base, I know he's not supposed to be completely perpendicular because of the movement he's doing, but the hoof that goes into the base was pretty tilted, so I beefed up the bottom of the base and now he sits on it much more securely. I've been fooling around with colors on the base, it looks pretty gaudy right now, but I'm still experimenting.

Lajjina is getting some final overall work and I still need to paint her base. I'll probably have pictures of her in the next week or two.

That's it for this week!

Grendel RIP

2010-09-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I haven't gotten a whole lot done in the studio this past week because my elderly cat Grendel was suddenly stricken and we had to have her put down. It was really traumatic and she was in a lot of pain, so I know it was the best thing to do, but I'm still pretty devastated. It gets harder and harder to deal with death as I get older myself. I'm just glad that it happened while my husband and I were both home, so we could be with her at the end, and the vets were very nice about everything and let us spend as much time as we wanted with her. We had this cat since she was a tiny kitten, so spent many good years together. I really miss her.

I Discover the Obvious

2010-08-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

I have read and heard over and over that you need to wait a bit before sculpting into apoxie, but somehow "a bit" means "30 seconds" to me. I tear into it almost immediately, and I think that is part of my problem with it. I need to be more patient.

So while I was convalescing last week due to illness, I slapped some apoxie on my sample horse and started fooling around with it, checking how it felt at 5 minute increments. The part on the photo that I circled is the first 5 minutes, and sure enough, I hated the way it felt. It slithered around and wasn't very cooperative. I found the best "feeling" time was after 30-45 minutes. Then I could gently work with it and it didn't slither, and if I was careful it didn't tear. So I must remember to be patient when I use this stuff.

Not much else to show this week. Alvaro doesn't look a lot different, but I have worked on his head a bit and added more dark color to his body. I'll be going back and forth like this for a long time.

Weekly Update

2010-08-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

I added light color to the dapples, and also worked on his face. The dapples will kind of morph and change for a long time before I feel satisfied. So far I've done the light base coat, then the dapples mapped in with darker paint, then more light dapples added in.

I worked on this reiner's head, body and legs. I'll want to refine the body color a little more, then I'll let him dry and start on his blanket.

I dremelled most of what I didn't like off of Jezebel's tail. I really didn't like the way it was droopy at the tip, and I cleaned off all the ragged detailing so I can try again. This time, I'm going to try really hard to wait for a while before I go in with the detailing of the apoxie. This is a problem I have; I get very impatient and want to be able to work with it immediately, and I think that causes a lot of problems. But at the same time, I don't like to wait because I get involved with something else and then it's hard to pull myself away from that. So, still experimenting with this one.

Remember this little gal? I still need to gloss her eyes, I might do a little bit with her white markings, too, but otherwise she's done. I'm not sure if I'm going to sell her or not. I just love these SM foals.

I'm trying a lot of different things with this Taboo. For instance, I tried the initial base coat in oils rather than acrylics. I think that was a mistake because I have a hard time thinning the oils down for such a small scale.

I was very ill yesterday so am taking it easy for the next couple of days. Hopefully I will still have some pictures to show next week.

Weekly Update

2010-08-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to block in Alvaro's dapples, and put a layer of dark markings on to see how that will look. I usually start my dapples with pretty loose brushwork like this, I think it adds depth as I progress through many layers.

The Patty reiner has another layer of paint, I've also darkened his legs.

Here is Jezebel's third tail incarnation, still unhappy with it. I wish I felt more comfortable handling the sculpting material, it's like something foreign. I never know what tool I should use, how long I should wait before working into it, and I can't seem to get any detail. I don't know if I should wait 'til it dries and then dremel into it for detail? When I try to work with it "wet", I can't get any detail, it rips and tears and blobs up. When I wait for it to cure a little it seems to get too hard to work into. I don't know if it's my hands, the tools I'm using, or just my general inexperience. No matter what I do I can't seem to "get it." I will probably try dremelling this tail a little to see what it looks like, then chuck it and start again. A lightbulb will have to go off at some point, right?

A Comparison of Whites

2010-08-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

I've collected a bunch of white oil paints over the years, and recently I read that certain whites dry more slowly than others. Apparently titanium white is one of the slowest-drying whites. So I made a little chart of the whites that I have and dated them to see how long they really do take to dry. The results were pretty shocking.

Winsor & Newton's Foundation White is made of lead carbonate and zinc white. Needless to say, I don't use this paint on model horses. I bought it just to see what it was like because it's supposed to be the most stable and reliable white for underpainting on canvas. It's very heavy in the tube and very, very warm, almost yellow. It has very weak tinting strength. But boy, does it dry fast! Within hours. It's very dry to the touch within a day. Too bad it's poisonous, because this would be ideal for mixing colors on a model.

W&N's Flake White Hue and Titanium White took over a month to dry. They both have nice, creamy consistencies, but the dry time is completely unacceptable.

Gamblin Tit/Zinc White is the white that I use when painting my flat artwork. I love the consistency of it. It took almost as long to dry as the two listed above, though.

Rembrandt Titanium White is what I have been using for my model horses, and I was disappointed to find that it took almost a month to dry, also. I don't paint my final white markings with oils, but I do use white when mixing and during initial lay-in, so I thought I'd look for something else.

I think I have finally found an acceptable white, Winsor & Newton Underpainting White. It's Titanium White with a small amount of zinc, and the tech at W&N told me that there is a slight grain added for better adhesion, and a metallic drier added to make it dry faster. They will never tell me the exact ingredients or proportions of anything, but this is what the tech recommended to me after I explained the way that I paint.

Underpainting White has kind of a weird consistency to it (probably the grain that the tech mentioned) that took a little getting used to, but it does indeed dry much faster than regular Titanium White. On my sample, it was dry within a couple of days, much better than a month! It is a little more gray than the other whites, but that's no problem for me because I always mix different colors into my white anyway, and like I said I don't use it as the final coat. So hopefully this will speed up my painting process a little more.

I hope this was helpful!

Lots of Photos

2010-07-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

Lajjina's dapples are still evolving.

I recently finished this Finn commission. I hope to have more pictures of him posted on my website and Facebook soon.

This Fenwick is close to being finished, I have some minor details to do. He's got some shiny spots that haven't been sprayed yet.

I think I'm going to start in with oils on Alvaro next. This is all airbrushed. I like this color right now, he looks like a red dun to me (not what color he's going to be).

And I've put another coat of paint on the Patty Reiner. He's going to be a darker bay than he looks like here.

Whew! I've been spending a lot of time painting in the studio. Ravenhill is still being detailed so I won't show him until he's done, probably.

Have a great week!

Weekly Update

2010-07-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is enjoying NAN! I was watching the results but unfortunately the photos haven't been posted yet. I love to see what won, and I also like looking at how the judges placed their pieces and how different the placings can be.

Okay, on to some progress pictures.

Alvaro got another airbrush coat on him. I actually had to go backwards with him because I found a couple spots that needed to be filled. I will probably do one more airbrush coat on him and then start on the oils.

The Patty reiner is looking rather hideous. It's painful for me to look at pieces when they are at this point, knowing that I have to wait for the paint to dry before I can do more to it.
I'm going to spray Finn tomorrow, and I'm hoping that he will be done and that I can show a final picture of him next week.

And here's a Jezebel that I've been working on. I can't remember if I've shown a picture of her before. My goal was to re-do the tail so that it was shorter, but still had the same "style" as the original. I really struggled with this and frankly I'm not happy with it, especially the tips of her tail. This is the second version. I'm embarrassed to say that I've spent 20 hours sculpting this. At this point I just want to chuck the whole thing! I didn't want to re-sculpt the mane, but I will probably end up doing that and re-doing the tail some other way. I don't think I have the skill at this point to get the refinement and gracefulness to match the mane. If anyone has any suggestions or advice for me I'd be happy to hear it! I know my advice to myself: Carol, stick to painting lol!

Details, Details

2010-07-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a lot of little details over the last week, lots of blanket work on Ravenhill but also some detailing on his head and hooves, so here's a little peek at that:

I've also been working on Lajjina's dapples, moving them about a little and changing their size, etc. I still have quite a bit of work to do on them at this point

And here is a shot of my new favorite detail brush, the Escoda 1210 Kolinsky sable, size 5/0. This is a pretty pricey brush (about $5 at dickblick), but the one I bought lasted a long time and held its point really well. I only used it for oils, not acrylics. I wore it down to a little nub! I also bought their higher-end brush, the 1212 Kolinsky Tajmyr, but have not tried that yet.

Production has slowed to a crawl while I work on a lot of these little details. Normally I can touch 4-6 horses a day, but when I'm doing work like this it slows to 1-2 horses.

I know Breyerfest and NAN are just around the corner, I wish all that are going good luck and will be watching the results online :-)

Weekly Update

2010-07-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

Not much to show this week as I'm doing a lot of detailing, touching up and letting things dry, etc. Lajjina above is getting some adjustments made to her dappling.

Here's an old Page Patty custom that I just started. He has a very simple basecoat in acrylics and I've just started to put a little oils on him. He looks really orange right now but his coat color is going to be bay. He will be an appaloosa.

I think I did figure out my airbrush problem. I have an Iwata HP-CH (I think) that has something called a MAC valve at the bottom of it. The documentation for this valve offers precious little insight into how to use it, and for some reason I had it set in a way that wasn't allowing a lot of paint to come out. Fiddling around with that valve fixed my paint flow problem so the airbrush is back in business. Whew!

I hope everyone reading this has a great week and stays safe in the heat! I personally am loving this hot weather in Seattle, I wish every day were sunny and in the 80s. I'm living in the wrong state.

Weekly Update

2010-06-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

I worked on Finn's head and hooves some more, I'm basically down to detailing and touching him up now. I still need to touch up and refine a couple of areas in oils.

Here is an Alvaro resin I just started. He's big! I need to get some kind of beanbag system to set him down while I paint him. Whoever cast him did a beautiful job, and he's very lightweight so easy to hold. I'm working on his basecoat right now. For some inexplicable reason my airbrush has been giving me fits lately. I have replaced just about every part on it, but the paint doesn't want to come out. I know I could coincidentally be getting a clog every time, but for it to happen four times in a row is unlikely. I take good care of the inside of the airbrush and clean it religiously. I don't want to have to buy a new one so I guess I'll have to investigate some more.
In other art news, I had my first Thursday art walk this month, it was really fun and I enjoyed it a lot. I was nervous at first, but my work was very well received and I ended up relaxing and enjoying myself. I was told it was a slow night, but I thought it was really busy! I was really glad to get the exposure, and I got to meet some really interesting artists and see a lot of art. Also, my bunny painting of chocolate bunnies won first place at the Edmonds Art Festival a couple of weeks later, so I was really happy about that.

Product Comparison

2010-06-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would do a little comparison of some of the mediums that can be used with oil paint. These are all alkyd resin-based mediums. They have a moderate drying effect on oil paints. As you can see they all carry a health warning label and need to be used with adequate ventilation, some of them are pretty smelly. A small amount can be mixed directly into the paint, or you can dip your brush into the medium and then into the paint (I always wipe off the brush after dipping into the medium and before dipping into the paint so that I don't use too much of it.) I always get the smallest bottles because the larger bottles dry out after opening, and it lasts a really long time.

Liquin is my favorite medium. I used to hate it because it smells pretty bad, but I really like the consistency of it. It's kind of a gel, and it dries to a soft, semi-matte surface. I think this is one of those love/hate mediums: people either love it or hate it. I feel like I can control it really easily.

Liquin Fine Detail is really watery. I don't like it. It's too easy for me to get too much into the paint, and I have also found that it stays tacky for a long time before it dries.

Weber Rapidry is another really watery medium. It does dry really fast, though. I have used it a couple of times just to put on a base coat, but it's too hard to control these liquid mediums. Weber has videos on their web site that show you what all the mediums are used for, it's definitely worth watching.

I like this medium. It's a soft gel that dries to a fairly matte surface. It's a little slower-drying than Liquin. I was told by a Daniel Smith technical person that this medium uses pure turpentine in it (rather than Odorless Mineral Spirits) but I can't even smell it. In fact, this is the least smelly medium, IMO.

I love Gamblin paint, but I don't like their Galkyd medium. It's really sticky. It has almost a honey consistency to it, sort of halfway between a gel and a liquid. It's really gross.

Neo Megilp would be my all-time favorite medium except that it dries slowly. As an example, Liquin may be dry to the touch in 24 hours or so, but Neo Megilp will take about 3 days to dry. I love the consistency of it, it's a soft gel that dries to a nice matte finish, and it's just a dream to work with, but I never use it on models because of the slow dry time. If they could just make this medium exactly like it is, but with Liquin's dry time, I think it would be the perfect medium.

And that's all I've got laying around. All mediums should be used in small amounts, but they do help to dry oil paints a little bit faster, and they also make the paint a little more transparent so you can create nice glaze effects.

Weekly Update

2010-06-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a different view of Ravenhill. I'm still working on the changes to his blanket. I've given him a star and snip, and worked some more on his eyes. I also toned town the hooves a little, they still need more work.

I just love the way Lajjina is coming along. I've been working on her her dapples, mane and tail and head. I thought she would look nice with a thin stripe.

Finn is very close to looking the way I want him to look. I think I will work on his hooves a little bit today and then set him aside to dry for a while.

That's it for this week! I am detailing the dapple grey Dinky Duke and hope to have him done within a couple of weeks.

Brush Review

2010-06-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

I thought I would do a brush review this week instead of boring you all with pictures of the same three horses. This is the Robert Simmons Expression detail spotter, size 15/0. I bought this to try it out and see if it held up to my favorite Loew-Cornells that I reviewed previously. The Expression brush was much cheaper, so I was really hoping that I would like it. Unfortunately, I didn't.

The problem? My hand size! I have very small hands. They're almost freakishly small for an adult, but the Expression brush has a huge handle. It has a long taper down to the brush, and the part where my hand rests is gigantic and unwieldy. It makes the brush feel unstable in my hand, and I have to grip close to the ferrule to use it. It seems to be made for someone with really large hands. It's not comfortable at all. Here's a photo of my hand holding the Expression:

and my hand holding the Loew-Cornell:

See what I mean about the size? The Loew-Cornell is just much more comfortable and easy to handle.

The Expression brush tip itself is just fine, in fact I consider these two brush tips to be very comparable, so if you have huge hands then you might find the Expression right up your alley, especially for the price. I paid $2.64 for it at Dick Blick.

Weekly Update

2010-06-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

Ravenhill's owner has graciously allowed me extra time to tweak his blanket. I felt that the white was creeping too far forward and so I'm changing it to be more like the references that I originally used. I also started adding more color to the hooves and put a little color on his eyes.

Here is this incredible Lajjina resin, she's kind of awkward to paint but I just love her. I'm planning on giving her some kind of facial marking, a stripe and star maybe, nothing too big. I haven't worked on her dapples much.

I hope this photo shows some of the subtle dappling I decided to put on Finn. He's got some reverse dapples on his hind end, and some dapples on his neck, and then his body has some very subtle dappling that looks almost like mottling of the body/saddle color around his belly and topline. I'm still working on all of that.

And here's a Taboo that's been waiting for me for a while. I have ambitious plans for him, he's going to be an extended blanket appy, and his coloring is a dull liver chestnut?
That's it for the pictures this week. I am extremely busy with appointments and meetings so I may not get a lot done the next few days. If anyone in the area is interested, I will be participating in the First Thursday art walk in downtown Seattle this Thursday, from 5-9pm at the Angle Gallery in the Toshiro Kaplan building. I'm showing some of my paintings of marbles and a large painting of candy bunnies. Here's a link to my blog with more information if you're interested in checking it out. It's a really cool building, you can walk around the entire block and there are galleries on every side.

Sum of All Parts

2010-05-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Some of you who read this blog may know that I have some insecurities about how slowly I paint. It's a source of great frustration for me, because I love using oils, but my technique is such that it takes an inordinately long time to get anything finished. I often see other artists who can finish 5 or more pieces to every one of mine, and it makes me feel like I'm moving in slow motion or underwater. I definitely would be the tortoise in the "tortoise and hare" story, that's for sure. Sometimes I feel like I'm not even part of the hobby because I'm not always out there with something new every few weeks.

But I have discovered something that may help me speed up a little bit. I like to use alkyd mediums when I paint, which have a moderate drying effect, but they don't work the same way as cobalt or japan driers do (supposedly they are a more flexible film not prone to cracking). So I did a little experiment with three of the mediums:

Winsor & Newton Liquin Original, Daniel Smith Oil Painting Medium, and Liquin Fine Detail. I used Rembrandt's Permanent Red Light for this experiment because it seems to stay wet on my palette for weeks at a time, and I mixed about 15% medium with paint. The results were interesting. Liquin Original and DS Painting Medium were pretty much dry to the touch after 24 hours, but Liquin Fine Detail had a tacky feeling to it. It took a couple of days before the Fine Detail medium felt more dry. And wouldn't you know it? That is the medium that I was using to paint my models with! So I have switched over to Liquin Original (which I LOVE) and I'm much happier with the drying times now. I plan on having a more thorough review of the mediums in a future post.

Another thing I am trying to do is to paint only part of the model in each session. For instance, I have divided it up into underside, body, head, mane/tail, legs, so that each day I can concentrate on one part of the model while the rest of it dries. That way I can keep painting on each piece every day. I don't know if this actually makes anything speedier, but it feels like it to me.

I have a bunch of pictures to share, but I guess they can wait 'til the next post since I've run on with this one.

Weekly Update

2010-05-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

I've been working a lot on Ravenhill, refining his color and blanket. I also worked on his mane and tail some more. I plan on working on his head and legs a little more, and his blanket still needs a little more coverage. I have barely touched his feet yet.

Here's Lajjina's offside, I've worked some more on her overall color and I felt that her light areas were getting a little too yellow, so I'm starting to tone that down.

Finn has had some major work done to his coloring. I felt that he was getting too reddish and brash-looking, I'm going for a more subtle look on him.

Those are the three pieces I've worked on the most over the last week, as well as continuing prepwork on a couple of other pieces. I will probably remain focused on these three pieces for a little while.

Weekly Update

2010-05-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm happy to say I was able to finish up both of my projects over the last week, so I'm back to my regular schedule this week. Here's a peek at the finished NAN donation. I've got a full set of pictures of him in the "Dilutes" section of my website if you'd like to check him out. He was really a joy to paint :-)

I got another layer of paint on Lajjina. At this point I would say she is maybe 30% done. The way I paint uses semi-transparent color and I often use glazes, so it takes a long time to build up color, and the color changes a lot before it finalizes. Anyway, She still has a ways to go, and her dapples still look very blobby and weird so they will be worked on quite a bit. I can see a couple of socks on her.

Ravenhill and Finn got sprayed so I can evaluate their color better. They are both approximately 75% finished, and I'm also continuing to prep a couple of commission pieces. Next week I hope to have some more good pictures!

Visit to Dick Blick

2010-05-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

I often order from Dick Blick's catalog. I have found that they have the most items that I like to order, in stock, so I usually try to go with them when I'm ordering online. Their prices aren't the cheapest but they are reasonable. I really like their dependability and I also like the way their web site is set up, it's pretty easy to find most of their products.

Blick recently opened a store in Seattle, so I made the way up there last week to check it out. It's a very convenient location for them (close to several art schools) on Broadway and Pine. Their web site said they had validated parking, but I couldn't find the parking garage so I ended up parking on the street and paying for it. The store itself is big and very well-stocked. I was in a hurry because I didn't have a lot of change for the parking meter, so I kind of rushed through it, but I did notice that they had a lot of different brands of oil paint, lots of different colored pencils in open stock, and airbrushes and airbrush supplies, too. They had a much larger collection of paint and pencils than Daniel Smith's store. I forgot to look at their canvas, paper and stretchers section, though. They are probably going to give Utrecht, which has a smaller store not far away, a lot of competition.

There were two people at the checkstand and it was crowded, and I'm sorry to say both cashiers seemed a little surly. Maybe they were just having a bad day. I did find out the parking garage is behind the store in the alley.

So now I have to decide whether I want to shop at their physical store or continue to order online. If I order online I have to pay for shipping ($6.95?) but if I drive to the store, it's about $2.50 or so in gas, plus about an hour and a half of my time. I will probably end up just ordering, unless I'm downtown and have some extra time to shop, which isn't very often.

Other news: I have two deadlines I am trying to meet by the end of next week, one being the NAN donation and the other is a painting that I'm working on for an upcoming show in June. I must get these two things done, so the next few days I will be working on those two projects exclusively. Then I will get right back to commissions and other sales pieces. In the meantime, here is a photo of the Dinky Duke I've been working on. He's one of my on-and-off sales pieces, but he's finally getting to a point where I can start finishing him up:

Weekly Update

2010-04-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

I've been doing little refinements to Daffyd, and managed to work on his face last week. He's close to being done now, but I keep picking him up and doing little things. I'll have to stop that if I want him to be dry in time to ship him for NAN. I haven't glossed his eyes or anything yet.

Ravenhill has been getting a lot of attention. I'm fiddling a lot with the blanket right now. It's hard to get just the right color for the mane and tail. I don't want it to warm or too cool.

I've been working all over on Finn, just refining the color and working on his feathers and mane/tail. He's tacky now and rather shiny. I will probably let him sit pretty soon so I can spray him and see what he looks like dulled.

I have to let Lajjina sit now, too. I'm still just building up thin layers of color and experimenting with her tail color. She is a slow drier! She's got some blobby-looking dapples that I will refine as I go, I just wanted to set down the general area where I thought the dapples should be. The pangare will not be as stark, either.

Fenwick is coming along and I should have a picture of him next week. I'm really happy with the way everything is going right now. It feels like a huge relief when I get close to finishing a piece (Daffyd), too.

Brush Review

2010-04-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of my favorite detail brushes, the Black Gold by Dynasty. I love the size 3/0, but sometimes I get 10/0 also. This brush has a thin handle but it's the perfect length for my hand so it remains comfortable. The brush head itself is the perfect length and the bristles are not too floppy. I like a slight give in my brushes, not too soft.

This brush holds its point for a pretty long time, even when I'm using watered-down acrylics, which always seep up into the ferrule. When that happens, I usually just let the paint dry up there by the base of the hairs, and that kind of cements the brush into its point for a couple more uses before it starts to fray. Then I can use it as a stiff scumbling brush.

I use this brush for detail work, and once it starts to fray, I will paint minis with it, or use it to scumble details in hard-to-reach areas of larger models. This brush and the La Corneille 18/0 spotter are the two brushes I use the most. This one happens to be very reasonably priced, too. The last time I got it at Dick Blick it was $2.35. I have noticed that this brush is a little hard to find, and a lot of places only sell Black Gold brushes as part of a set. In fact, I think that Dick Blick's site shows sets first, and you have to scroll down or do a search to find the individual brushes. I hope they continue to offer this one individually.

I have tried out a couple of new brushes and hope to offer reviews of them soon, too. I really liked one and really hated the other one.

Fenwick WIP

2010-04-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

You wouldn't know it from the paucity of pictures this week, but I've been painting up a storm in the studio. I'm getting very close with the Daffyd, and the Finn and Ravenhill are progressing very well. I also worked on Lajjina a little bit (she's still a little tacky so I have to let her rest) and some prepping.

I was even able to work on this Fenwick sales piece. I was very worried about starting the roan markings on this piece, but I think he's coming along well. He's got a combination of rabicano and sabino markings. He will have some splotchy roan-y areas, you can see I've started one below his withers. I made sure to count the number of "stripes" on the reference photo so I wouldn't make too many or too few.

Weekly Update

2010-04-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

I'm running late this week! Not too much to show, I think I'll wait 'til next week for Ravenhill and Daffyd. In the meantime, here's Lajjina:

I've added some more color to her and put some paint on her legs and face. She still has a really long way to go.

I did some work on Finn's legs and his mane/tail. I shot these photos with a combination of daylight and photo lights, the colors look a little more lurid than they actually are. I like to shoot in the early morning when it's still dark, but now that spring is here I'll have to adjust my lighting setup (or when I take my photos).

I'm putting a lot of time into Ravenhill right now, so the photos may be a little sparse for the next couple of weeks.

Brush Review

2010-03-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

I don't have any photos to show today, so I thought I would give a product review. I'd like to go through some of my materials and share what I think about them and how I use them.

First up is this miniature brush, the Loew Cornell 7650 series Spotter brush, size 18/0. I love this brush! It is a workhorse in my studio. It's very small, but has a thicker handle that fits my hand perfectly and is very comfortable to hold. I use it for fine details in both oils and acrylics, and once it starts to fray, it's great for dry-brushing tiny details in acrylics, and also for glazing and scumbling in oils. I literally wear these down to nothing before I throw them out.

There are two downsides to this brush. Number one, the point frays almost immediately. I mean, within two times using it. This could be because of the way I use it though; I'm very hard on my brushes and tend to "peck" at the surface and start rubbing with it before I should. I'm also pretty bad about letting paint get too close or even into the ferrule and then not rinsing it out right away.

Number two is the cost, it is $4-something which is very expensive for a brush that loses it's point almost immediately. So for that reason alone I am currently looking at cheaper alternatives. It's really hard for me not to buy this one, though, it's like a favorite toy or blanket that you don't want to give up.

I have found these brushes at Michael's, and I currently order them through Dick Blick (they're listed as "La Corneille Miniature Brushes). I'm not affiliated with the manufacturer or the stores, this is just for informational purposes.

2010-03-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

I finally started on the pattern for Ravenhill. He still has a long way to go, obviously. I paint the pattern in a brighter white than he will eventually be, just so I can get more covering power. He's got two coats of white on him right now.

I started doing some hoof and leg detailing on Daffyd. I plan to "weatherize" the shoes so they don't look so brightly metallic. I also want to tone down the white markings a little, too.

Lajjina definitely has the uglies right now! I've just got a couple of thin coats of oils on her.

There, I did it! It's pretty sad when I can feel such a sense of accomplishment over something as simple as uploading a couple of pictures and re-arranging them ;-)

I'm getting close to the finish point on the roan Vixen, and have dremelled off most of Jezebel's tail for a third try, and hopefully I can work on a sales piece soon -- I have about 15 resins (and a couple of Breyers) sitting on the shelf waiting for me 8-/

Postponement

2010-03-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

Blogger is not cooperating with me right now, so I am unable to upload photos. I have a couple of good ones to share, too :-(

I will try later today and see what happens.

Weekly Update

2010-03-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here's Vixen, she's getting there. I tried giving her a sock on either hind foot, but it just didn't look right. I'm adding some warm highlights in her mane and tail right now, that's why it looks shiny.

Finn got another layer of paint, and I started refining the color of his mane and tail. I'm going to work on his legs next.

I had to put aside the SM foals for some time while I worked on commissions, but this week I had a chance to paint a little bit on this one.

Lajjina still looks about the same. I had to sand a couple of small areas and re-painted the base coat. I will start painting in oils next.

This is Jezebel's new, shortened tail that I've been working on for *ages*. It doesn't look terrible from this angle, but it simply doesn't flow the way I want it to. This was my second try at it, but I guess there will be another try! This is the reason I don't do custom work -- it takes me months to get anything I can live with. I have probably spent 30 hours on this tail already.

I guess that's it for this week. Ravenhill and Daffyd are both going to be sprayed tomorrow, and I will start patterning Ravenhill's blanket and doing some detailing on Daffyd.

Weekly Update

2010-03-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling cranky today, so there may be a small rant on this post ;-)

I found some little imperfections in Lajjina, as I expected to, so I filled and sanded them. I think I still need to sand some little pinholes I filled in her tail.

Finn is looking more gold than red again. I'm really struggling with getting just the right color that I'm look for. I want him to have a really dark shoulder and neck with some light dappling, but on his hindquarter I'm trying to get a reverse dapple effect. He's slowly getting there, but I'm glad his owner sent him to me early because he's really taking a long time!

I worked a little more on Daffyd. I really love this sculpture.

I also spent time on Ravenhill and Vixen, and I was positive that I'd have the Bitty Bosco ready for sale this week, but I found a couple of little areas that I still need to touch up. Am I too much of a perfectionist nut? If it were up to me I would spend a year on every piece, just smoothing things out and making sure it was all perfect. I need to learn to just let go at some point.

Okay, now for the rant, and guess what it's about? Facebook! I did manage to make a page for my studio, but now I can't remember how to get that onto my personal page. Why isn't there a link to it on my personal page? I know I was able to post about my "regular" artwork on my wall (somehow), but that function seemed to be missing when I made my model horse page. Maybe I just couldn't find it. I know that I can see my pages under "Ads & Pages", but do other people see that? I am a "fan" of other people's pages, but they don't show up under "Ads & Pages" where it seems obvious they should be. I swear that the developers of Facebook don't want anyone to know how to use it, it is so crazy and seems like they just put things in there on a whim, or rearrange things without any thoughts to how people might actually want to use the things. I can't stand that I can't see what I'm doing or how my page looks to others. It's not customizable in the way that I like to customize things. I like to make categories and lists, and compartmentalize things in my own way, not this broad, vague way that Facebook forces you to do. I want all my links on the "Links" page to be separated by categories like I can do with friends, but it won't let me. It's all very frustrating because I know I'm not an idiot, this shouldn't be so difficult, yet it is for me. I am a person who has learned how to use databases, I made both of my websites all by myself, I consider myself pretty savvy at learning new things, and yet Facebook has me flummoxed.

Anyway, I do have the page set up and it's under the name Prairie Dream Studio if you want to search on it and find it that way. I'm pretty sure that you don't need a Facebook account to see it. Okay, I think this is a link to it. Like I said before, I will probably just try to link my blog posts there (if I can figure that out), and I will have a portfolio of finished works to display. I don't anticipate doing daily updates at this time, but you never know. It's very doubtful at this point. All my commission and sales announcements will still go through my Yahoo group.

One more small rant about my camera: I love my Nikon D80, it's an awesome camera, except for one thing: the custom white balance setting. There is a setting called "K", where you can set the color temperature that you want. I have figured out that the perfect white balance setting in most instances with my setup is 2900K. Well, guess what? The custom "K" setting only has 2850 or 2950! What the--! It's like they do this stuff to taunt me...

Weekly Update

2010-03-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

My hot water heater broke last week, but I still managed to get some work done. Today is a little iffy, because I'm waiting for the permit inspector. I'm pretty nervous because we have had a bad experience with a previous inspector. I hope it's not the same one this time!

Blogger has been acting up on me today, but I think this post will go through. Okay, on to the pictures:

Vixen is getting some roaning done to her. I used a combination of reference photos, one was a darker buckskin dun, and the other was much lighter, almost like a red dun color. I will probably put some red in her mane and tail.

I worked on Finn's legs, and added a little color to the mane and tail to see what adjustments I'll need to make. I am finding that light bay or chestnut colors are the hardest to get right. I can't just paint a couple of layers, I have to adjust the color, glaze, and generally fiddle with it for ages before I get it the way I want.

Here is a Lajjina that I've started. This is a simple airbrush coat to look for imperfections.

Here's Ravenhill from the other side. I worked on his legs, underside and tail a bit. In the next couple of days I hope to do some work on his face. He's going to be an appaloosa, but I want to get his base color right. I toyed with the idea of painting his blanket in oils along with the base color, but I like the way the base color spots and shading show through on a blanket pattern appy.

Daffyd got some work done on his legs and mane/tail, and I'm waiting for Bitty Bosco to dry so I can spray him and gloss his eyes. I think he looks fabulous in grullo.

That's it for this week!

Weekly Update

2010-02-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

I've really been going to town with Swaps :-) I still need to do some touching up on him.

Finn got another layer. He looks almost the same; I thought I'd show him from a different side. Still in his early stages.

Bitty Bosco is very close to being done. I've kept his primitive markings subtle. I still need to do some touching up on his mane and tail, and work on his face a little bit. He will be a sales piece.

I put another layer on Ravenhill and Daffyd, but not enough change for a picture.
Vixen got a very light spray of airbrush paint to start her roaning, I will be working on her this week.

That's it for this week!

Miscellany

2010-02-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

Whew! I finished my taxes and went to the accountant, I'm so glad that is over! I get inordinately stressed out over the whole thing. I'm finally at the point where I think I've got everything categorized correctly before I go into the office lol! This accountant always gives me little tips or advises me on things I should be doing differently. For instance, he strongly advised me not to do any trades, and to make sure I separate taxes and shipping when I offer things for sale. It has something to do with the way the IRS looks at things in case of an audit. Or else it's just a way to make life easier for him!

In other news, I guess I'm going to be making a Facebook page. I believe this can be seen by the public and you don't have to be a member of Facebook to see it. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of all this social media stuff, I'm simply not very chatty, and do you really want to know what I ate for dinner? LOL! I didn't think so! I'm pretty darn boring when it gets down to it. I'm trying to like it, but it just doesn't grab me. Plus I have some issues with the user interface and how to set things up. I had originally joined it and put up a page for my paintings, and I thought I would be able to have a second account for model horses, but I can't. I can have a second page, but not a second account. So I'm not sure how to handle that on my personal page. Anyway, the "official" page I make will just be photos of finished work with links to my web page, and if I can figure it out, a link back to this blog or the actual blog post itself.

Okay, the only picture I've got this week is Ravenhill:

He still has a ton of work to be done, but I wanted to put a little color on his hooves and mane/tail so I can further refine the color. I also spent a lot of time on the Swaps, but I'll wait until next week for pictures of him.

Groaning!

2010-02-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

Like my pun? I actually like doing detailed, repetitive work, I wouldn't be painting models if I didn't, but my body rebels something fierce. When I'm roaning, I have a bad habit of hunching over and then I hold the model way over to the left, so my head is crooked from looking over. I don't know why I do that, it's kind of like sticking your tongue out while concentrating. I actually set a timer to go off every half hour so I can get up and move around. It doesn't help much, though. My neck and shoulder are screaming by the end of the day.

Finn got another layer. I'm trying to keep his body light for the moment. I am finding that whenever I use a cadmium or napthol color in my mix, it takes an extra long time to dry. I have a tube of permanent red light (I bought it mistakenly thinking it was cadmium red light), and that paint will stay wet on the palette for over a week. So any chestnut or bay ends up taking longer than I would like.

Here's Daffyd with another layer. I've put some paint on his mane/tail and also done a little with his face, too.

Ravenhill is a little tacky still, so I didn't move him, and I painted some more on Vixen's legs and underside, but it doesn't look much different from the last photo, so I haven't included it.

I will be doing a lot more roaning on Swaps in the upcoming week, and I'm determined to work a little bit on one of my sales pieces!

Weekly Update

2010-02-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

Swaps is lookin' good! I've got the faint airbrush roan coat on him, and a couple of layers of pencil roaning so far. I will probably do 1-2 more coats of pencil roaning, then some wash/scumbling with paint.

I got the opportunity to paint this Ravenhill that Stacey Tumlinson customized, and I jumped at the chance. I love seeing other people's customizing work; sculpting is difficult for me and I always like to study what other people do. Anyway, this guy is going to be a blanket appaloosa. He's got an airbrushed basecoat and a couple of layers of oils on him right now.

I've given Finn a couple of coats of oils now. He's going to be a little more red along the top, I think, and his shoulder and neck will be darker with a few dapples.

That gray base was bugging me so I painted it black on this Fenwick. I have tentatively put in some of the white markings. He's going to be a pretty extensive sabino, so will change quite a bit.

I worked on the underside of the Vixen that I'm painting, but the picture didn't look much different so I didn't show it here. I need to do a little work on the legs, and then I will start roaning her.

Whew! Okay, I'm done with this week's update! I am putting more tax stuff together this week so that may slow things up slightly for next week.

Weekly Update

2010-01-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

I added a layer of oils to this Vixen.

I just started on this Finn. He's got one layer of airbrush color on him. He actually looks a little more pink than this picture shows. Somehow I always forget that Naples Yellow plus Burnt Sienna equals pink.

Daffyd has another layer of oils.

I've been adding some details to the Bitty Bosco, but he's not ready for another picture yet, and the dapple grey Dinky Duke has several more layers on him, but I want to add some more detailing before I show another photo.

I plan on starting the roan work on the bay Swaps this week, and have been working on Jezebel's tail a little bit.

That's it for this week!

Update

2010-01-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

I'm only working on these foals in between commissions, so haven't gotten very far on them. I went a little overboard on the white on the bay foal. I'm sure I will go over both of them with oils again before I'm done.

Here's the Daffyd NAN donation I'm doing, after a base layer of airbrush and one layer of oils. He's one of those dark palominos with the wild, really variegated dapples. I think palominos (real live ones) have the hardest dapples to paint, they're either crazy willy-nilly and all different sizes (like this one will be), or they seem to be really uniform and almost regimented.

I've added more red to Fenwick here, so he's more the color that I was envisioning in the first place. I may lighten him up slightly though.

Here's a Vixen that I've just started. On this one, I'm hand-painting the base coat instead of using the airbrush. No particular reason, I just felt like hand-painting this one.

I did a little touching up on Swaps, and now he's going to sit and dry for a few days before I start roaning him. I also worked some more on Jezebel's tail and did some other prepping and painting that I won't show you here.

I guess that's it for this week, I'm happy it was so productive. I'm tied up with a few meetings and miscellaneous things these next few days so may be behind by next week.

Update

2010-01-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've got my head in the right place this week. I turned in my state sales taxes, so now I don't have to worry until I see the accountant in February or March. You'll probably hear some more kvetching then lol!

Swaps is looking pretty good. I'm very happy with his color. I have found a great color called Brown Madder (or Brownish Madder) this is kind of a cross between Alizarin Crimson and Burnt Umber. It's somewhat transparent and creates a nice rich saddle color. I think this is a color that is different depending on the manufacturer. I'm not really happy with the consistency of the tube that I've got (Sennelier), but it's a hard-to-find color so I will have to shop around if I want to change.

I had planned on this Fenwick being a slightly more red chestnut with flaxen mane/tail, but he's looking pretty palomino to me. I'll see how it goes with him.

I can't remember if I showed my original customizing of Jezebel's tail, but I have run into two snags. I had to re-arrange the angle of her tail because it was swishing too far to the right, and then I noticed yesterday that some of the Fixit Sculpt was crumbling, so I had to remove almost all of it. I must not have mixed it enough. I always try to be really careful about mixing properly (and I usually use a slight bit more hardener to it just in case), but sometimes this happens. She will have a slightly shorter tail than the original sculpture, but I want to keep it looking as much like Sarah's original style as possible.

I was invited to donate a piece to NAN this year, and at first I wasn't going to because of time constraints, but I've decided to go ahead and give it a try. I would really like more people to get a chance to see my work in person, I have so few pieces out there :-/ I will be donating a Daffyd resin, painted probably in a sooty, heavily dappled palomino with sabino markings. He's mostly prepped so I will probably start on him this week or next.

I'm also very busy with commissions (Swaps being one of them) and should be able to touch a couple of sales pieces this week, too. I'm dying to work some more on the dapple grey Dinky Duke.

That's all for this week! Hope you all stay warm and dry, it's been miserable here in the Northwest! My sump pump has been working nonstop 8-0

Update

2010-01-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the Rosita commission piece, my first Eberl! Brigitte is an amazing talent as a sculptor, and I can't believe how prolific she is. If I could paint as much as she sculpts, my life would be so much better ;-)

Unfortunately, that's all I've got to show this week. I'm still prepping a couple of things, and I've had to do some organizing and paperwork in the studio so I don't have much to show. I have to do my state dept. of revenue taxes (I hate hate HATE doing taxes) and I also start getting last year's paperwork together for tax purposes. I have to start early because it stresses me out so much. I actually worry about taxes and my business almost every day. I can honestly say that I hate having a business license, I hate the pressure it puts on me to sell everything and constantly produce. I'm used to being successful at the things that I try, but I just can't paint fast enough, or sell enough to even make a modest profit. And facing my accountant every year with my paltry earnings is really squirm-inducing, let me tell ya. I know that I'm a good artist, it's just the business side of it that's really hard and stressful for me. I don't know, maybe I'm just going through the mid-winter blahs! I need to get somewhere where it's sunny LOL! I always go into a kind of funk this time of year because of the weather, but this year it's extra-bad.

Is It Over Already?

2009-12-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, this winter went by really fast! I can't believe it's already the new year. Hope everyone has a great and safe New Year's Eve!

Here is the finished Valdemar. He might have some white specks on the points, I kept brushing them off but he seemed to be a magnet for them today.

I haven't had much time to work on these little foals. They will both be pintos. I plan on selling them as a pair.

This is the Apple Techie that is going to be a buckskin blanket appaloosa. I haven't worked on him much, either, but he's almost next in line to get more attention.

I have a couple of other things I can post, but I think I'll wait until next week. I've been prepping a couple of models and putting finishing touches on another, and some more body painting that I won't bore you with. I thought I was ready to finish up the Bitty Bosco, but I ended up putting another layer of paint on his body, so pictures of him will have to wait.

Since it's the start of a new year, I've been thinking over goals or things I'd like to accomplish in 2010. I'm setting small goals for myself this time, just to focus more (not distract myself by petting the cats, changing the radio station, etc. -- all those little minutes add up!) and I'd like to improve small things like hooves, eyes, all the little details, etc. I would also like to paint more appys and dapple greys if I can do it.

Weekly Update

2009-12-21T17:03:00.000-08:00

I've given Swaps a couple more layers of paint. I will probably need to do a couple more layers on the body before I can proceed with the rest of him.

This Fenwick is going to be a chestnut sabino (rabicano?) with flaxen mane and tail, almost a dark palomino. I'm not sure how sabino and rabicano actually interact, but that's my guess based on the reference photo I'm using for the pattern. I almost made him a dapple grey, but changed my mind. Now that I'm saying "him", I think this is a female lol! I didn't even notice and I was painting the underside today...sometimes I can be a total space...

I haven't done any customizing in a while, so for this Jezebel I decided to play with her tail a little. I wanted to keep the same style that Sarah Rose used in her sculpture, but make the tail a little shorter. I'm not done with it yet, that's why it looks so rough.

And that's it for this week! The Valdemar is pretty much done, but I forgot to take his picture with this batch, so maybe next week. I've worked quite a bit on Rosita, but unfortunately her photo didn't look much different from last week's, so I didn't include her here. And of course there are several other things that weren't deemed photo-worthy this week.

I hope everybody has a great Christmas and New Year (or whatever other holiday you may celebrate at this time)!

Weekly Update

2009-12-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

This commission piece is coming along pretty well. As you can see she's no longer a chestnut. I'd say she's about half-finished right now.

This Swaps has had a couple of layers of airbrushed paint, and one layer of oils. I was hoping I'd get to work on him again today, but I still felt a wet spot so I have to wait. I got a couple of spatters of paint on him but I will get rid of that as I progress.

Here is that Huck Bey that I finished. I have posted him on Blab already so some of you may have seen him already. He's on eBay until Sunday, Dec. 13th.

With the holiday season upon us, time is kind of tight for me in the studio, so I might not have anything to post next week or the week after. I will still be working but not as many hours. Hope you all have a great holiday and I hope you're staying warm, seems like it's going to be an extra-stormy season all across the states :-0

Group Shot

2009-12-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

I'm lazy today and didn't feel like setting up my photo table, so I just took this group shot. These are some of the pieces that I'm actively working on. The Huck Bey is almost finished, and the Valdemar is close. I know that a lot of people work in batches of colors, or do all their customizing at once, but I do everything in a certain order. I keep a file of each horse, and start with commissions, then work down my list. It probably slows me down a lot, but it also keeps me interested because I usually have a variety of different things I can work on. Plus I like each piece to be unique and don't usually use the same base colors for each piece, I always like to mix it up!

Thanksgiving Week Update

2009-11-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

Here is the mini Caprice I've been working on, finally finished. Bay is one of my favorite colors on horses. This one was kind of challenging because there was a lot of contrast between the light and dark areas.

I haven't worked much on the two SM foals I've got, but I'm getting close to the point where I'll be putting a lot of time into them. I think this is the second layer of color on this one.

Rosita already looks very different. She is going to be a challenge for me because of her longer hair. I'm sure she is going to go through some really strange transformations before she is finished.

I'm also finishing up the Huck Bey in liver chestnut, and the Bitty Bosco is nearing completion also.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Thanksgiving! I usually try to watch my weight, but this is one day where I really like to pig out.

2009-11-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

I usually airbrush the first few coats of my finishwork, but I discovered that there's a part missing from my airbrush. I don't know if it fell out while I was cleaning it; I don't remember ever seeing it before but the airbrush is out of commission for a few days. So this is hand-painted. I'm just adding a warm tone here, this model is not going to be chestnut, or even bay.

They braids on this very cute Swaps were sculpted by Tiffany Purdy. She did a really good job, he is just the cutest thing! He came to me already prepped, but I still had to fiddle around with him and do a little extra sanding, etc. because, well, I can't leave things alone ;-) I should be able to put a base coat on him very soon.

I don't think I've shown this Bitty Bosco in a while. He's one that I work on when I have down time between other projects. He's finally getting there! I gave him very subtle primitive markings (not done yet). I plan on making a base for him, but I will probably make it so that it's removable because he does stand on his own (he's pretty tippy, though).

I have a couple more pieces that I'm putting finishing touches on, and I have been working more on that dapple grey Dinky Duke, but the changes I've made don't show up well on the photo, so I'll wait 'til he's more finished before showing him again. I also have a special model that I'm going to be working on, I'm itching to get started on it, and I'm prepping a Jezebel and a Fenwick, also. I'm not sure what color I'm going to paint either of those, so if anyone has suggestions, I'm open to hearing them!

Update

2009-11-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

I am super-duper busy this week, preparing for the yearly art fair that my artists' group puts on, so I've only spent one day in the studio actually painting. I did manage to get a few photos shot of these recent pieces. I thought this Shire was as finished as I was going to get it, but I did see two little tiny area I want to touch up. I was going to paint shoes on him, but then decided against it. This guy will probably go up on eBay sometime next week or so. Here's a close up of some of the dappling. I used photo references that I took of a Percheron at a draft show a couple of years ago, and tried to simulate the graininess that this kind of dappling has.

Here is the adorable little CAF. She will be for sale also, I am planning on offering her at a set price to members of my Yahoo group, so if you're interested in him be sure to join that. This will probably be offered some time next week or the week after, also.

And here is the mini Maj that I recently completed as a commission. It's funny, I have found that a smooth paint job takes almost as much time as light dappling or a simple pinto pattern. The smoothness of the color gradations and overall smoothness of the actual model causes every little flaw to pop out.

I may not have an update here next week, but I will resume again the week after.

In Disarray

2009-10-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

My studio is in complete disarray right now. I've been doing some photography for the still life paintings that I do, and everything's rearranged and moved around, it's very chaotic. I can't wait to get it back in order.

The area where I paint models isn't involved in this mess, though, so it's been business as usual with the horses. Once again I thought I would be done with at least two horses, but those little tiny touchups have proved me wrong. I'm just waiting to do a final spray on the mini-Maj, and final spraying and glossing on the CAF, too.

Meanwhile, here's a head shot of the Huck Bey I've been detailing. His eyes are not glossed yet, and I need to work on his nostrils a little bit. I was a little worried when I started on this color that I wouldn't be able to get the mane/tail color right. It's kind of an orangey-red, but I didn't want it to be too orange. I think it came out really well, though, I'm very happy with this color. He should be done in a week or two.

Running Behind

2009-10-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

I was positive that I'd have at least a couple of finished pieces to show this week, but I'm still putting the finishing touches on them. This is due to my paranoia of getting something sticky or lifting paint by rushing the process. I just have to let things dry properly. Plus I had to take a couple of half-days off to take care of some unforeseen personal things that came up.

So hopefully by next week I'll have pictures of the mini-Maj, the mini-Caprice, and maybe the CAF. Prepping on the Rosita is now going along pretty smoothly, I've dealt with most of the pinholes and will be putting a coat of airbrushed color on soon to check for more flaws. I've got another model that's almost prepped, and will have some new in-progress things to show you in the next few weeks.

I'm entering a very busy period for myself concerning my other artwork, so things may move a little slowly in November. I hope you can all bear with me :-)

In the meantime, here's a photo of my extremely gorgeous cat. I know she's just a garden variety tabby cat, but she's got an awesome personality and a very feminine daintiness about her, and my hubby and I joke that if she were a human, she'd be a supermodel.

Update

2009-10-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some detail work on the Shire. I started the eyes, but then went back in with oils on the head.

I've only been working on this Dinky Duke in fits and starts, but he is starting to come together now. His dappling is different from the Shire. I don't have a specific technique that I use for greys, I'm still learning as I go along, and each type of dappling seems to call for a different technique.

I've also been prepping this week, and doing some final detailing on a couple of other pieces. It feels really good to have a "batch" of models almost finished. I can't wait to start my next set!

Update

2009-10-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

I'm considering this little guy finished. He's got one blue eye and one brown eye.

Valdemar has gotten some more roaning, and I glazed some color over his neck and head, because I want him to have less roaning there.

I've been detailing the eyes and hooves on Mini-Maj; I haven't glossed the eyes yet in this picture, and I still have some more detailing and minor touchups to do.

What else? I'm still prepping a couple of pieces, and have started the eyes on the classic Shire, as well as a bay mini-Caprice. The CAF needed a couple of oil touchups, so he's drying right now. Lots of detailing! I know a lot of people like detailing, but it usually makes me apprehensive, because it means I'm almost finished. That means I'll probably be selling the piece, causing no end of anxiety 8-/ Salesmanship is definitely not my forte, that's for sure! I wish I had an agent LOL!

Weekly Update

2009-09-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

No pictures this week. All of my active projects are either on the shelf drying, or being detailed. I'm almost finished with the buckskin overo Seabiscuit, the bay Mini Caprice, and the CAF, though I have found little areas to touch up in oils, which moves everything back while I wait for things to dry yet again.

The Eberl that I'm prepping is coming along slowly. It's amazing how many more pinholes pop out every time I spray a thin layer on it. It's almost as though the entire body has a texture of pinholes. I think there should be some kind of fundraiser to buy Brigitte a rotocaster lol! I'm half-serious ;-)

Weekly Update

2009-09-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

I had a really productive week, and several of these models are nearing completion. Here's the Shire I've been working on. I'm planning on painting shoes on him. I got the latest RESS technical bulletin, which has an interesting article about making shoes, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet, so that will have to wait for a future model.

This Seabiscuit has one brown eye and one blue eye. I may need to do a couple of touchups on him.

I've been detailing this foal. I still need to do some more details and touchups on him, too.

Valdemar has gotten a couple more layers of roaning, and I did a quick layer of black points.

I also worked on the Huck Bey and have been prepping the Rosita, as well as doing some more detail work on the mini-Maj.

Holey Moley!

2009-09-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

I thought my photo lights were looking a little dim, and today confirmed it when one of them died on me. I have another one in the basement, but I have to go dig it out, so photos will have to wait until next week.

I snapped this photo while sitting on the couch. This is the first Eberl that I've prepped, a very interesting experience. Of course I've heard the horror stories about them, but this one appeared to be fairly clean when I received it. As I started going over the seams, I noticed some pinholes and started filling them, but then I started noticing more pinholes as I went along. They're hard to see. I sprayed a thin layer of gray primer, which actually made the holes hide, so next I sprayed a thin layer of white primer over that, and voila! Pinholes magically appeared! It shouldn't be too difficult to fill most of these holes, but I think I will probably have to fill some more even after I spray the first body coat with the airbrush. The ultra-thin airbrush paint is good at picking up any little flaws I might have missed.

Next week I should have some good photos!

On My Workbench

2009-09-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot of many of the works I've got in progress. Not everything would fit in my spraybooth (like the Huck Bey) and I've got a few others that I've just started, too. Most of these are between halfway done to almost done. I've been working mostly on the mini-Maj, the Classic Shire, and the Rosita.

I'm going to do a little more on the mini-Maj this week, then I have to let him sit to dry for a while. I'm detailing the hooves and braids on the Shire, then I'm going to go over the dapples again with oils (I think) before doing final detailing. I got impatient with the Huck Bey and ended up lifting the paint a little bit, right on his belly, so I'm definitely letting him dry off for a few days before attempting anything more with him.

I am feeling so out of it and like a hermit lately! I haven't been on Blab for so long, I don't even know what's going on. I like to take my time and go through each forum category to see what I've missed, but it takes so long for me to do that, and, well, time is in really short supply for me with all of the painting I've been doing. I do miss it, though...

Update

2009-09-02T07:43:00.001-07:00

I'm only working part time in the studio this week, due to several meetings and appointments that all seemed to land at the same time, argh! That hardly ever happens. I don't have much to show, either. I've been prepping a model and doing some pencilwork on the Classic Shire. I should have more photos of him next week.

I've had a lot of trouble photographing this mini-Maj, but these two photos are probably the closest to the actual color so far, at least on my screen. He's kind of a silvery-gray grullo, there's not a lot of yellow in him. His mane and tail are going to look really cool, I can't wait to finish this guy. I'm dying to paint the eyes, but I still have some other things to do before I get to that point.

Update

2009-08-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

Maybe I will leave this one a solid color and not make him into a pinto like I had first thought. I've got too many pintos anyway! On my website, each color gallery has space for six photos, and the pinto gallery is full, while the others still need some more photos. So I need to work on other colors once in a while. I do love pintos, though.

I worked some more on the legs, face, and mane/tail on this one.

I still need to work more on the overall color on this guy, especially the mane/tail, but I wanted to start adding the markings. I usually use a gesso/acrylic combination to cover the color when I start the markings, then switch to oils at the end. Not always, but that's what I usually do.

I've started the roaning on this one. I did a layer of airbrush, then I'm going in with pencil, and will probably add layers of hand-painting/pencil until I get it the way I want.

That's all for this week!