Update

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

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

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

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

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

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 :-)

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!