Update

All I've got worth showing today is this Nevada, I've just started adding some markings.

In other news, my "Ornaments" painting is going to be on display at the Edmonds Arts Festival this weekend (June 15-17). It's a nice festival with indoor art galleries, booths outside with lots of art and craft vendors, and food. Here is the link if you're interested. I'm looking forward to seeing the painting from a distance, it's so large that I haven't been able to back up far enough in my own house to get a good look at it from afar.

'Til next week...

Update

I've been working a lot on Sushi. At this point I've gone over most of the flea bites with the white mixture I'm using. Lots of back and forth on her. Here are a couple of detail shots to show you the depth of the bites:

Next is the Nevada who will be getting worked on a lot pretty soon. At this point I'm going to start adding white markings. I keep forgetting that her face is going to be bald :-/

Somebody wanted to pop in and say hi ;-)

And finally, I pretty much spammed everyone with this already, but this Taboo that I recently finished is on eBay right now:

Another Short Diversion

I have been painting models but my studio is torn apart at the moment, so no photos until next week. In the meantime, here are a few gesture drawings that I did recently. Horses are really hard to draw to begin with, but when they're constantly moving around it's even worse. But nothing compares to close observation from life!

Quick Update

I'm wrapping up a couple of commissions this week, and working on this Taboo as a sales piece. I'm hoping to have him done within the month.

I'm still really busy working on the "flat" painting and that will continue for the next couple of weeks, so it will be a little quiet around here until then.

A Short Diversion

Sorry for the radio silence on this end lately! I've been working on finishing up the Johann and Oliver commissions, and unfortunately when it gets to this point there's not really any use in showing them until they're done. Glazes, spot-checks and final detailing just don't seem to show through on the photos, yet it takes a long time to get those final details right. 

My time in the model horse studio will be very limited for the next couple of weeks, too, because I'm trying to finish up a large "flat" painting for a show deadline. So I am limiting myself to the commissions and a small sales piece until the flat painting is done. Then I'll be back in business!

In the meantime I thought I'd share a few sketches I made the other day of a raccoon that wandered into the yard. It spent a long time grooming itself.

Update

Johann might look like he's almost finished here, but he's not. I think he looks better in these photos right now than he does in real life, I'm still glazing color on him and fiddling with the dapples and all the other little details. I gave him a star and a snip, I think that looks pretty good. Today I'm going to work on his body color a bit, and then I've got to let him sit for a little while.

That's all the photos I've got this week. Everything else is drying. I'm really moving along with my sales pieces, too, I can't tell you how good it feels to whittle down my in-progress pieces. By the end of this year, if I can keep myself from buying anything new, I should have everything done and will be able to buy new sculptures as they come along. It pains me to not be able to buy every nice new sculpture that is released, I want to encourage sculptors and help the hobby, but I need to realize my own painting limitations (and pocketbook) and work within that rather than trying to keep up with everyone else. 

That's all for now!

Krylon Quick Dry for Oil Paintings

This is a newer product put out by Krylon, I've been wanting to try it for a while but at $11 a can I just couldn't spend the money. I haven't been able to find any reviews of it online, so finally I decided to give it a try.

Krylon states that this product causes oil paint to dry by oxidation, which I believe is the same type of drying action as Cobalt Drier. I wrote to Krylon and asked them if this product could cause cracking or wrinkling, because I know that can happen with Cobalt Drier if too much is used. Krylon sent me a canned type of response that said Quick Dry is supposed to be used on rigid surfaces, that it is compatible with oil and alkyd-based paints, and to always test the surface first.

I tested it on a test model horse, using three very slow-drying oil paints: titanium white, pearlescent black, and metallic german silver. I didn't paint it on too thick or anything, just a standard swatch of test paint.

I made sure to shake the can longer than the designated time. It doesn't say in the instructions how many coats should be applied, so at first I just sprayed one thin coat.

What happened? The wet area became extremely tacky, it felt really sticky. This lasted for several days! After the first couple of days the paint stopped lifting when I touched it, but the tacky feeling remained. I thought that maybe it requires more than one coat, so after about 5 days, I sprayed it again. It still stayed tacky, in fact it's been a couple of weeks now and the white is still a little tacky. The paint doesn't lift, maybe the paint is actually dry under the coating, but the coating itself remains tacky for a long time and I definitely wouldn't want to paint over that.

I can't believe that Krylon encourages people to use this between coats of oil paints, and to spray it into your paint on the palette to encourage drying. I don't know what kind of rigid surface they are expecting you to use it on, but I found it completely disastrous on a model horse and will never use it again. I'm glad I tested it first! I've had good results with some of Krylon's clear coats, but after a horrid experience with their Fusion Plastic paint, I make sure to always test first. A waste of $11!

I would love to hear if anyone else has tried this product and what their experience was with it.