Finishes

Several pieces have come to completion all at the same time. Last night I tried to get official studio shots using the photo cube, but I've grown to prefer the natural lighting especially on the chestnut horses. Out of all the colors to photograph chestnuts remain the most difficult. I took well over a hundred shots last night and couldn't use one so I had to reshoot every horse this morning. I'm happy that all the photos came out well the second time around. Natural lighting seems to be best.

The Indian Silver resin has just captivated me. I enjoyed painting all the pieces, but this one gave me such a difficult time that in the process I just fell to love the resin and the color the owner chose. Also, I believe that once he was completed he just reminded me so much of the little Arab "Saladin" I would ride every Saturday down at Jamaica Bay. Riding a horse on the beach is fun, but riding an Arab along the water at full speed is just magical. I'm sorry to have to send this resin home, but I've kept him far too long I'm afraid so he must leave. In any case, sharing some finishes with you.



Indian Silver resin (chestnut)













AA Chaney Arabian foal (chestnut)





Bitty Bosco resin (buckskin going grey)

Indian Silver Paint Correction

Beginning stages he's orange

I thought putting all the photos of the paint repair on Indian Silver together might be helpful. When you see the transformation happening in steps and all together it sometimes bring better understanding to the process. Again, the transformation that took place happened slowly and with several layers of oil glaze. If you add color slowly you can control the color.

Layering in oils with a silk pad



Layering....


Layering....


Layering....


"Fly!"
Graphite and Watercolor on archival bristol.

"Flying without feathers is not easy; my wings have no feathers." ~Titus Maccius Plautus

I Must Confess...

How the heck did
THIS happen? No clue!

I must confess...

I'm really terrible at taking care of my art supplies, especially my oil paints. You would think by now I'd learn my lesson, but nope, I continue to discard caps, puncture holes in tubes and let my supplies get destroyed. I guess I just get so caught up in creating that I don't see how Im ruining things. I do notice however when I go to use them the next day. Oof..I get agitated but at this stage I'm just learning to accept that this is par for the course of being creative for me personally. These are, without a doubt, the most offensive supplies in my arsenal. Some of these paints are so expensive....I don't even want to think about how fast they are drying in their tubes.

Even a nutcracker
won't help get this top off.

Please don't judge.

Offensive!

Its all cool though...random
heart squeezed out from one of the offensive tubes today.

Indian Silver in progress

Aside from the misuse of art supplies there is this issue with chestnuts going orange. Anyone reading this that has tried to pastel/paint a chestnut horse has gotten to this annoying stage and has probably though, "What now?" I felt this Indian Silver would lend itself well at this "offensive orange" stage to a wonderful online tutorial since he's being an absolute creep! (Yeah...they get testy on me too so if you are reading this thinking, "Wow, that Mini Haggis was awesome! She's great!" Please know that at this very moment as Im trying to figure out how to drop back this awful color and splotchiness Im thinking, "Man, I suck at this.")

So, in the next few blog posts I'll discuss how this color turns from orange to a proper chestnut color. Don't worry if you've painted a chestnut and gotten here. This color IS in the chestnut hair color just not so prominent. Steps coming which will show you how to tone it back.


Random desk shot.
From this angle all looks calm and under control

"The Ribbon V"
Graphite and Watercolor on archival bristol.

"As a person abandons worn-out clothes and acquires new ones, so when the body is worn out a new one is acquired by the Self, who lives within." ~Bhagavad Gita