"The Hurricane"
Graphite, Watercolor and Acrylics on Paper.

Pigment on a Pony (Part II)

After the roses were placed on the Fraley pony and she was primed and given a chance to dry, the tedious process of laying color down began.

Every artist has their own technique and this technique is the one I prefer. In short, I use pigments (or crushed pastels) then layers of oils, then layers (and details) of acrylic, then more pigments to color one piece. It's a constant flow of media back and forth. The unifying element to all these mediums is Krylon Crystal Clear FLAT. It allows coverage of all mediums and has a soft tooth when dry.

The process within the pictures below are the pigment portion. This piece has approx four layers of pigment. It doesn't look like much, but in the end it will all make sense.

Fraley pony prepped, primed and ready for
the first layers of pigment.

She'll be a dappled grey so I start
painting the darker areas first.

Applying darker areas first give me
better guidance when laying down the body color on a dappled grey.

No dapples yet, not at this stage.
Dappled are applied later.

Last coat of pigment. Next step: Acrylic application.

Shelves

My garage: the catch all for future projects.
It's been close to a week now that I've been on the hunt for a new shelving unit in order to replace my old one that has seen better days.

It's been a very difficult search for not only nice shelves, but sturdy ones. I didn't find anything and after I realized I was just wasting my time going from store to store with no luck, I decided to start thinking creatively. I figured if I sat in my garage long enough some idea would come to me and it did.

I seem to acquire furniture like tables, chairs, and decorative do-dads that are broken but could be cool if given lots of TLC. Dressers seem to like my garage...a lot and I have acquired three. Please don't ask. I have no idea how this happened. I am happy, however that it did because the one dresser will now be repurposed and used as my new shelving unit. I just pulled the drawers out, propped them together and they made great shelves! All the shelves need now is securing and a nice paint job. The shelves are not as wide as the older unit, but they will be sturdy.

Dresser drawers repurposed as shelves!!

"Jack-o-Lantern"
Graphite, Watercolor and Acrylics on Watercolor paper.

Roses on a Pony

The little Fraley resin was crying for bows. Bows are hard to make in epoxy, but roses are easy! Here is how I made little roses for the Fraley resin (which will be for sale at the Leesport, PA show on Nov 10th).

Start with a few small flattened pieces of epoxy.

Roll one flattened piece.

Then keep rolling more flattened
pieces to the original rolled piece.

Once the rose is large cut
the end with a sharp exact

Take the end piece that was just cut off
and smooth it onto the area you wish to attach the rose.
(This will help with attachment.)

Add some leaves before adding the rose bud.

Add the rose bud.

With rose attached...

Add some to the mane as well.

The Issue Is...

Leaning Tower of all my favorite books.
The issue is? It's falling down! The only thing that seems to be holding my main shelving unit up is my larger books. It must have been happening for a while now and I just didn't notice. A few of my books are now completely ruined.

Even though it's a studio filled with fun and paints and sculpting supplies it needs maintenance just like any normal office or workplace and unfortunately I can't seem to find replacement shelves just like these. Unfortunately I believe I've run out of luck of this thing falling down completely. This weekend is the weekend I need to attend to it. I'd rather be painting.

Opps...

The Trouble Was...

Traditional sized resin in a specific pose
that needs a clear peg for support.
The trouble was...he couldn't stand and I didn't have any clear plastic rods to prop under his front hoof. While fixing an ear recently I got the idea to create my own prop under his hoof to enable him to stand perfectly. Here is how I did it:

1). Pour the baking soda out in a small mound.
2). Add a bit of Zap a Gap glue to the end of the hoof.
3). Gently dip the wet glue in the baking soda mound.
4). Add more glue and let it drip downward. Dip it in the baking soda mound.
5). Continue to drip glue and dip it into the baking soda till the desired length is achieved.

The only two ingredients needed are household baking soda
and Zap A Gap (Crazy Glue works too).

Dripping the glue and adding baking soda.

The process takes a little time but you
can built a custom support peg.

Be sure and check your length as you go along.

Sand down the rough peg.

Horse stands perfectly now.

"The Purple Ribbon"
Graphite and Watercolor on Paper.

In And Around the Studio

Two repairs drying after being glued.
There is a lot of random juggling going on in the studio. From repairs, to prepping pieces, to adding multiple layers on models, there is a constant flow of "doing" at the moment, but few finishes. Using multi media, especially oils, is time consuming as everything must be layered. Because of this the pattern in the studio has been to have about 10 horses going at one time. I took a few shots of the bays being produced. Even in oils this color is still one of the most tedious to produce in layers.

Around the studio there are...yep, many hearts. At this point I just automatically snap shots of them when I see them. Again, none of these shots were manipulated. Well, perhaps the last one was....

Chaney Hackney going bay.
Wait...is that a heart on the side?

Affinity resin going bay.

Last grass cutting of the season. Made a heart....lol.

Phone, Canvas, and Paints

Photos on my phone serving
as reference for the new canvas painting.
Last time I went landscape painting I took a ton of shots of the views with my phone. I figured once things got colder out it would be fairly difficult to get out in the field. Also when the urge to paint a canvas strikes I'm always ready with reference.

Although I don't feel this piece is as successful as I was hoping (the barbed wire posed quite a challenge even though its just a line.) I'm fairly happy with the results. This one will most likely be turned into a Christmas ornament.

"Field with Barbed Wire"
Acrylics on canvas.

"Breakfast"
Graphite, Watercolor and Acrylic on Paper.