Seems Like...

Seems like a no-brainer, but putting the finishing touches on areas like the tail and the muzzle can be tricky and sometimes baffling. The tail in general has a lot of sharp detail. Getting that detail to not only blend but pop nicely can be tricky. Here are some quick suggestions to producing nicer manes and tails using a dry brush method.

Prep tail by adding gesso (allow to dry)
and then add your base color


Cover the entire tail
most especially the grooves.
Two-three coats should cover.

Mix a bit of white into base color then lightly
dry brush onto the surface. Only the raised portions will receive paint.


Simple dry brush technique
used on the mane.

Add darker color in grooves
to create depth

Muzzle color can pose a huge problem. Add too much red and it looks like lipstick. Add too much white and it starts to look chalky and unrealistic. So what colors does one use to produce realistic looking muzzles and how is that paint applied so it blends nicely with the white markings and surrounding areas?


Alizaran Crimson, Burnt Sienna and
some linseed oil used to create the muzzle color.

Just a touch of Alizarin Crimson and Burnt Sienna in linseed oil will produce a very transparent mixture. To this mixture add a bit of Titanium white oils.


Titanium white oils added to mixture

Dab placed right in the middle of
the muzzle.


Taking a dry blender brush
blend the dab into the entire muzzle area.

Finish is smooth and the proper "fleshy"
muzzle color. Additional color (darker)
can be added inside nostrils.

"Hay"
Graphite and Watercolor on archival bristol.

"Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend." ~Albert Camus

Indian Silver Tutorial (Cont.)

Third layer on the Indian Silver.
Applied just like the first two...slowly.

After the Indian Silver had a full day to dry we revisit him and apply one more oil layer. This layer is applied the exact same way as the previous layers. The color used is just slightly darker than what was already placed on the piece. It is blended in using the silk sponge. After the horse is layered it is allowed to dry once again for a full day.

Certain areas that will naturally
be darker can be pushed a bit at this stage

Oil painted quickly added
to the top line. It doesn't have to be neat before blending.

Chestnut is the *HARDEST* color (IMO) to
photograph but you can see how
the color has changed already with the glazing.

"Dinner Is Served"
Graphite, Acrylic and Watercolor on archival bristol

‘If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.’ ~Henry David Thoreau

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

Base for Bjalla

Gesso the base.

Bjalla has a base. Many moving horses do and painting up these bases is actually a heck of a lot of fun. It's easy too!

I decided to document the painting process of this rocky base to show you how very easy it is if you use the "dry brush" technique. This base literally took about 15 minutes to paint.

Paint the base the darkest color. In this case it was pure black.

Use the dark color as base and lighten
the color to about 50% in orderto mix the "middle color".

Load brush fully with paint then blot the brush completely on a dry paper towel. This "blotting" just removes all the "wet" paintleaving just a bit of "dry-ish" paint on the brush.



Take the 50% mixture and lighten it
further and load brush then blot completely
on paper towel. Sweep on base.

"The Chase"
Graphite and watercolor on archival bristol.

"Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great."
~ Mark Twain

Mini Haggis (part II)

Mini Haggis after approx 2
coats of dry pigments

The Mini Haggis had approx two days to dry after receiving a couple of layers of dry pigment. Although you can work on the piece immediately after the fixatives have dried, I always find that waiting at least 24 hours offers better results.

At the moment I am enjoying the fluidity and ease of clean up of Duo Aqua Oil colors which are produced by Holbein. These oil paints can be mixed with either water or oils and clean up with water. They basically "feel" like oils, but clean up like a water based paint. Oil paint is applied after the matte fixatives have dried and these applications help to deepen the color on the coat.

Mix up the next layer of color and slowly apply in patches to the horse. Take a dry blender brush (I prefer a square) and blend in the color till it is smooth. Keep working in small patches till the entire horse is covered. This piece will be an extreme sabino in the end so it's legs and most of it's belly will be white so there is no need to go crazy with coloring the barrel or lower legs.

Let dry overnight and add more layers the next day depending upon the richness of color desired. Use the same "small patch and dry brush" techniques addressed here.

Apply oil color in patches

Blend the oil outward onto
surrounding areas till smooth


Mini Haggis with
one coat of oils.


An Eberl "Bjalla" being
painted a dun. This is the third
layer of oils after 2 layers of dry pigments.

"The Ribbon"
Graphite and watercolor on archival bristol

"To love is nothing. To be loved is something. To love and be loved is
everything."