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

Mini Haggis (Part 4)

Reference is of an
extreme bay sabino.

So all the facial and body details have been completed on Mini Haggis and he's only about 50% done. He has a whole portion of painting that still needs to be done on him before he can go back to his owner. This portion is his white markings. He will be an extreme sabino and the amount of bay color I've placed on him is far too much, but I wanted to make sure I didn't miss any spots so the white markings will mimic the reference as close as possible. It's easier to go over the bay color with white than to add bay to small areas later on.

This reference only shows one side. I will have to turn the image around in my head and apply what is here on the horse. So basically both sides will get the same pattern except I'll vary the sides just slightly. I like to try and follow the reference as closely at possible.

Keep the reference at
hand for the entire session.

Even though there is a lot of white in this reference this pattern will still follow the natural hair pattern on a horse so I'll keep reference of hair patterns near by just to make sure I'm following things are realistically as possible.

To cover the work that has already been done the best paint to use is slightly watered down gesso. Water it down till it doesn't streak when applied to the horse. Too much water will create a very cloudy milky effect which we don't need at this stage. It will take approx 6-7 coats of white gesso to properly cover this horse. Once covered add Titanium white acrylics (at least 2 coats) on top of the gesso. Let everything dry for at least a day.

Water down the gesso
so no streaks show



"Tackle and Tumble III"
Graphite and watercolor on archival bristol.


“Even if you stumble, you’re still moving forward.”