Creating a Portrait Model: Part Three

In this section I'll cover white markings and detailing. The best advice I can give you is references! This is especially important if you are painting a paint or appaloosa. A good reference photo will help you make your horse ultra-realistic and help you make sure that every tiny hair is in the right spot.

First you want to thin down artist quality white paint with either water or glazing medium. Paint on a couple layers and then let dry for at least half a day. Then seal with Krylon Matte Spray. Repeat until you get a solid color.

I painted in the eyes white so I could figure out where to detail in the next steps.

Before I started I checked over my reference pictures to check out the color of Soul Surfer's eyes, hooves, and mane.

He has gorgeous blue eyes with thick eyeliner, shell hooves, and a reddish blonde mane and tail.

Here are some of the tutorials I used when detailing my model.

Blue Eyes

Shell Hooves

For the mane and tail I mixed up a reddish yellow color using burnt sienna, yellow ocher, and white. Then I dusted it several different pigment colors to give the mane and tail. Here is an archive of other tutorials that are helpful when creating your model

He's finished!