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!

Creating a Portrait Model: Part Two

Today we will discuss different painting methods with guest commentary by Kristian Beverly of Five Paws Studio. The only thing I really use airbrushing for is base coating so I asked her to do the airbrushing section. If you have any further questions let me know in the comment section. Lets begin!

Oils
Pros:

• longer blending and drying time
• If I walk away for a couple hours and then come back I can fix anything I don't like
• gives the horse a glow
• can create a variety of colors

Cons:

• long drying time (some colors can take more than 5 days to dry)
• only cleans up with turpentine/linseed oil
• both can be harmful if not used in a well ventilated area 

*There are water mixable oils, which I have just started using (they are awesome!). They allow you the same benefits with the use of water. Oils are quickly becoming my favorite medium. You can find them at your local art supply store or online at DickBlick

Airbrush

I first off have to say that I love airbrushing. I’ve done pastels, acrylic paint, and etching. Each medium has pros and cons, but I think airbrushing has become my favorite. I don’t exclusively use my airbrush. I do use pastels, acrylic paint and etching for detailing.

This is my airbrush-it’s a Badger Patriot 105. It’s a gravity feed instead of siphon feed. My first couple of airbrushes were siphon feed. I had issues with my siphon feeds, but none with the gravity feed since I’ve had it.

These are the paints I use. I buy them at my local Michaels and AcMoore. Both stores have recently expanded their airbrush section. They also have numerous types, that range from very cheap (2$) to upper level paints that cost more. (Madison here - You can thin down acrylics but it clogs your airbrush very easily. To thin you can use Liquitex airbrush medium or water)

This is the compressor I have. I bought it at Michaels when it was on clearance and it’s been my painting partner since! 

 

I’m far from claiming to be a professional, but here are the pros and cons I’ve come up with that relate to airbrushing.

Pros:

• They dry fast. If you’re as impatient as me, this is a great thing.
• You get a smooth finish. Since you aren’t using a paint brush, there aren’t any brush strokes.
• There are multiple levels of airbrushes so you can get beginner level airbrushes and paint

Cons: 

As with any new  skill, there is a learning curve.

• But with airbrushing, if you don’t like it there’s a good bit of equipment that you invested in. So start cheap to make sure you like it. Or better yet, find a friend who can show you. When trying out pastels, you can buy chalk pastels and a can of matte spray for cheap. With paints, you can buy a couple of tubes. With airbrushing you need the airbrush, paints, and can of air (if yours doesn’t come with it).
• Upstart costs are expensive as you move up (compressor, paints airbrushes ,etc)
• Some airbrushes come with a can of air—but you’ll quickly run out of them. There’s nothing worse than painting and your airbrush quits because your can is empty. If airbrushing for long periods of time, a compressor works.

Pastels/Earth Pigments
Pros:

• mimics, in my opinion, the glowy effect of oils
• easy to find
• pastels can be found in any art store or online at DickBlick
• Earth Pigments can be found online
• easy to blend
• can be combined with other methods to create unique colors

Cons:

• takes a lot of patience
• needs to be sealed in between layers
• requires a well ventilated space
• Destroys your brushes after a while
• If your surface is not completely free of flaws you will get grain
• you can work through this, however it does take a lot of patience 

*Pastels can be ground up and used to stain the horse. Earth Pigments are already a powder and give a stronger stain due to the lack of a binder.

What you'll need for this part:

• the supplies for your chosen painting method
• a fully prepped horse

Now on to how I started with Soul Surfer. I was originally going to airbrush this guy with a burnt sienna craft paint, but my airbrush kept clogging. So instead I hand painted it. I started out with the paint that was thinned with airbrush medium and slowly worked my way up to straight paint.

Next, to add the slight golden tone that his hair has, I brushed the entire horse with a coat of natural sienna Earth Pigment.

I sealed it and repeated the process. This lent a very subtle gold tone to the model and toned down the red a bit.

Next, I used the wet pigment technique on the belly and the rump to help create a stronger yellow tone. To counteract the harsh lines that this technique creates, I blended the natural sienna dry pigment back over.

I may at some point do a more in-depth post about each medium. Look out for the final post on white markings and detailing your portrait models!

Creating a Portrait Model: Part One

As the school year draws to a close, the annual Feather Fund auction in July draws closer and its time for me to start on some portrait models for donations. In this series I'll show you how I create a portrait model of Soul Surfer, a 2014 foal and son of the late Surfer Dude. Now on to the tutorial!

What you will need for this part

• Lots of reference pictures
• a body or a selection of body models

One of the most important parts of this process is having several different reference photos from different angles. This will help you recreate the horse in the most realistic way possible. Here are some of the reference pictures I'm using to recreate Soul Surfer. 

The next thing you want to do is find a body model to use. This model should have the same body type as the horse you want to recreate (pony, draft, light, stock, ect). Now you have to consider the breed you are recreating. If the model you chose does not have some of the well known traits of the breed (dished face for the Arabian and the curved ears for the Mawari) don't worry! That's where sculpting comes in.

I prefer to use Magic Sculpt as it easily smooths into the plastic and cuts down on prepping time. Add the specific breed traits in with the clay (see the category Sculpting and Prepping for how I do this). Let the clay dry for at least 24 hours and begin prepping. Here is the model I chose for Soul Surfer.

In this picture he is not prepped yet

 Once your horse is prepped and has his final coat of primer on, you're ready to add color. In the next post I'll cover pros and cons of the techniques I've used over the years.

~If you are the owner of any of the pictures in this post let me know and I will give you full credit~