I Finished the Band Props!

Remember how I mentioned that I was making band props? Well I finally finished them!

All three standing side by side, with me in the middle...

 A close up of Le Mis....

 and Phantom of the Opera...

and finally West Side Story...

They were definitely a challenge, but worth it! I'm very proud of how they turned out.

Creating a Flaxen Liver Chestnut in Pigments and Pastels - Part One

Here's the liver chestnut tutorial I promised!

Here's what you need for this part:

• brushes or q-tips for applying color
• prepped horse
• reference picture
• Brown 610 or a reddish brown pastel
• acrylic sealer 

First, find a reference picture for your project. You can use one ref picture for your model or two - one for the color and one for the markings.

photo from http://www.proudmeadows.com/breeding_rondo.asp

After that, make sure your model is completely prepped. For this tutorial I'm using Pretty Girl (name pending). You can buff it if you want, but it is not required as this is going to be a dark color and you'll be able workout any grain issues in the layers.

Start with a coat of Brown 610 or an equivalently colored pastel. Seal in three layers. 

First layer unsealed

First layer sealed

Second layer sealed

Third layer sealed

In the next post I'll cover darkening her up.

Creating a Sorrel in Pigments and Pastels - Part One

Today, I'll show you the first couple of steps to creating a copper chestnut or sorrel horse. For the the purpose of this tutorial I will refer to this color as sorrel, because I will also be doing a flaxen liver chestnut tutorial (hopefully) simultaneous to this one.

As defined by Wikipedia "Sorrel is an alternative word for one of the most common equine coat colors in horses. While the term is usually used to refer to a copper-red shade of chestnut, in some places it is used generically in place of "chestnut" to refer to any reddish horse with a same-color or lighter mane and tail, ranging from reddish-gold to a deep burgundy or chocolate shade. The term probably comes from the color of the flower spike of the sorrel herb."

On to the actual making of the color! First, as with any other horse color, find a reference picture! Since the horse I'm using is a commission - here is the picture I was given to use -

photo provided by Ashley Johnson

First I break out on of my rarely used colors (mostly because I've been addicted to bays and blacks...shhhh). Havana Ocher is a nice orangeish brown color that goes on with a medium stain. 

I paint the color on for two layers. It went on fairly dark for the first layer, and for the second layer it only caused minimum color change.

first layer

second layer

In the next installment I'll darken this guy up a bit then work to redden his coat, if all goes well. Also keep your eye out for my liver chestnut tutorial which should be up soon!

I Survived!

Well, the first week of school is over and I survived. I have a paper due almost everyday next week, but that's what long weekends are for ;-). I have a few commissions to show you further down post, and I'm also painting band props which will be the subject of a later post. So without further adieu, the commissions in their first layer of color!

Now Taking Commissions

My books are now open! You can find my commission terms and portfolio in the tabs above.

School is Here

Well school starts on Tuesday for me (my senior year). Each year I create a custom planner - here is this year's - 

I have also been painting props for my school marching band (10 foot banners). I'll try to post pictures of them when I am finished. 

Poco is Finished!

She'll be shipped out to her new owner Taylor Hagquist on Friday. Here are her final pictures -

She is done in pigments and detailed with acrylics and has a resculpted mane and tail. I included a base with sand and a small amount of water detail because Poco sometimes has a hard time standing. 

On another topic, is there any tutorials ya'll would like to see? Comment your ideas below!