In the Studio #2: Seeing Spots

With the Spooky SM Swap done with on Model Horse Blab, the time has come for the Secret Santa! This is my third year doing the Secret Santa, and as usual for any swap or swap-like event, I'm excited. My first year I gave my partner a custom of her mare, which she adored.

Last year, I hunted down a Smoke Western Prancing Horse and made my victim very happy (I think he might have been a sort of mini-grail. Either way, she was thrilled to get him). This year, I'm doing a custom once again.

Because there's a link in my MHB signature to this blog and I share it on Facebook, I'm gonna have to be secretive about this. I won't say much about my partner, but I won't leave you in the dark either. So meet a little pony I've named "Obi-Wan".

Er, well, Obi-wan so far. My partner mentioned liking G1s, so after a hunt, I was able to snag one from another blabber. He came pre-primed, and thank goodness! Here in the backwoods of Pennsylvania, winter's already here (I say as there's snow on the ground outside). If I had to prime him myself I have no idea how long it would have taken to get him outside. 

The horse he's being modeled after is a fleabitten grey. I've never done fleabites before, but I was up for the challenge, as usual. First was a layer of white to cover up that grey.

I used the acrylic that comes with those little Breyer custom kits... in hindsight, a bad idea. I was looking for something thin since this guy was starting to lose detail, so I opted out of my thicker white. The Breyer stuff isn't that great. Oh well, live and learn. He'll be covered up anyway. Then it was onto mane and shading. 

It doesn't look like much in this photo, but he got a couple washes of grey and some pastel work, and his mane and tail were started. The horse Obi-wan is a portrait of has very light, creamish-grey hair... very interesting, really. So it wasn't too much different from the body color. At this point I started getting a little frustrated because in honesty, he doesn't look like he's getting anywhere fast. So, I figured since I'm done with the basic shading, I can start on the fleabites. Easy enough, right? Just whip out the Prismacolors and go to town!

-sigh- Again, I've never done a fleabitten horse before. It's... tedious, to say the least. Dot after tiny dot with colored pencil. That portion of the neck took me around 15 minutes. But I will persevere! 

Although it might end in me becoming cross-eyed. 

Stay tuned!

In The Studio #1: Little devils!

As I mentioned in my previous post, this year I was involved in the Spooky SM Swap on Model Horse Blab. This was my first Halloween swap so I was very excited.

My victim was Amy, who said she likes G2 Thoroughbreds and the color black. I decided to go for a realistic horse with a little costume. Unfortunately, the devil costume didn't work out how I originally wanted, but he got a cape all the same.

I want to add that the horse (deemed "Friend of Mine") was the best primer job I've ever done. I feel much more confident about priming now. But I digress. Anyway, I decided to go for a shaded black on this fella. Considering he was my first shading job, he came out pretty well. I started with a Payne's Grey as a base and worked up from there (his mane, tail, and front two legs were intentionally left bare). From there, it was a thick wash of black, with pure black in the shadowed areas and lightly greyed in the highlights.

So here's where things start to look silly. I wanted his mane and tail to be pure black, but I didn't want the pure black on Friend of Mine himself. So, I used masking tape to cover up. (Don't worry, this didn't stick to the paint, masking tape is great like that). After that, it was on to the leg whites.

Yes, that's a tube of paint he's straddling. In my defense, he needed to dry, and I didn't want him sticking to the desk. Gotta get creative in these situations!

While I was in between working on him, I was also working on a little decoupage coffin box. It was Halloween after all!

I painted the outside with an orange base coat and various spooky things and lined it with red felt. The lining wasn't as great as I'd hoped, but it worked out. 

I also invested in some glow in the dark acrylic, so the vampire and the spiderweb (not shown) glow.

After the shading, it was just hooves, a star, and the eyes. Then it was time for sealer.

I used a new sealant for the first time, and while matte, it did give him a pretty, almost semi-gloss finish, and really brought out his shading. His eyes were, as always, glossed over with a small dab of clear nail polish.

After that it was time to pack up! I pack my horses as if they were made of thin glass - I had an incident last year where a horse broke on its way to me, and ever since I've been very paranoid about horses breaking in-transit. Unfortunately, anyone who receives a horse from me probably has to cut it out of the packing with a machete. Once he was wrapped in toilet paper/plastic/bubble wrap (after, of course, putting the little cape I made on his back), I thought to put him in the coffin box. It was a perfect fit! So, with the coffin sealed with a layer of mod podge, I tied it up to close it (I was going to use chain because that would have added to the spoooooky-ness of it, but I didn't have any lying around. Although I still had a ton of red ribbon from his attempted costume.) 

I added some candy and a post card, and off he went! Amy received him earlier this month, and told me she was thrilled with him and the goodies I packed. Few things make me quite as happy as someone who enjoys a custom I've done for them.

Now onto the Secret Santa!