When last we met, I mentioned I did not yet have a name for the little drafter horse I was doing for the Spooky SM Swap. That has changed. No sooner did I finish writing my last post when someone mentioned that with the masking tape, the little horsey looked like the Trojan Horse. Trojan Horse > "Troy" > Orlando Bloom. So the horse's name is now Orlando. For some reason I find it fitting. Anyhow!
A few days after writing my blog I went to Walmart to find some felt for coffin-lining and some ribbon for the treat bags. I didn't wind up bringing home any felt, but I did find this gorgeous spiderweb ribbon - I'm in love!
So now with the exception of filling the big one with goodies, the treat bags are both done.
I've been on a bit of a kick with Orlando lately. Once I started working I found it hard to stop. One evening while my parents were out to dinner, I saw a chance to get some work done. So I set up "shop" in the living room and watched half of Rocky Horror. Good way to work.
I decided to try and do a bit of subtle dappling on Orlando's belly area, and in all honesty I'm happy with the result.
About a week and a half went by and I hadn't done anything. Then I started to feel... "ill", for lack of a better word. Nothing contagious, of course - I won't work if I'm contagious, hence Orlando was so difficult to get started in the first place. Last thing I need is a swap partner or a client getting whatever I have. Anyhow, in an effort to feel better and get my mind off how awful I was feeling, I went to work. My dad had picked up some felt for me so I was able to line the coffin box.
I began painting the outside but focused mainly on Orlando. I did a bit more dappling and lightened up a few more areas on his belly and leg area.
I took off his tape when I remembered that I needed to highlight and shade still, so, not knowing where my masking tape was, I opted for Scotch. Works just as well.
After fiddling with pastel dust and some watery white paint, I was happy with how he looked. I moved on to the hooves. When I worked on Friend of Mine, I tried to make the socks look realistic by painting hairlike strokes. I think it turned out much better on this guy, though.
Hairy goodness! The horses I was using as reference also had shaded muzzles... this part was tricky. First I tried with pastel, it didn't work very well, then I tried a grey wash, which worked out even worse. I finally ended up with black pastel (I believe I tried grey first). Again, happy with the results. He looked a bit odd, but I knew I had more to add to him before I was finished.
I ran out of space on both my palettes so I wound up using an old piece of heavy sketchbook paper. Hey, use what you have, right? I painted his hooves grey, made and mane flaxen.
After that I painted his blaze and made his muzzle pink, and then painted his eyes. He also got some green "ribbons" painted on his tail.
I can say with all honesty, he's probably got the cutest face of any horse I've ever painted. He just looks adorable!
Almost done! Now I just have to seal him and cover his eyes in nail polish. I'm ecstatic with how he came out. In my opinion he looks very realistic and I'm extremely proud of him.
I wanted to check to see how he'd look with his costume and treat bag, and I'm in love. He's not a bad model, either. (Also, like my Dremel Koala?)
I've done some work on painting the coffin box... I was happy to be able to whip out the glow in the dark paint again.
Doesn't it look like a face? That's actually what I used as a guideline for the vampire's face.
Yesterday I also did a bit of work on Taskin, with the coffin drying and nothing left to do on Orlando. Orlando's mane and tail color were very similar to Taskin's coat color, so I made more of that and painted over his old coat.
He's not as lemon-y as he looks. Stupid camera. I then highlighted (no shading yet) and masked off around his mane and tail. They are black with reddish undertones, so if I got it on his coat I'd likely not be able to fix it very easily.
I did a basecoat on his mane and tail with a dark, almost black cherry color.
Granted, he looks a bit odd at the moment, but he's not finished yet. I also worked on his hooves and eyes and will continue on him at another time.
That's all I have for now - sorry it was so short! (I actually kept forgetting to take pictures of things this time around - oops!) Hopefully I'll write again soon - I didn't make any promises last time and here I am, twelve days later, updating! Let's hope I keep up with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment