The Art Of Carissa Kirksey ✝
  • Home
  • Finishwork Galery
  • Finished Piece & U/P AR Sales
  • Blog
  • Winner's Circle
  • Commission pricing & policies
  • Contact Me
  • About Me
  • Thank You
  • Dictonary: Terms & Abbreviations
  • Wayne County Ohio Fair

NaMoPai-NO: Come To The Dark Side, or, How To Paint A Black Horse

2/19/2020

0 Comments

 
 Since there is no way I am even going to TRY to do the HxH red roan I intend to paint my Juggy all in one week, I have decided to have a NaMoPai-NO, & unofficially paint my Upton a dapple black before month's end!
Picture
 This guy has a fun story to him. My friend Laura & I went down to BF last summer, & in the AG, I was sorely tempted by an Upton second that Morgen Kilbourn had for sale. I've had my eye on Upton for a portrait of 2000 Olympic gold medalist Custom Made, but being the cheapskate that I am, I hadn't gotten a hold of one yet. Morgen had this one Upton on her table marked down simply because he had a dark stain on the resin. I was eyeballing him, & being the doll that she is, Morgen knocked off another $50 from his price. With the goading of Laura, I bought him. No regrets!
 As the months went on, I knew I wasn't going to be able to resist the name that was right on his price tag. He had to be black, & he had to be named Come To The Dark Side! Custom Made will simply have to wait for another model.

Picture
 So, black he is, & replacement NaMo he will be!

 Since I am pressed for time, this isn't going to be as in depth a NaMo tutorial as I usually write. But I have a few people interested in how I do a dapple black, so, even a less detailed tutorial has to be better than nothing! :)
 Of course I wash (in warm water with dishsoap & a nail & tooth brush to get any mold release off), prep (sand any seams, fill any holes, remove any blemishes), & prime (with red Dupli-Color sandable automotive primer) my model. All ready to paint now!

Picture
I'm sure I left an impression on the new neighbors as I stepped outside in shorts & tee to spray a toy horse on a 9 degree day as they went past...
 I then use a soft inch or half inch flat brush & smoothly paint a couple or three layers of black gesso; this one was Master's Touch, the Hobby Lobby brand, but I have also used Liquitex Professional as well. You can thin either with water & carefully brush on as many layers as are needed to keep brush strokes at bay.
Picture
 Let the gesso fully dry, & then spray with Testor's colorshift paint. I have used Pink Champagne for sun bleached blacks, & Purple Mist, along with this Purple Sunrise, for true blue blacks. If you do not let the gesso dry thoroughly when you spray over it, it will 'craze' on you (raised crinkly texture). Also, at least with the Purple Mist, if you spray too many layers of it, it will lose its color & look more silver than purple-teal, so don't go too heavy if you use it. Pink Champagne, on the other hand, takes a few layers to actually cover. It is spray paint, so make sure to shake the can vigorously, & spray in a well ventilated area (like OUTside)! It stinks! Especially the Pink Champagne!
Picture
 This stuff is soooooo much fun though!!!
Picture
 I mean, LOOK at it!!
 Enough playing with the colorshift!

 Let it cure fully, & then spray it good with Testor's Dull Coat. The colorshift is glossy, & if you try to oil over it, the oil paint will not be happy about having to cover such a slick surface. Dull Coat is matte enough that it gives it a good 'tooth' to hold on to. I've never used it, but workable fixative *might* work for this as well. 

 I have several tutorials that show how I hand paint base coats (the black gesso is a base coat), & mix & paint with oils, so please do check them out under the Tutorials tag. They will show you how I go about doing them since I don't have the time to elaborate on it this year.

 I had to mix a new batch of paint for Dark Side. My last black pallet dried up in Dec, but it was nearly three years old too, so I can't complain!

 The colors I used were:
Picture
 Body:
 Oils-
  1. Lamp black
  2. Titanium White
  3. Cobalt Blue

 Powders-
  1. Pearl-Ex Carbon Black
  2. Black pastel chalk
  3. White pastel chalk
  4. Pure Carbon Soot*

 Shading:
 Oils-
  1. Lamp Black

  No powders.

 Blue Shading:
 Oils-
  1. Cobalt Blue
 
 Powders-
  1.  Pearl-Ex Carbon Black

 Brown shading: (probably not going to be used on this guy)
 Oils-
  1. Burnt Umber
 
 Powders-
  1.  Pearl-Ex Carbon Black

 Highlighting: (also probably not going to be used on him)
 Oils-
  1. Titanium White
 
 Powders-
  1. Pearl-Ex Micro Pearl, or Pearl White

 
 Many other Pearl-Ex powders can be added as well, blues, reds, browns, etc.



 Fold a sheet of pallet paper in half (wax paper is, unfortunately, not a substitute for pallet paper, the oil just soaks through), & mix these colors on the seam & one half only; then you can fold it over & store in a Ziploc in the freezer to keep!
 You can see below that the biggest blob of color is the Body blue-grey. It is what I use the most of.

Picture
Clip your 'page' of pallet paper to a clipboard when you need to use it.
 * Regarding the asterisk. Last February, the natural gas boiler needed cleaned (that's a story in & of itself!), & I discovered that the carbon soot is a STUNNING, light eating, BLACK. I am certain that the plumber thinks I am crazy, but I had him save me three containers of this beautiful black treasure! Carbon soot is actually what they use (or at least used to use) to make lamp/carbon black paint, so it is a legitimate pigment. I carefully shovel small amounts of it it into a paint pot with a pallet knife & try to mash the fragile chunks out of it. I then use it like pastel. So unfortunately, not many people are going to be able to attain this pigment. My apologies for that!!
 ANYWAY! Armed with my new pallet of black mix, & grab a faithful frizzy half inch flat & sort of thinly scrub it on. I do have videos of how I do this in other painting (NaMoPaiMo) tutorials, if you want to see the technique in action! You want only enough paint to cover, not so much that it will take forever to dry or get 'muddy' when blending.
 About 98% of the splendor of the colorshift is lost when you oil over it, but it is still slightly there, especially in bight & sun light. & anything to add depth & dimension to black is worth it in my opinion!

Picture
 As I go, I will use a quarter inch angle or a small flat to add the black shading to the low areas, the muscle grooves & such (again, see past painting tutorials for a better description of this), & blend it in. I work in such a way, that every section is finished, & I always have a hand hold on the horse.
Picture
There isn't actually any black shading on him here yet, but it was where I stopped to add it. I just didn't get a picture afterwards!
 Do this over the whole horse. I refrain from shading over the topline, since I want to add dapples & it will be easier to see what I am doing (& have them show up) if I haven't added the dark shading over his back/neck.
 Once you have your whole horse painted, take a clean, big (I grabbed an inch) soft flat, & lightly stroke the paint in the hairgrowth direction to smooth any brush strokes that may have remained.
 Set aside & let dry. Black can unfortunately take a long time to dry. The powders do help, but if you really want to speed it up, you will need to add dryer to your pallet, which I don't use since it's tricky.

Picture
 & so that is where I have stopped for now! Waiting on my paint to dry! I will continue my tutorial once I move on with him!

 OH! Must not forget to report on Kylo's NaMo! He has gotten the oils down! He was painting along with me the other day as I tackled a couple of bays. I think it turned out well considering he's never painted before!
Picture
 Kylo & I are looking forward to the NaMoPaiMo party my friend Laura & I are hosting on Saturday!! It should be a lot of fun to get together & art with others!!
 Til next time! Happy painting all!!

0 Comments

NaMoPai-NO

2/19/2020

0 Comments

 
 Welp! Juggy number 3 arrived!
Picture
 & before prepping even ONE more Juggy, I washed him off & hit him with some primer. Boy am I glad I did too!
Picture
  Because he had the same sticky reaction as the first two!
Picture
 This guy even had it across his neck & face!
Picture
 Of course Rayvin & Jen were dumbfounded. They are awesome though, & certainly get an A+++++++++++++++++++ for customer service!!! Jen & Tom finally tracked the issue down to a bad batch of resin. & Jen made sure to wash & prime the next Juggy heading my way to make SURE he's a good boy!
Picture
 Just to rule out that it was not possibly anything I was doing, I ran these horses through the mill! I thoroughly washed in warm water & dish soap, sanded multiple times, Dremeled down the pour on one, covered the spots in gesso, changed primers, scrubbed with alcohol & mineral spirits (& washed again of course), finally I even stripped one in Easy Off: You can see on him now that the troublesome spots are yellowed as compared to the rest of the horse. I was going to try soaking the stripped one in alcohol, washing, & spraying in new primer, but by that point, I'm pretty sure this isn't anything I am doing!
Picture
 So, now the 19th day of NaMo, & I am waiting for Jugy number 4 to land.
Picture
 The luck I seem to have had for bad Juggies is apparently pretty fantastic according to Rayvin.
Picture
 I must say though, the view was pretty while it lasted! Accidents happen, & this was totally out of Rayvin or Jolt's control, so I am not fussed about it! I won't be finishing NaMoPaiMo this year though.
Picture
 Instead I have decided to entertain myself & have a NaMoPai-NO, lol! I can't officially do NaMo since I am signed up with a red roan Juggy, but I still want to play, so I am doing my best to paint my Upton a dapple black before month's end, just so I can "I did it" for another year!
Picture
 What a wild ride this has been! 🤪 If you happen to have a Juggy with any issues, Rayvin & Jen ask that you please contact them!
Picture
 I hope you all are having a much more successful NaMo, with much better behaved ponies!
 Happy painting all!!

0 Comments

Replacement Pony To The... Rescue?

2/8/2020

0 Comments

 
 SO! Juggy #2 landed on Thursday! A day early! Woohoo!
Picture
 & Rayvin is awesome!
Picture
 I mean, SERIOUSLY awesome!! She slipped in a Fortis medallion as a gift! She didn't have to do that!!
Picture
 With only a little over three weeks to prep, base, paint, tick, detail, & finish, I gave Juggy #2 a serious talking to...
Picture
NaMo slefie 2.0.
  & dove in headfirst!!
Picture
I feel like I just did this...
 I was motorin' along on prepping him!
 & then... 

Picture
 Doggone it!! The same sticky reaction that happened on #1's seams, happened on #2's pour!! Back to Rayvin with the reluctant news...
Picture
 Lol, if I gambled, I might take her up on her suggestion! 😆
Picture
 So here I am, waiting again. This time for Juggy #3 to land on Monday!
Picture
 I said last post that you learn to roll with the setbacks you encounter. After this NaMo, I should qualify for the Olympic gymnastic team! 🤣 It's no one's fault, it's not as if anyone is TRYING to send me bum resins, so you just have to laugh at the chances & move on!

 & I will save you from asking right now: No, nether of these Juggies are, or ever will be, for sale. Not even as bodies or seconds. Please stop asking, lol!

Picture
For those of you who are not in the resin hobby, Juggernaut is exceptionally popular, limited to 110, & not everyone was able to buy him as he was sold by lottery draw (you had to be drawn to have the opportunity to buy a copy). So on the secondary market, unpainted Juggies are selling for $700 to $1000 each. They are very sought after!
 I got curious & asked a friend who has been in the resin business for over 30 years about this. I wanted to know the whys & the hows of the phenomena since I have never encountered it before. I knew she'd be able to answer my questions about it! "Somehow moisture has gotten into the resin and it now will not cure. Even if you Dremel all that out, you can't be sure it won't pop up elsewhere." That he'd be "...a 'time bomb'!" That's good to know if I ever encounter another AR in the future that gets sticky! I don't ever want to sell a time bomb!!
Picture
 & so, I wait some more, hoping that "third time's a charm"! I'm not even sure I want to try to do NaMo now, there's not a whole lot of time to accomplish everything I want to achieve on him in the time left. NaMo Juggy is to be a sales piece, & he must be perfect. & perfection takes time! 😉
Picture
 In other news, while I have been having Jugernaut drama, Kylo has gotten around to basing his model! He hasn't done any painting yet, but I expect he will get to it when he's good & ready!
Picture
While Kylo may have tiny hands, I do not, thus the wire hanging off the horse; I have to have SOMEthing to hold onto, lol!
 Happy painting all! May your ponies behave better than mine!
0 Comments

So... NaMoPaiMo 2020...

2/4/2020

2 Comments

 
 Here we are, nearly 5 days into NaMoPaiMo 2020... What am I doing? ...Waiting.
 I had the best laid plan. I got my horse, a beautiful Traditional Juggernaut by Rayvin Maddock! I was a lucky winner of the first timepay lottery draw for him in August, & received him on January 3rd of this year!

Picture
 After six months of mentally running through the equine rainbow of colors he would look good as, I decided to go crazy & push myself to do this red roan.

 & with bated breath, I signed up, wondering what I had gotten myself into for the month of February.

Picture
 I got my selfie with my 'nudie'...
Picture
 Gave him a good bath...
Picture
 Assessed what needed prepped...
 & fixed them.
Picture
 There were some setbacks...
Picture
 But you learn to roll with it.
 All was going to plan!
Picture
 Until something amiss was clearly evident by the 1st.
Picture
 Sticky spots!
Picture
 Along nearly all of his seams!!
Picture
 I was perplexed! I've had this happen at pours (I think I just Dremeled out the resin & filled it with epoxy putty), but never along all the seams! No matter what I did, they always reappeared!
Picture
 I finally asked Rayvin about it...
Picture
 & the reason for the issue wasn't exactly good news...
Picture
 But thankfully, Rayvin is beyond awesome!
Picture
 So that is why I am waiting...
Picture
 Not sure if I will make it to the deadline this year, but I'mma' give it a sincere go!!
Picture
 In other news, this year there is a ridiculous fun offshoot of NaMoPaiMo; Minis Painting Minis! Where the minis hanging around in your studio can have a go at painting a model for NaMo! Kylo Ren decided that he wanted to join in!
Picture
 He signed up to make it official & everything, but he's yet to touch his horse. I guess he's off doing Supreme Leader stuff or Force Skyping Rey or something.
Picture
 Other than waiting for Juggy no. 2, & hoping Kylo will get to his horse soon, I am planning a Painting Party with my friend Laura! There should be five model horse artists of varying levels of experience there, & as many non-model horse people who have been invited to come art with us! As long as nothing goes amiss, the 22nd should be a blast!!
 ...Here's hoping I have an insanely good start going on Juggy 2.0 by then!!
 Happy painting all!! :)
2 Comments

    Author

    Ramblings & tutorials of a model horse artist.

    NOTE

    Just a 'public service notice' to any of my blog readers; Since there's not really any way to 'follow' a weebly blog, if you shoot me an email (sprucewoodfarmsstudio at gmail dot com) I will add you to my blog announcement list & will send you an email when a new post is added. :)

    Categories

    All
    BreyerFest
    Contests
    For Sale
    Guests
    Holly Grails & White Whales
    In The News
    Live Show Reports
    Mail Call
    NaMoPaiMo
    NaMoPaiMo 2018
    NaMoPaiMo2019
    NaMoPaiMo 2020
    NaMoPaiMo 2021
    NaMoPaiMo 2022
    Nature
    Newly Finished
    Personal Collection
    Social Meda Posts
    Tutorials
    WIPs

    Archives

    February 2022
    January 2022
    August 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    February 2020
    February 2019
    January 2019
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    June 2016
    March 2016
    October 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Finishwork Galery
  • Finished Piece & U/P AR Sales
  • Blog
  • Winner's Circle
  • Commission pricing & policies
  • Contact Me
  • About Me
  • Thank You
  • Dictonary: Terms & Abbreviations
  • Wayne County Ohio Fair