Getting There

Here is a update of happenings in my studio. The week was a quiet one, so I was able to get lots of work done on most of my projects. 

 Still going cross eyed on the Appaloosa. 

 I decided my ISH needed a new neck. 

This will be my first traditional custom... a little scary.   

 And I have finally got around to getting my breast collar 

for the Arabian costume started.

Almost Wordless Thursday

Today I spent the morning at Sydney International Equestrian Centre watching the cross country and show jumping. Here are some of my favorite photos from today. 

Sidetracked

I can never get one project done without starting a million others. I now have strong doubts that my Arabian costume will ever be finished. Its so hard to keep on track especially went  bodies that scream “fix me!” show up at my door. 

I bought this ISH not planing to fix up but when he got here he was a mess. The tissue paper has stuck like glue and after a good washing there is still white paper in his paint. He has also turned very sticky and there is finger marks all over. Plus his paint job is so thick and it has run in many places.

So after some soaking and scrubbing my black horse turned white. 

I have also squared him up and have plans to straighten his head.

My best friend for removing paint is what most people use to scrub dishes, nylon scourers. They cost next to nothing and are so amazing at removing paint without taking off any detail.  Great for rubbing over OF models just before priming them, I find it helps the primer get a better hold. And mostly they don't remove detail like sandpaper would. 

Progress

A quick photo of my WIP appaloosa sport horse. I am trying out a new way of painting with acrylics, thanks to Jaime Baker's videos. I have gone cross eyed a few times... so many dots. I have a feeling that this is going to take me a long time to paint.

I have found that I'm a very messy painter and I can be clumsy at times too. I have often slipped with my paint brush or accidently been waving it around to close to the horse. This leads to the horse getting scratched with the metal of the paint brush. 

So to save my work from my clumsiness I sticky tape the very top part of the metal. Don't cover the bristles, just the metal. Go around the brush only once then cut of the excess tape. This layer of tape will stop any scratches from the metal. 

I also apply the tape to my dusting brush. I hope this was helpful, I know most people are not as clumsy  as me :)

Tack Tip

This is how I add bling with my own silver tape. I am not sure if you can buy silver tape or not but it is super easy to make yourself! Take some plain old aluminium foil, doubled sided tape and scissors.

   

 

Stick the tape to the more shiny side of the foil.

Trim or rip off the extra foil from around the tape.

Cut out your desired shape, it is very easy to cut out any shape you want. But make sure you leave the back on till after you finish cutting. 

Place your bling! I used this method for my show halter:

And after you have placed the foil you can press patterns into it. Just take a sharp pencil and carefully press into the foil. Don't press to hard or it could rip but the best thing is you can easily pull off the tape and start again.

Update

This has been the wettest coldest summer I can remember. So I was so excited when we got a few beautiful sunny days. I ran outside with my horses and primer in hand. I have been waiting for what feels like a century to prime and base coat my guys. Wee Dini will be a blue roan NewFoundland Pony and the SM will be a blanket Appaloosa sport horse.

My Arabian costume has not been forgotten. I am just having a very hard time finding the same colour seed beads. I have hunted in every craft store with in a hours drive and still no luck.  I did order some off the internet but the colours are not a match.

Working on two projects is a very messy balance for me. I have just got a new studio space and I'm in heaven! So much room... for mess. Which leads to this:

 
So today I decided to clean up my act, hopefully it will stay that way!