Year Review

Looking back I was shocked about how many horses I finished painting. Can you believe it was 8! I know that doesn't sound a whole lot but for me thats a world record. Last year I only managed to finish up one, so eight is huge. I'm looking forward to next year and all that may come.

Wishing everyone happy holidays and a wonderful new year!

Deflated

Sorry for the no posts. I haven't had the desire to do anything remotely related to the hobby for a while.

So for awhile I was contemplating about selling all my models and packing it in. But today I picked up my camera and photographed the models I finished this month.

Whisper

I'm to lazy for typing at the moment so here are photos of my WIP. 

Whisper will be a buckskin Australian Riding Pony.

Still Alive

Yes I'm alive, sorry about the no posts. Still been melting and wishing for cooler weather. On a happy note I think I have finally got CollectA Arabians colour right. Compared to his OF friends he is not too orange anymore, yay! Thanks to some purple pastels (because purple is opposite orange on the colour wheel and therefore tone down the colour) I'm now happy and will be moving on to the details!

Now to decide on marking... sabino or rabicano... hmmm. 

Heat

Gee its hot here, most days it is over 112 fahrenheit. This heat makes things in the studio slow, from sitting in a pool of sweat too not being able to spray cans outside till dark. That being said I have managed to work on some models. 

My Whisper that I last posted about here, has gotten her butt prepped. Still need to work on the eye details and a few little bits but she is looking a lot better then here.  

CollectA arabian is being a royal pain and wants to be orange... He looks fine next to my Honey Magnet and Carinosa. But I'm not happy with the shade he is, so still tinkering around with him.

The Wild Horses of Oak Creek

I thought I would share with you the wild horses that are just up the road from me. There are over 100 of these horses wandering wild in the hills of Tehachapi. Sometimes called the Wild Horses of Oak Creek or the Tehachapi Mountain Horse. They are a definite type, they all look pretty much the same. Black to very dark brown with very limited markings. And are all just about the same size at 14hh. Different from Mustangs that can range from 13hh to 18hh, and come in a wide range of shapes and don’t forget colours.

You can see the Spanish influence in their roman noses, solidness, thick mane and tail. Like most wild horses they have sturdy legs with strong hooves. There is speculation that they bear a big dose of Morgan in their bloodlines, from breeders in the area several years ago. But sadly their true origin is unknown. 

They do not belong to the BLM but from what I understand a few people look over them. Keeping the herd healthy and making sure the land doesn’t get over grazed. At present there is a drought making things tough for the horses, a program was established to geld and adopt them out. 

Then to promote the availability of the wild horses a challenge was invented, very much like the Mustang makeover seen on TV. The Vaquero Trainers Challenge has just started with the final competition ending in October. I will be there with bells on, can’t wait to see the results of everyone’s hard work!

For more information on these awesome wild horses:
Oak Creek Wild Horses

Vaquero Heritage Trainers Challenge

Side Tracked

Sorry for the no posts, I have been side tracked with the excitement of owning my own horses (real ones). A few weeks ago my husband bought the fencing we need for our 3 acres of land to be horse friendly. Sadly its going to be a long time before we are actually ready for horses. But that has not stopped me from looking at ones for sale and buying pieces of tack that are on deal.

I'm still slowly making progress on my Arabian. His colour is hard to photograph, he does look a little different in person. Thinking fiery chestnut with lots of chrome.

Some of my tack loot, making rope halters is kinda fun!

Bulls, Barrels & Ropes

Last weekend was Bulls, Barrels & Ropes rodeo filled with mutton bustin, barrel racing and team roping. Hope you enjoy the photos of the action.

Mad Scientist

I have been experimenting like a mad scientist, bwahaha! My victim the innocent Arabian gelding with horrid seams and deep ruff hair patten. It was my goal to fill it in and smooth it out with modelling paste. But alas I live in a tiny town with no arts or craft store, the only thing I could find was a contour putty. I have ordered modelling paste online but its going to take awhile before it gets here and I couldn't wait to get started.

I tried my heart out to make the contour putty work. Rubbing, mixing and smoothing it with isoprophyl alcohol then the same mixing it with gesso. The results where disappointing even with all the smoothing, it just dries too rough.    

So I moved on to just gesso. The thing is you have to water it down to get it smooth and streak free which means lots and lots of layers. Plus I found that it doesn't like to stay in the places I want it too. 

Then while shopping I came across these make-up sponges that help you get a streak free even finish. Well if it works with make-up it should work with paint, right? I have to say that they work pretty good no streaks like a paint brush. I first use my brush to put down a thick layer of gesso then with a wedge pat it out, you can get bubbles but just pat slowly and they will disappear. You can cut the wedges into different sizes and shapes which is good for getting into the smaller parts.  

The gesso sponge trick worked ok but I think I will have better luck with the modelling paste that is on its way. Sigh I hate prepping but I know its one of the most important parts to good finish work.

Refining

Working on refining my CollectAs hair. First I dremeled small areas away, mostly into the curve of the hair. Then with sandpaper smooth it out, the plastic is really tricky to work with so take the time and go slow. I still wasn't happy with the points of the hair so I went in with epoxy and sculpted the shape I wanted. Here is before and after shots:

Foalie is Finished

Foalie is all finished and will be headed out to the lucky winner very soon. I kept her pretty minimal with this girl as inspiration. Thanks again everyone who entered, I wish I was rich and had all the free time to paint everyone who entered a pony.  

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Drum roll please, the winner of the SM Giveaway is:

Micamoney

Congratulations! The foal is pretty close to completion and as soon as she is finished up she will be headed to her new home. Thank you all very much for entering.

Last Day

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway! 

Just post a comment on the blog post below or on blab!

Stablemate Giveaway!

To celebrate my entry into the world of Facebook and commissions I will be giving away a SM foal, customized by myself. So please take a look and “like” my Facebook page. Right now he is plain black but I have plans, maybe a simple tobiano or sabino… hmmm decisions, decisions.

To enter, just comment on this blog post below. This giveaway will be open for one week, deadline to post a comment will be the 22 April 2014. Only one comment per person, please don’t post anonymously it will not count. Winner will be chosen by random drawing. Thanks guys and good luck!

Facebook

I have finally entered the world of Facebook, we don't get along too well but I'll persevere. So if your on Facebook take a look and please click the "like" button. I will be updating with different photos and posts (are they called posts on FB?) Thanks!

www.facebook.com/covertstudios

CollectA Arabian

Long time no posts. Have been busy with the new pup who is now called Barnaby (though it changes every week) and I also have been reorganising my studio. Everything has a new place, its a little confusing but will make life easier in the long run.

One of the things I have been working on is a CollectA model. He is made of different softer plastic then Breyers, which I'm finding harder to work with. I used my dremel to remove the logo from his belly, it was tricky... dremels like to eat soft plastic.

So most of it was hand sanded with wet 400 sand paper. Please excuse the orange sharpie thats for highlighting the areas that need work. I was thinking bay rabicano for his clothes... or maybe liver chestnut.

Jump Around

I just realised that I never posted a photo of the model that I rushed to finish before High Desert Live. He was my once dapple grey hunter that broke on his trip across the world. He is now a proud blonde palomino and won 1st place in his breed class.

I've also turned my blog into a website, thanks to Clare from meadowview artistry. Before she posted her wonderful site I didn't know you could do pages in blogger! Thanks Clare.