C.S.Richmond Studios

Working through the aftershocks...

2012-02-01T08:02:00.000-05:00

I began prepping my next sales item Monday afternoon and I worked through about 7:30 PM....I heard a muffled shot gun like sound at about 6:30 PM and thought nothing of it since squirrel hunting season is still in ....altho it was a tad dark at that time.

The next morning the news reported another aftershock of 3.2 centered near Mineral Virginia. There have been over 60 aftershocks now....and besides the big quake back in August 2011 this aftershock is the only one I've heard...no shaking just sound. The sound that the quake and the aftershock makes amazes me....the August quake made a sound like twenty heavy freight locomotives going down our road at once...amazing.

I'm sure that if I had not chosen the career path I took I would have went to school to study being a meteorologist...

Another crazy sound was after the hurricane went through here the trees were weakened by the 62 MPH constant winds and the heavy rain. About a week after the hurricane, on a warm calm night, we were awakened shortly after midnight by a loud popping echoing sound in the nearby woods down behind our house. Since our house windows were open we could hear the sound well.

If you have ever watched the nature shows on the sounds the icebergs or ice flows make ...the deep echoing cracking sound they make...you know the sound we heard. The sound went on for about 30 minutes...

There are houses behind us and apparently our neighbors in those woods were awakened my the sound as well....we saw flashlights moving around those houses. I'm sure that our neighbors were worried that a tree was going to fall into their homes.

Finally there was one last pop-echo and the tree crashed to the ground. No harm done except to the tree itself.

The photo above is of my next sales item, a Mr. Shadow resin by the talented Nicole Hatch, and a Lirico resin sculpted by the talented Sarah Minkiewicz.

Mr. Shadow will be painted to the same colors I used to paint the commissioned B. Eberl Kladruber. I have a TB race horse photo I used to paint the dappled grey colors onto the Kladruber and I'll be using the same race horse photo as my guide to paint Mr. Shadow. I will have to begin thinking of a title for Mr. Shadow...

On the commission front I've almost completed six commissions and my Callahan sales item is still waiting completion. Those six commissions will all be completed at about the same time...so I'm betting I will have a full day of taking/editing photos once those are done.

Time to paint! Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

"Royal Poet" ...making progress...

2012-01-26T14:24:00.000-05:00

Well...here is the progress on "Royal Poet"....taking his photos today is a struggle...I think it is because it's cloudy today and even tho I have my photography lights on while taking the photos but I still think that the sunlight helps me and my camera with getting the subject color correct.

I still need to finish his details...mane, tail, hooves, eyes...I am happy with his skin markings. It is a challenge for me with painting those face and skin markings.... getting the shape and pattern of the horses skin markings to look correct....something to practice, practice and practice on :)

Have a great day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Brushes for getting paint into small areas....

2012-01-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

This morning I'm working on painting the base of the Fandango resin. Since he is permanently attached to his base I needed to use a tiny brush to paint those little tight small spaces. I like to use these mini air brush applicators for this task. They can easily be washed out with soap and water and re-used regardless of the painting mediums you are using.....I find that they survive about three to four washings before they wear down and need to be tossed. Here I'm working with oil colors.

Enjoy your day!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

"Royal Poet"...part two..

2012-01-24T13:05:00.000-05:00

After changing my mind about the color I'm painting on the mini Callahan resin..and before I began to change his color... I did a Google search for grey Gypsy Cob....since the sculptor Adalee Hude sculpted Callahan to represent an Irish (Gypsy) Cob I wanted to stick with a color that was visible in that breed.

I had seen the grey Gypsy Cob photos online a few years back when I was looking for a color to paint another project. I found more photos this go round of the color grey in the Gypsy Cob breed...there were dappled greys in all stages of greying....and older greys that are almost white.

I wanted a dark steel grey...something with some rosy tones ...some white face markings would be nice too.

Here is a little tip....I use a small mirror to view both sides of the project to be sure that I have both sides evenly colored and matched.

As I'm looking at one side of the project I'll pick up my mirror and hold the reflecting side facing me on the other side of the project....working with the mirror lets me see both sides of the item at one time and I don't have to handle the wet item to see if I'm on the right track.

Back to painting for me!
Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Completion....

2012-01-23T14:28:00.000-05:00

Today I am nearing the very end of my work on the Eberl Kladruber project.... I laughed and shook my head as I sat back down at my painting table to make an addition to the Kladruber...I laughed because I realize that I need to make a big sign that reads "paint the chestnuts" and hang it near my studio painting table within easy view.....better yet one that hangs near my photo booth and reads "got paint on those chestnuts?".... I started taking a few photos and realized that I needed to paint the chestnuts on his legs.

The Kladruber still needs to have his sealer applied and then he will be 100% completed.

I always leave the painting of the sculptures eyes until last. For me painting a projects face and eyes is the best part....

I also have began to paint a second Rose Reiner commission I have here in my studio. The customer chose a wonderful grulla color for their order....in this photo Reiner is about 50% completed....

I'm going to be starting a third Rose Reiner in a few days...the third will be a pintaloosa project.

Back to painting for me...have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Color changes .....

2012-01-21T19:16:00.000-05:00

Well...sometimes while working on a project the color I see in my mind on the item just does not look as good as I thought it would once it is applied to the item. Luckily the oil colors work well with color changes and alterations...and changes of mind of the working artist.

Working on "Royal Poet" ..the min Callahan resin...Thursday and Friday I begain to think he needed more "pop"...his color had began to become boaring to my eyes and I knew it was time to change before I went any further....so today he began his change to a warm dappled grey. I love the dappled grey that I am working on for the Kladruper project...and I'm inspired about seeing how it looks on "Royal Poet"...

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Grey experience....

2012-01-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

I'm working on painting my 5th dappled grey project.....I'm finally feeling like I'm getting somewhere with painting the color. I'm finding that painting the dappled greys takes more layers of color than any other color I've painted so far and the degree of difficulty ...for me anyway....is about a 10 in a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most difficult. I feel that there is room for improvement with the shape of the dapples....working toward that goal.

Above is a large traditional sized Kladruber stallion sculpted by the super talented Brigitte Eberl....this project is a commissioned item and in this photo he is about 90% completed.

So far I've painted my dappled greys using 100% oil colors and I'm painting 100% by hand....I like the end result and the colors I get using oils for painting greys. I do have pastels here that I might experiment with at a later date.....

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

"Royal Poet"

2012-01-19T08:59:00.000-05:00

Work continues on one of my sales items....the photos above are of the wonderful Callahan mini resin sculpted by the talented Adalee Hude. At this point I am about 85% completed with this project. He will have blue eyes and more sabino markings once completed.

I always feel the need to add a title to the items I've painted....this guy will be called "Royal Poet". The name comes from the Gaelic name form of Riordan which means "royal poet".

He is drying now so it will be a few days before I can work on him again.....work continues on commissions. Today I'll start the paintwork on a commissioned pintaloosa Reiner and I'll continue on several other commissions as well...

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

The progress table...

2012-01-17T10:08:00.000-05:00

Paints are drying fast this winter for some reason....I think it is the higher temps we have had this year ...I am very thankful for fast drying paint!

The above photo is of several commissions and one sales item ...the Callahan is the sales item I'm working on....here is a new photo of Callahan:

Another great sculpture I'm painting is the Boise draft resin sculpted by the talented Michelle Platt....here is Boise with one coat of paint:

I usually have an awful time with photographing grey horses..they usually turn out way too blue....I've been working on improving my photography. Jamie Bakers post on her blog helped me I am sure and I've had several super nice people email me tips and suggestions. Thank you all!

Time to paint!
Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Hibernating in my studio...

2012-01-12T14:54:00.000-05:00

Wonderful Fandango...sculpted by the talented Sarah Minkiewicz to a full of fire and personality fella....look at the spunk in his eyes!

At this point Fandango is about 85% completed...I still need to darken his legs, paint his eyes and the base too. I need to add more detail to his mane and tail as well. This item is a commissioned project.

Above is a Rose Reining horse I'm working on. Reiner is sculpted by the talented Sarah Rose. Here I've established the pattern using pastels. As work progresses the dark skin tones will take on color. He will have a light golden mane and tail and his body color will be a greyish-brown. At this point he is in the early stages at about 10% completed. This is a commission project.

More to come soon!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

Picture quilts.....

2012-01-09T14:58:00.000-05:00

I saw on T.V. last week a show about museum quality picture quilts...I wish I had remembered to jot down the show name. The show was about people making new one of a kind quilts and the museums that were displaying them just as they would paintings.

Here is an example of one studio that makes picture quilts:
http://www.judydales.com/gallery.php?cat=1

The T.V. show I saw discussed the various artists and the prices they were getting....I started paying closer attention to the program when they started talking in the $20,000.00 figures for a new picture quilt.

The quilts were gorgeous colorful textured quilts in all designs and scenes. The sewing technique was inspiring...and the amount of time that must have gone into each piece! My goodness....

The interviewer asked one artist "how do you know what price to put on your quilts?"
The lady answered "well the buyer has to want the quilt more than I do".

The artist didn't figure in the amount of hours or materials into pricing her work...very simply "well the buyer has to want the quilt more than I do".

Well I love glass....colored glass, stained glass, glass beads too. Here is one little item I found in a second hand store. I think it is an ink well but I'm not sure. When I saw it I knew it would work well to hold my fine tipped detailing paint brush and keep that brush from getting a messed up misshaped point. I loved the blue color in the glass. It's very heavy and won't tip over either. I'm very protective of my detail brushes :)

Also here in the studio is a traditional Wyakin resin sculpted by the talented Michelle Platt. Wyakin is a commissioned item to be painted to a nice snowcap appaloosa.

As I'm sitting here looking at the photo above I can totally see in my minds eye Wyakin with the colors the customer has chosen. I'm anxious to begin painting on Wyakin.....

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Jaime Baker blog post on photographing your models....

2012-01-09T05:59:00.000-05:00

Wonderful blog post by Jaime Baker.....lots of information here for photographing your miniatures....

http://jbakercustoms.blogspot.com/

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Christmas fun....

2012-01-05T06:24:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to post this photo .... a few days before Christmas my sister and I made and decorated Christmas cookies....actually my sister did the difficult part ....she mixed the ingredients, rolled and cut the dough..and did the baking a few days before I arrived to participate in the decorating.

We make our own decorating icing using powdered sugar, a little water and food coloring...and store purchased sprinkles.

My sister also makes the most delicious black walnut cookies from a vintage recipe my mother received from someone ages ago....

The above photo shows the cookies that are left from the half full "cookie box".....these are my husbands favorite cookies and he has made quite a dent in the cookie stash. I have to admit I've eaten one or two...or 12 :)

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Pushing the paintbrush....

2012-01-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

Woke up this morning to 17 degrees outside...after a very mild fall and winter with upper 60s temps the cold is a big change.

Above is my next sales item...a mini Callahan resin sculpted by Adalee Hude. I'm working with a pastel base color and will go over this base color with the oil colors. I painted a mini Smittyn resin ages ago with this technique and it worked very well. I usually work in 100% oils but I think it helps me be more creative to change up my technique from time to time.

Callahan will in the end be a dark bay sabino color with blue eyes.

Above is the beginnings of a sabino on a Rose Reiner resin which I have removed from its' base...some modification was need for him to stand so I added a metal bar to one of his hooves which I will show photos of as this project progresses.....this reiner is a commissioned item.....as you can see sitting behind my work is one of my hard copy pages of sabino reference photos. I also have an external hard drive library and several CDs of reference photos. I can never have too many reference photos to work from....I'm struggling with my paint/pinto patterns and I need practice...practice....and more practice.

Off to push those paint brushes!
C.S.Richmond Studios

Wonderful Callahan...

2011-12-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

I love this little guy...he is the wonderful little Callahan resin sculpted by the talented Adalee Hude of Brightly Hude Studio.

Today I began prepwork on him..he will be my first sales piece for 2012.

I searched a few months back for a reference photo to use and found one. A nice palomino sabino....but like I do 99% of the time I change my mind on colors. Last week I found a dark golden buckskin sabino photo that I think will work better.

Prepping on Callahan should not take very long as he is a nice clean cast.

I have GOT to work more on my photography skills...with the wonderful help of two deal fellow artists I am working on background colors and matching the best background colors for horse colors. I am amazed at the difference changing a background color can make on the color of the painted model. For me photographing a grey horse is the most difficult...I'm going to look for a nice greyish-dark brown background and try that.

My camera is acting up too....sigh. It has been a good camera for an el-cheepo camera and has lived a long time :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Happy New Year!!!!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

New Years Resolutions....

2011-12-27T08:39:00.000-05:00

I've been sadly lacking in my BLOG posts....I'd like to begin posting to my blog at least once a week and no less than once every two weeks....making this my New Years resolution :)

I'd like to included studio progress reports....I'm a bit apprehensive posting in progress photos as the projects I'm painting always look awful in the early stages...and they look like a complete mess for quite a while. I'm thinking tho that it might be good to show how a project I am working on gets from point "A" to point "B".

Wishing you all the very best New Year!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Plastic customs.....

2011-12-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

I took some time Friday to photograph a few of the plastic items I had stored along with my stash of resins. Above is the Breyer Longhorn Bull I have that has been prepped. I don't have a reference photo picked out yet but I see him in a dark brown and spotted white pattern.

This wonderful Peter Stone "Spago" plastic is one of my favorites. Seeing him as an appaloosa sport horse...

This is another of my favorites...the Breyer Wintersong plastic. I have two of these which I'll be painting. I also have reference photos picked out in highly detailed roaned/spotted colors....

Above is the Breyer Cow and Calf....I've always wanted to paint a cow and calf.....searching for reference photos for this project...

The above is the Breyer Succession plastic...I want to customize this model somehow...change her around a bit. No doubt she will be a rose dappled grey.....

I also have a Peter Stone Arab, two Breyer Nokota plastics, and a customized Breyer Bouncer, a Breyer Lonesome Glory I'd like to customize and paint into an Akhal Teke.... and several more items waiting in the wings.

My New Years Resolution : Post to my blog more often .....I've been sadly lacking in posts here and feel the need to post at least once a week or at least once every two weeks.

Wishing you all the very best in the New Year!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

I'm a resin hoarder....

2011-12-14T11:55:00.000-05:00

This last weekend I discovered that I am a resin hoarder...lol looked that way to me when I unpacked all of the resins I had accumulated over the past...oh 8 years.....
There was only one I did not remember purchasing..Jethro...see below:

My goodness he is impressive in person! Very large traditional size...I'm seeing him in bay with nice white markings.

I had a realization this past weekend....I knew it and had thought it myself. My Charlie looked at me and said "you know I think it is time for you to start painting those resins you have stashed away while you can still see to do so".

So Monday AM I unpacked the five boxes I have of unpainted resins. I took photos and tagged them...my goodness I had thought I had tagged these guys! I have my prepped plastics all out on the shelves....have to get photos of those as well.

My goodness it will be difficult to choose colors for some of these...so many options...some of them I had already picked out reference photos years ago to paint by.

I imagine there will be a few I will end up not sending to the auction block. These will go into my "private collection" folder on my web page where if I get an offer I can not live without then out the door it will go.

Years ago when I was not painting full time and had a job I purchased resins whenever I could. and put them away. I still have a very difficult time calling what I do (painting for a living) a "hobby"....especially when I visit my tax man and have to write that check for my income tax. IMO what I do is a job and a business. I have income and deductions, overhead, shipping, customers...all that good stuff. Does the fact that I'm painting 3-D rather than flat work make my job a "hobby"? I just don't understand....that is another subject for another day.

Here is the link to the rest of the blank resin/plastic photos if you would like to see:

http://csrichmondstudios.webs.com/apps/photos/

Click on the "items to be painted and sold" album there in the gallery.

My commission books are closed. I'll be finishing up my in studio commissions during 2012 and completing a few sales items as well.

There may be one or two resins I just won't be able to say no to painting if asked....however I must draw the line somewhere in order to get my stash painted within the next 10 years ...ha ha! Seriously it will be a challenge to get them all completed.....

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

"Daisy Chane"

2011-10-06T08:20:00.000-04:00

I'm enjoying the wonderful cool October air....we had a long cloudy spell last week for about 8 days...I know many who are lacking in rain would love to have these cloudy cool rainy days...the progress of fall and the begining of winter no doubt will bring rain to those dry regions.

Meet "Daisy Chane". She is a Breyer customized balking mule project by Karla Zroik of Kamansa Korner Studio and myself, Sandra Hottinger of C.S.Richmond Studios. "Daisy" stands 10.5 inches tall to the tip of her ear.

Karla, creator of fantasticly detailed one of a kind dog, cat, and other wonderful animal sculptures, did the scullpting on this project.....and after Karla completed the amazing sculpted hair detailing, "Daisy Chane" was shipped to me for the paintwork.

Here are some wonderful Scotty dogs that Karla Sculpted...these are proudly displayed in my curio cabinet.

I've hand painted "Daisy Chane" in rich oil colors and some acrylic details. I thought it fitting that with a name like "Daisy Chane" (who remembers making those chain necklaces out of field daisies?) she needed a daisy necklace....I've made the necklace so that is is removeable.

This project was completed 10.5.2011.

For size comparison here are a few photos of Miss "Daisy" along with a Breyer sitting donkey (left) and a Breyer balking mule (right)....."Daisy" was created using a Breyer mule like the mule pictured there on the right....

And here are two more photos of "Daisy" with the Breyer sitting donkey.....

....and the Breyer balking mule.

Wishing you all the best! Have a wonderful day!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

Progress....

2011-09-24T10:26:00.000-04:00

Time for a blog post...it has been a while for sure.

I adore the fall....the colors of the leaves and the nice cool air. The rain on the fallen bright orange, red and yellow leaves...so pretty.

I've been busy in the studio. After hurricane Irene and the damage here in central Virginia from the 71 MPH winds..the loss of electric for five days and the loss of productivity from clean up and no studio lamp to aid my painting.... I've happily completed several projects. We had another hurrican named Isabelle come thru here back about five years ago....we had the same amount of distruction and the winds were measured at 68MPH.

As you all have heard by now there was a 5.8 earthquake here on the east coast on August 23rd, 2011. The origin of the earthquake was 70 miles from my home.The last time I checked there had been more than 30 aftershocks.

Having these natural occurances happen I felt the need to re-arange my studio to better protect customers resins...so I took a day to pack all the unpainted customer resins away in bubble wrap. The way our house shook with things falling and pictures dropping from the walls I am amazed that there were no resin fatalities. I also had to re-do how I kept the "wet paint" resins....I placed them in a more secure closer-to-the-floor location.

Here are a few completed items....

Sweet Elsie and Oliver.....sculpted by the gifted and talented Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig. The above items were commissioned and are owned by Kate Cabot. It was a true pleasure painting these two wonderful resins.

Next is a wonderful palomino Kentucky Reign. This is only the second palomino sculpture I have had the pleasure to paint ....

Kentucky Reign Traditional American Saddlebred Mare resin...sculpted by the very talented Debbi LerMond. Commissioned and owned by Lori Martinez. The mane and tail sculpted to accent the sculpture is amazing to see in person. The delicate detail is fantastic. Another true treasure I am happy to have had the pleasure of painting.

Next is wonderful Valinor little bit warmblood mare..skillfully sculpted by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig. Owned by Susan Rice:

Susan has chosen the name "Say it in Silver" for this copy of Valinor....I'm still working on the final photos of Susans item....waiting for the sun to shine so I can get more photos of this item.

Well that is all the studio happenings to report at this time....enjoy the fall everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Hot summer winds....

2011-08-10T11:38:00.000-04:00

There is a positive side to having a hot summer and painting with oil colors...the oil paints dry very fast when it is hot ! Even the whites and light yellows are dry in 24 hours. In winter I am waiting 7 days or more for my paintwork to dry....we keep our home very cool in the winter and I imagine if we had the thermostat set higher my paintwork would dry faster. I also do not have AC in my studio in the summer...an open window and fans do the cooling for me. Now I will admit when we hit 103 here in Central Virginia about 10 days ago you bet that AC was turned on....we are fortunate to have an average summertime temp of around 92-96 degrees.

I've been listening to a few of my workshop students and thier issues with slow drying oil colors due to climate where they live. I myself do not use the drying agents in painting 3-D resin projects. Many asked about using the drying agents for speeding up the drying time of the oil colors. Some asked about using terpentine.

I used terpentine ...well the artists brand of terpentine....when I painted on canvas years ago....used to speed the drying time of my work. I am a bit apprehensive in using terpentine on 3-D resin material....I'm not sure if using terpentine in the process of applying oil paint to resins has been put to the test and what the long term issues might be on the resin material over time. Perhaps none yes?

I can speak from exterience in using the dryers and the issues one can have with them. When I first began using the oil colors to paint 3-D resins about 5 years ago I did use a chemical drying agent on one project.....it was a small Stablemate sized resin. I'm not sure if it was my inexperience in using the drying agent or a problem with the drying agent itself.....the surface of the paintwork began to crack like a the soil in super dry season. Fortunately this project was my personal resin and not a commissioned item. Needless to say I never used the drying agent again for fear of messing up a project. Perhaps I used too much of the dryer....or I applied too many coats of oils too quickly..or I applied the final sealer coat before the paintwork was 100% dry.

About a year after this happened to me I read somewhere about how the drying agents have to be replaced with a fresh bottle after a few months. I read that if one used the old drying agent that strange things can happen to paintwork.

I am wanting to go back and try the dryers again....I've read online about several brands that do not yellow with age AND that it only take a TINY bit of the stuff to make your paints dry faster....I'm thinking that using too much of dryer mixed into my paint was my issue.

If you all hear a scream and read a post or two written by me stating "I knew better" and "I told myself not to" then you will know what happened.

News...my "Elsie Workshop" is nearing the end of the session. Pictured above are two photos of the completed "Elsie" ...."Elsie" is sculpted by the super gifted Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig and this copy of "Elsie" is owned by Kate.

I've ventured into producing a booklet and CD containing the step by step photos and a 25 page instruction booklet on the "Elsie" project. My goodness 25 pages in the booklet and 150 photos just for one project...but I REALLY I enjoyed putting together the workshop and teaching, the booklet and CD set.

I found and began using MS Office Word after a few workshop sessions...learning how and using the MS Word made the project much better as my spelling skills are somewhat lacking. I also learned how to edit the step by step instructional photos a bit better too. Practice practice practice :)

In the works is a highly detailed Annihilator blanket appaloosa in deep dark bay workshop...I am sure it will be early next year before this workshop will come to life...loads of details, painting time, and I am sure there will be more than 150 edited photos for this workshop...probably 250 photos is a good estimate.

I also have a dappled grey Boreas that will make a splendid workshop project...AND a silver Lucitano (Turko) resin too. No doubt those workshops will be available before the Annihilator project is put together.

I love bright colors. When I went shoping for the materials to put together the CD and booklet I wanted COLOR! There they were! All bright in wonderful shades...CDs, folders, and even matching CD cases.

Speaking of bright colors....look at this beautiful butterfly that landed on an appropriately named butterfly bush outside near my studio window!

Time to start painting for me!
Have a wonderful day all!
Sandra Hottinger

"Elsie" coming to life....

2011-07-26T06:28:00.000-04:00

"Elsie" is the subject in the painting workshop I'm giving....she makes the perfect teaching tool too. Elsies sculpted details are wonderful..hats off to Sarah Minkiewicz for her fantastic sculpting talent ! Even the whisker bumps and skin wrinkles on Elsies muzzle are detailed into the sculpture.

Elsie will have a flea bitten coat once completed and little Oliver will be painted a baby black foal color with a small star and four white sox.

I'll be offering the workshop in CD/booklet form soon to those who missed the class registration deadline.

Elsie is owned and commissioned by Kate and I'm handpainting Elsie in oil colors.

Hope you all are keeping cool....the summer is a hot one this year. I expect the hot teperatures here in Virginia will be short lived as the weather here is very changeable from day to day. In the winter we can have a few days of 30 degree temps and then it will warm up into the high 50s.

That is about all for this writing session...

Have a wonderful day all!

Sandra Hottinger

CSRichmond Studios

Works in progres...

2011-07-15T07:23:00.000-04:00

New favorites....
I've been painting a few new equine coat colors over the past few months....palomino, dun, grulla and greys...my new favorite colors. I especially love painting the duns and dappled greys...one of my works in progress, pictured above, is a wonderful Valinor skillfully sculpted by the vary talented Sarah Minkiewicz....the tiny sculpted details on Sarahs sculptures amaze me. Valinor is owned by Susan and Susan and I have decided on the name "Say it in Silver" for the name of this project.

The "Elsie Workshop" is going well and the students have suggested that I make some CDs of the workshop for them to buy as reference material...there will also be CDs on the "Elsie Workshop" offered for sale to non-workshop members as well.

Time to paint!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Teaching time....

2011-06-16T09:34:00.000-04:00

I've been kicking around the idea of starting an online painting workshop for over a year...a "window into my studio" of sorts....a place to begin teaching this unusual hobby craft we have.

I've been watching the posts here and there where hobby members are selling off their collections and leaving the hobby.... who would have ever thought the economy would do what it is doing yes? Here where we live in Central Virginia we are seeing improvement thank goodness!

I think we need to do as much as we can to bring new members into the hobby NOW......teaching someone to paint a model horse may bring someone into the hobby.....even if it is one person that is fine. That one person could tell a friend...and they could tell their friends...you see what I mean.

I was an apprentice once...THAT is a whole new story I'll have to get into and write later....I saw the importance of the experienced worker ..the Journeyman in my case....teaching the apprentice. When that experienced worker retires or can not work any longer for one reason or another....there has to be someone there to take his/her place in order to pass on the trade. The experienced Journeyman can teach an apprentice many many little techniques to make his/her job task go much faster and easier....and MOST IMPORTANTLY keep the high quality of WORKMANSHIP in place. High quality workmanship keeps the journeyman/apprentice employed longer than a worker who does work not up to the customers standards. One can apply the same theory to any company or an artist or tradesman. If the customer is not happy with the product he may not deal with the company or artist who is making a product in the future.

Passing along the torch and gathering new hobby members by teaching 3-D model equine painting.....I still have a hard time calling what I do a "hobby" :) I work at my painting for 50 to 70 hours a week.... LOVE it mind you...but to me painting is my job.

The above is my point of view anyway....I am by no means an expert :)

Anyway I've set up the first class...a class in "Prepping for Beginners" and an "Elsie in Fleabitten Grey in Oils" class....I'll be running these two classes together. Indeed there are several beginners who have applied for the class. Wonderful!

My plan is to offer many more classes... I think the "Unicorn..not just a White Horse" class will be next up. There will be a "Kladruber in Dappled Grey" class...and a "Annihilator in highly detailed Appaloosa" class later down the road. The Annihilator class will be an advanced class.....

I'll also be giving some smaller scale painting classes...the Stablemate sized projects. Painting those wee ones takes a whole new method of painting...for me anyway. Different tools and such.

Class starts Monday..I've got to get going!

CSRStudios

The leaves of summer...

2011-05-20T10:25:00.000-04:00

Well the leaves are in full foliage now...all dressed in thier dark summer emerald clothes. We had a pair of blue birds nest in the bird house this year. Watching that pair of blues this spring was a treat. Usually the sparrows get first dibs on that house...not this year though.

Working my way through commissions here in the studio....I love working on commissions and I love working with customers. I've been in retail sales, in one form or another, for almost 40 years and never tire of it.

I have many resins packed away which I purchased through the years for sales items. I think my favorite to paint will be the "Crusher" and the "Willowby". I want to customize the "Willowby"..give him a new mane and/or tail...thinking on that. Time to dig those beauties out and give them some color.

Here is a nice little resin. Valinor..sculpted by the super talented Sarah Minkiewicz...this item is a commissioned item owned by Susan.. I have fallen in love with painting dappled greys and the dilute colors. I want to paint a silver bay as a sales item. I have in mind a Ravenhill Revisited which I want to give a new look...a new mane and tail. I've had the reference photo picked out and placed in my library for ever. I also have one copy of the trad Scarlett resin I want to paint...I have that ref photo stored away as well. Time to get busy painting these projects!

"Vincentius" (Johann resin) is completed. He was put up for offers a couple of weeks ago and will be going to a new home soon. I have one more copy to paint....still tossing around the colors for him in my mind. I may paint him in a nice dark dappled bay with some neat facial markings...need to search for ref photos.

I also have some Breyers and Stone plastics to paint as sales items. I have a "Spago" Stone plastic...seeing him as an appaloosa sporthorse..dark dark bay appaloosa sporthorse.

More updates soon! Happy Spring!

"The LOOK"

2011-04-26T13:22:00.000-04:00

Progress on my next sales item is speeding along....I've added the basic outline of the "look" that "Vincentius" will display in his eyes...here you see in the photo also the beginings of the fine hair detailing I'll be incorporating into the dappled grey coat of "Vincentius".

I want to paint a full-concentration and fully-focused look in the eyes of "Vincentius"....his nostrils are gathering the scents in the air ...his ears are alert to the slightest sound...and his eyes are focused intently on the movement of perhaps his master or some other subject of his interest.

I have on hand four photos I am working with as reference photos to paint by and I have the web page printed out with the documentation of the horse and breed...all the documentation/photos will go to the new owner of "Vincentius". The breed I chose is the Gaited Morgen Horse.... "Vincentius" will be auctioned off via Ebay soon. As of this date "Vincentius" is about 90% completed.

I just LOVE this resin....he is so majestic and proud.....Johann was exertly sculpted by the wonderfully talented Morgen Kilbourn.

"Vincentius"

2011-04-13T18:24:00.000-04:00

Pictured here is my new up and coming C.S.Richmond Studios sales item "Vincentius"...this item is currently a work in progress...he is a wonderful "Johann" resin sculpted by the ever popular Morgen Kilbourn.

I've titled this paintwork project "Vincentius" and the photo there beside him is the ref photo I am using for the paintwork....ever sice I began painting flat work or 3-D equines I've given my paintwork items names or titles ....the name I chose for this project is "Vincentius". The name "Vincentius" means conquering. With "Johann"s wonderful proud stance the name suits him yes?

More photos soon!

C.S.Richmond Studios

Erins "Kottilian"

2011-03-30T16:41:00.000-04:00

Erins "Kottilian" has been almost completed.....just a few more minor details and Kottilian will be on the way home to her owner.

"Kottilian" was sculpted by the wonderful Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig....more photos soon of "Kottilian" as today was cloudy..my camera works better taking photos with natural sunlight ..early morning sunlight. So one more day of rain here and then the sunshine and photo time!

C.S.Richmond Studios

"Boise"...sculpted by Michelle Platt...

2011-03-29T08:20:00.000-04:00

"Boise"...wonderful new draft resin sculpted by the super talented Michelle Platt...who also sculpted the ever popular "Wyakin" resin in traditional size and curio size...here is a photo of the commission I'll be painting for Michelle on one of her personal copies of her new sculpture "Boise".

The photo was supplied by Lori Schultz a...nd is a photo of one of Loris amazing drafters. Thank you Lori for the photos!

"Boise" will be painted in a detailed hair-by-hair roaned pattern to match the ref photo.

Thank you Michelle!

Have a wonderful day everyone!
C.S.Richmond Studios

"Kottilian"

2011-03-23T14:07:00.000-04:00

"Kottilian" work in progress...
"Kottilian"....sculpted by the super talented Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig...little bit scale resin with a wonderful flowing mane and tail and a fantastic matching base. A commissioned work in progress...owned and commissioned by Erin. "Kottilian is approx. 85% completed in this photo. The color ref. horse Erin chose is featured in a photo alongside of "Kottilian". More photos soon!

"Vincentius"....

2011-02-27T15:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a wonderful work of art...Morgen Kilbourns wonderful new "Johann" resin. Look at that face and his stance! So proud....there is fire in his eyes even unpainted !

Pictured here is my copy of "Johann" ready for colors..I've named him "Vincentius" which means "Conquering" .....pictured beside him is the photo of a live horse I will be using as reference to paint "Vincentius". I will be using a hair-by-hair technique for the painting of this nice dappled grey... Since I have another copy of wonderful "Johann" on order I will be placing this copy up for sale once completed.....
Stay tuned for the progress of "Vincentius".

Lorenze

2011-02-21T11:15:00.000-05:00

Wonderful Lorenz...sculpted by the super talented Brigitte Eberl. This copy of Lorenz was commissioned for paintwork by Michelle and we used a live horse ref photo to work by for this project. Michelle chose a wonderful color for Lorenz...here is a photo of Michelles Lorenz along with the ref photo used.

Here is a photo of the fine hair detail which was incorporated into this projct....

and one other photo of the details of Lorenz..

T.K.Wellington

2011-02-11T14:29:00.002-05:00

One of my all time favorite projects...lovely T.K. Wellington...
Owned and commissioned by Stephanie and Brian...portrait of thier horse T.K.Wellington..handpainted by C.S.Richmond Studios...we used a gorgeous Carol Williams Victrix for this project...I transformed Victrix from a mare to a gelding .....enjoy! See second FEB 2011 post below...

As the cold wind blows...

2011-02-11T14:21:00.000-05:00

Looking out of my studio window today the sun looks nice..there is no wind today..or snow or rain. Thankfully we have not had the amount of snow this year that we had last year here in Virginia...I have read about the harsh storms out west with the heavy snows. Spring is on the horizon! Soon the flowers will bloom!

Working away in the studio the days fly by...I paint by my favorite music or tune into my favorites on You-Tube...I have my You-Tube account set up so I have some "background noise" for hours on end. I listen to many of my old time favorite TV shows from way back when. My favorite is the old romance TV show "Beauty and the Beast"...remember that show? I had not seen that show since the 80s and stumbled across it last year online. I also have discovered HULU online...and again hundreds of hours of "background noise" to paint by. Does anyone remember "My So Called Life"? That was a TV show set in a high school and told of the life of one teen girl and her close friends and thier trials in growing up...the show was from back in 1994-1995 and stared Claire Danes...I think it only ran for one or two seasons and then ended with a clif-hanger.

Anyway...enough of my ramplings....here are a few projects I am working on....

Above is a wonderful El Embosco traditional resin...sculpted by the ever talented Morgen Kilbourn...this is a commissioned item. Owned and commissioned by Marla...pictured here El Embosco is a work in progress and is approx. 65% compled. As always my items are 100% handpainted .....paintwork by C.S.Richmond Studios.

AND! Above is a lovely Eberl Lorenze traditional resin...another commission project.....commissioned and owned by Michelle. Again, as always... this item is being painted by hand...all the fine hair details are painted hair by hair....layer upon layer. No airbrush for me....I like the control and detailing I get with the brush filled with rich oil colors. Michelles Lorenze is being painted using oil colors and acrylic paints and pastels for the detailing. In this photo Lorenze is approx. 65% completed.
And last but certainly not least..is the wild and crazy Annihilator! Sculpted to the angry beast that he is by the talented Debbi Lermond.

This copy of "The Annihilator" was commissioned and owned by Sophie Morel...whos dream of an angry beast-of-a-horse was transformed into this wonderful sculpture by Debbi. Sophie has named this copy of her Annihilator "Dauntless"...in these photos "Dauntless" is completed. I painted "Dauntless" by hand in oil colors and acrylics for detailing.

Well I am off to paint again....have a wonderful day every one!

T.K.Wellington

2010-12-01T10:13:00.000-05:00

Hi all!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving and Chistmas holiday season filled with family, friends and wonderful hot spiced cider, ham and turkey, and all the fixins' :)
I've been burning the midnigh oil again in the studio...painting away and having the time of my life. So many wonderful equine faces looking at me...all in various stages of completion. Some finished and looking at me from my "finished" shelf.
Here is a wonderful resin I am working on for Stephanie and Brian. This project is a portrait of their horse T.K.Wellington. We chose to use a wonderful Carol Williams Victrix resin and I added the new sculpted gelding parts to replicate the live T.K.Wellington.
As he is pictured here all that is left to complete are painting his eyes, detailing his hooves, mane and tail, and applying the sealer once he is dry.

I am also working on my photography skills :) After much reading and experimenting...and the purchase of a photography cube...and a customized hand died backdrop I think I am finally happy with my photos. The color backdrop I came up with seems to work well with my camera. My photography has needed improvement for a while now...I needed to be able to show more detail and I needed to upgrade to a more professional looking photograph representation of my finishwork.
Well off to begin my fun filled painting day!
C.S.Richmond Studios

"Abby" aka "Anything but Mine"

2010-10-03T06:18:00.002-04:00

Hi all:) Wow it has been a while since I've had time to post here.....I've so busy with commissions here in the studio....working my way through the items here on my "to do" and "in progress" shelves. Most of the items here have some color and are in progress...and just last week two commissions were completed. The two commissions which were completed are featured above.
The top two photos are of a wonderful commissioned Victrix resin sculpted by the uber talented Carol Williams. Victrix is owned by Lisa G. and Lisa chose this wonderful color based on a colorful thoroughbred..and Lisa has chosen the name of "Abby" for her horse. I painted "Abby" with a bit of an altered coat pattern from the real horse...still keeping with the same colors as the real ref horse. A few years back I also painted "Abby"s sire "Color Me Jealous".....a wonderful TB max expressed sabino. Here is a photo of "Color Me Jealous".

The second completed commission featured above is a wonderful Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig ever popular "Stormy" resin. I painted this item for Marla in appaloosa colors with an extended blanket and loads of fine hair details. I love the way Stormys face is sculpted ...the lazy droopy lower lip and that slight Roman nose...so full of personality.

Items which are next in line for painting include the wonderful Debbi Lermond new "Annihilator" resin...commissioned by Sophie...a Victrix resin painted in highly detailed flea bitten grey owned by Stephanie....a Sarah Rose trad Independance, Eberl Kladrupper and Lorenze and a C. Williams Valor resin owned by Shelly..several Stacey Tumlinson REALLY COOL Aerosmith resin commissions ..and many Rose Reiner commissions too! I can not wait to paint one of those Aerosmiths and Reiners!

Well time to begin my painting day...fall is finally here!

Have a wonderful day all:)
C.S.Richmond Studios

T.K.Wellington....

2010-08-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

T.K.Wellington....what a wonderful name. The live T.K.Wellington is owned by Stephanie and her husband Brian and I am honored to have been asked by Stephanie and her husband to paint 3-D portraits of their horses....T.K. , Ziggy and Ransom. Featured here is a photo of the real T.K. along with the resin I am using to create a life like portrait of T.K....I am using a wonderful Carol Williams Victrix resin...which has been customized to a gelding by C.S.Richmond Studios.

I am painting Stephanie and Brians other two horses, Ziggy and Ransom, using two Breyer Gem Twist models. Both Ziggy and Ransom are wonderfully nice colored bays..each a differrent variation of bay.

I am moving along nicely now with commissions after the busy Breyerfest and NAN event held in July. I look to have four new commissions completed in the next three weeks....and I have also moved on to pulling two names from the waiting list.

I greatly appreciate the interest in my paintwork from so many wonderful people. The emails from people wishing to be added to my waiting list just kept coming in...and I am greatly humbled by the overwelming wave of inquiries over the past six months. My paint slot books as well as my waiting list books are now closed until I can get the majority of the customers commissions on my waiting list completed. I will surely have to come up with a new way of offering paint slot openings.....I'll be thinking on how to do that over the fall and next spring. It has come to the point where the overwelming number of people at one time asking me to paint an item for them makes it impossible for me to handle them all without having a waiting list that goes on for eternity. Thinking of a plan...thinking..thinking...

Commission works in progress and now with colors are an appaloosa Stormy resin in dark bay extended blanket, A mini Wyakin in bay varnish roan appaloosa, and an Eberl Lorenze in wonderfully highly detailed Knabstrupper colors.

More to come soon:)

C.S.Richmond Studios

"Shadows of the Moon" and his first live show debut...

2010-07-30T13:50:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to "Shadows of the Moon"s new owner Vicky Norris. Vicky had the winning raffle ticket for "Shadows" at the 2010 NAMHSA 15th anniversary party auction and raffle held in Lexington KY July 22nd, 2010. Vicky was able to show "Shadows" under the new name "Luck of the Draw" at the Peter Stone 2010 EQ show in Lexington KY ...."Luck of the Draw" did a super job in his first show.

"Luck of the Draw" won breed and workmanship firsts at EQ, then reserve breed group and champ workmanship group, then went on to win overall workmanship and, judges choice champ. Kristina Francis was the workmanship judge.
"Luck of the Draw" is off to a wonderful start...I am anxious to see how he does in the 2010 and 2011 show season and then at NAN as well.
Congrats again to Vicky!
C.S.Richmond Studios

Breyerfest and some newly completed items...

2010-07-18T10:36:00.000-04:00

Hi all:)

I've been busy for the past four days packing for our trip to Breyerfest. Once again I will have several commissioned paintwork items on display in our room at the Holiday Inn North Lexington Ky. We will be there set up from July 21st 2010 to July 25th 2010. Slotted to be on display are:

~Barbaras CMed Lermond Peasant Stomper in dappled grey~

~Stacey Tumlinsons Ravenhill Revisited dk. dappled bay tobiano~for sale

~Sues Kara Kush in metallic dappled black going grey~

~Marlas Stormy in appy colors ..work in progress~

~Susans Romulus in chestnut sabino going grey~

~Sophies Crusher resin in appaloosa customized mane and tail~

~Sophies Derby resin in grey tobiano~

~Robins Working Girl resin in dark golden palomino~

~Kristis Traditional Scarlett in Appaloosa colors

Above are photos of Barbaras Peasant Stomper and Staceys Ravenhill Revisited..to view my other recent commissioned paintwork completions visit my web page here:

C.S.Richmond Studios web page

Look for posters in the halls of the HIN for our room number.

More paintwork completions close to being posted:)

Have a wonderful day and hope to see you all at Breyerfest!

C.S.Richmond Studios

"Shadows of the Moon"

2010-07-01T20:06:00.000-04:00

Hi all:)
I am thrilled...the NAMHSA 15th anniversary raffle and auction page is up and running! Time for the big Breyerfest celebration and the big NAMHSA 15th anniversary celibration is just a few weeks away:) Yay!
Below are two links...the "Shadows of the Moon" link is to the NAMHSA 15th anniversary donation photos ...the other NAMHSA link is to the NAMHSA raffle ticket page where you can buy tickets to enter a chance to win one of the fantastic raffle items. Rio Rondo and I donated a painted copy of a wonderful Carol Williams "Venator" resin...Rio Rondo supplied the wonderful "Venator" resin and I supplied the paintwork :)
Have a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend all!

"Shadows of the Moon" photos

NAMHSA raffle item page

C.S.Richmond Studios

2010-06-20T18:56:00.000-04:00

"Shadows of the Moon"

Breyerfest is almost here! My how time flies:) The photo above is one of my favorite photos of "Shadows of the Moon"....a NAMHSA 15th anniversary donation to be a raffle item..a wonderful C. Williams Venator resin donated by Rio Rondo and C.S.Richmond Studios.....along with many many wonderful other donations by some super talented artists in our hobby. Hope to see many of you there at Breyerfest in July.

More photos of "Shadows" will be posted here, on my C.S.Richmond Studios web page, and on my studio Facebook page... along with the NAMHSA ticket purchase page link.

More to come in a few days:)

C.S.Richmond Studios

NAMHSA 15th anniversary donation work in progress....

2010-05-11T11:28:00.000-04:00

Here is an updated photo of my NAMHSA 15th anniversary donation item....wonderful "Venator" is being painted by me, C.S.Richmond Studios and this copy of the popular Carol Williams sculpture was generously donated by Gary of Rio Rondo..thanks Gary!
"Shadows of the Moon" is approx 80% completed...he will be a raffle item featured at the NAMHSA 15th anniversary party in July...for more info on raffle ticket purchases and the other wonderful donations click here:
http://www.namhsa.org/nan2010/auction/auctionpreview.htm

also be sure to visit my main web site here:

http://csrichmondstudios.webs.com/

More to come:)

I'm still kickin' ....

2010-05-10T19:02:00.000-04:00

Hi all:) Wow time sure flies! I've been burning the midnight oil with various commission projects and the NAN 2010 donation "Shadows of the Moon" project.....and here is one of my favorites ...a wonderful Peasant Stomer resin sculpted by Deb Lermond and Kitty Cantrell. This copy of P.S. was customized by Deb Lermond with the addition of some new mane hair strands, more leg feathering and a new look to his tail. At this stage P.S. is about 45% completed ....this wonderful guy is a commissioned item owned by Barbara and is being painted by C.S.Richmond Studios in oil colors to a wonderful soft grey with golden tones and a hint of warm browns....more to come soon:)

"Shadows of the Moon"

2010-03-31T09:39:00.000-04:00

Welcome spring!
VERY warm this week into the high 70s and low 80s....VERY hard to believe we had snow on the ground just a few weeks ago..now everything is in full bloom:) Yay :)
I have been very busy with commission paintwork these past few weeks....the higher temps are helping the paint dry much faster now so much progress is being made in the studio. Here is an updated photo of the NAMHSA 15th anniversary party donation I am working on.....my resin of choice was a wonderful Carol Williams Valor resin.....this guys studio name is "Shadows of the Moon". "Shadow" is slotted to be a raffle item at the NAMHSA 15th anniversary celibration on July 22nd, 2010 in Lexinton Kentucky....tickets will soon be available thru the NAMHSA web site....I will be posting all info as I receive it, posting will be thru my C.S.Richmond Studios Yahoo group emails, on my C.S.Richmond Studios Facebook page, Model Horse Sales Pages... and info will be posted here as well.
Also in the news...check out my new web page here:
http://csrichmondstudios.webs.com/
Thanks to everyone and have a wonderful spring day!
C.S.Richmond Studios

"Sophies Annihilators"

2010-02-19T14:34:00.000-05:00

Hi all:)

By now most of you have seen the new "Angry Drafter" AKA as "The Annihilator"...if not you can see him here and read the wonderful story of "Sophies dream" and how Sophie and Debbi Lermond made this angry beast come to life..click here:

http://www.horsemodels.com/gallery?id=295/100

This is a second post on the wonderful Annihilators:) Sophie has now chosen the colors I am to paint her 4 copies to:) Wonderful color choices all!
I am proud and honored to have been asked by dear Sophie to paint four of these wonderful resins for her. I will be painting cast number two...number 6 ...number 17...and number 18. Sophie has also decided on the colors she wishes me to paint for her. They will be as follows:

#2....highly detailed appaloosa..deep dark chocolate brown/black varnished roaned brown/black with extended blanket...loaded with fine hair detail throughout with the coolest mapped and haloed spots I've seen yet...I am working from a live ref horse photo for painting this guy...Sophie was wonderful to research and find just the right ref horse for her copy number two. I am sure you all will be amazed at the colors and pattern once this guy is completed.

#6.....For this copy Sophie has chosen a wonderful highly detailed leopard appaloosa with the most gorgeous pink skin and spots in complete balance. Sophies favorite colors...leopard appaloosa:) Sophie was wonderful in finding the ref picture I will be using to paint her Annihilator copy number 6 by:)

#17.....For this copy number 17 Sophie has chosen a super cool chessie roan with the most splendid color eyes I have seen yet..the eye color contrast with the coat color is facinating. Many thanks to Sophie for allowing me to paint this wonderful color for her:)

#18....for this copy number eighteen Sophie has chosen to have me paint a horse she saw in a movie....she painstakingly took photos of the horse on television so I would have amny photos to work by....the copy number 18 will be painted to a highly detailed black and white with a wonderful bald face and blue eyes....the black in this horses coat os soooo wonderful...a nice blue-black coal look...and the eyes are sky blue.

I must say that the Annihilator is packed full of details..he is really something to see in person......Debbi added the most fine hair detail in the sculpture...and the face...oh my the face is so full of expression...I just can not wait to put paintbrushes to work on these guys!

Thanks again Sophie for asking me to paint these four guys for you...and special thanks to Debbi and her talents in bringing Sophies dream to life.

Shellys' horses...

2010-02-06T10:24:00.000-05:00

Here are three wonderful resins which I will be painting for Shelly as commissions....the top photo is as Eberl Kladrupper stallion which Shelly has decided to be painted to a nice rose grey. the middle photo is the ever popular Rose Independance...and the bottom photo is of an Eberl Lorenze which will be painted to a highly detailed covered-with-spots-and-roaning appaloosa with four nice sox.

2010-02-06T10:02:00.000-05:00

Sophies' angry beasts......
New arrival at C.S. Richmond Studios....the new Debbi Lermond "Annihilator" resin.....so super detailed is this guy ..simply amazing! I have been commissioned by Sophie Morel to paint 4 of these amazing sculptures.I'll be painting copy numbers two, six, seventeen and number eighteen. More to come:)

2010-01-29T10:40:00.000-05:00

Mini Bitty Bosco paintwork by C.S.Richmond Studios.....

This little fellow is the wonderful Morgen Kilbourn miniature resin"Bitty Bosco".....painted by me in oil colors to micro-detailed appaloosa...super detail and a full-of-soul gleam in his eyes. He stands roughly 3 inches tall and is 3.5 inches long...As with all my paintwork items I've given him a name...."Scout". "Scout" is currently up for offers ...high offer on the table so far is $425.00 given by M.J.P. Offers will be accepted until midnight Valentines day February 14th, 2010. If you would like to make an offer or have questions about "Scout" feel free to email me at Csrichmondstudios@comcast.net

BIG snowstorm on the way...loads of snow again...but I LOVE the snow:)

Wonderful "Kara Kush" resin....

2010-01-22T12:37:00.000-05:00

A few days this week were spent painting the underlayment of dapples on a wonderful "Kara Kush" resin...
owned and commissioned by Sue...."Kara" is sculpted by Andrea Kessler...and "Kara" is being painted by me to a metallic black going grey in rich oils.."Kara" is about 25% completed in these photos....

2010-01-13T09:15:00.000-05:00

El Monumento
Here is a nice Eberl "El Monumento I painted last year for Maria....Maria chose a wonderful buckskin going grey for her "El Monumento:) I am looking forward to completeing a few more grey colored horses this year...have a wonderful day:)
C.S.Richmond Studios

"Hazel" all dressed up.....

2010-01-05T08:01:00.000-05:00

Hi all.....I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and joyful NEW YEARs day:)
In the summer of 2009 I completed painting a wonderful Morgen Kilbourn "Hazel" resin....."Hazel" has such a sweet face:) This painted copy of "Hazel" is owned by Michelle....and this morning Michelle surprised me with a few photos of the "Hazel" resin I painted all decked out in some fantastic new tack. The photo credit goes to Michelle and the wonderful tack set was handmade by Kristeen Haley of KH custom tack.....the new tack look awsome with "Hazels" coloring!

Enjoy!

2009-12-10T14:04:00.000-05:00

From the past....
I thought I'd post some photos of a wonderful K. Lucas Francis "Bruno" Fjord resin I painted a few years back....he is the second horse I painted in oils:) He is owned by Robin in the western U.S.A. and is doing super in the show ring:) Last report "Harrison Fjord" L. Francis "Lucas" Fjord resin won 2nd CM/AR European pony AND reserve champion CM/AR pony

He did wonderful at his first show here in Virginia.At the Hampton Roads Classic live show 2008 he taged a NAN card in his pony class and received a nice rossette for division reserve champion in the artists resins division.
I loved painting this resin I later purchased a second unpainted blank to have a second go at that wonderful Fjord coloring. I had the opportunity to snap some ref photos one year at Breyerfest in Lexinton Kentucky of three Fjords in a field two years ago and they came in handy painting "Harrison Fjord" .The Fjords are soooo colorful.
Have a great day...more to come:)

2009-11-27T10:07:00.008-05:00

"Scout"

I hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, fun, great food, and lots of laughter:)

Right on schedule at 6 AM I headed for my studio after getting hubby out the door and off to his job....and above is one of my own sales items ...this little guy is the wonderful little Stablemate sized Morgen Kilbourn sculpture creation " Bitty Bosco". I am painting him in my meduim of choice....oil colors:) I've decided to name this spunky little Spanish Mustang "Scout"..."Scout" is currrently up for offers..high offer on the table is from M.J.P. at $425.00.

More photos of "Scout" can be viewed in the photo section at the C.S.Richmond Studios Yahoo group :) ...Click on the above photos to view the larger sized pictures:)

Have a wonderful day:)

C.S.Richmond Studios

2009-11-09T13:47:00.002-05:00

Huge heavy duty spots in the works :) Featured in the photo above is one of my super favorite resins....can you all guess which resin this is?......this resin is a work in progress here in my studio being created, as always, in my favorite medium of choice....deep, dark, rich and creamy oil colors. Many more shades of spots, ghost spots and others to be added....more photos soon :)

2009-11-06T11:41:00.002-05:00

***Caution : Wet paint :)
I thought I would share one of my "work in progress" commissioned items....this lovely "Memphis Belle" is sculpted by Trish Forsyth and is owned by Maria. One of my objectives today was to ad some detail to "Memphis Belle" and to paint her tail as well. Click on the pictures for a larger view. Miss Belle is about 75 % completed ...she sits in the sun now to dry until morning :)

Back to my brushes :)

2009-11-02T11:48:00.003-05:00

Hi all :)

I've completed "Ravenhill Revisited" and his final photos have been taken.....he will be on his way to Stacey Tumlinson in the morning:) It has been raining and cloudy for three days now....not good picture taking weather for me as I do not have a photo box set up. I've always relied on the early morning sunlight for taking photos as this light seems to do best for me and my camera....and that early morning light puts a good deep reflecting light on my paintworks eyes...picking up the highlights...and bringing out the truest colors.

I've enjoyed painting this copy of Ravenhill Revisited....I feel I have improved and refined my appaloosa painting technique over the past several months and I look forward to improving and learning more on painting the appaloosa color as well as all equine colors. For me there is always a higher painting technique goal to reach...a new painting "tool" to experiment with for improvement....and the challenge of "seeing" the layers of color in the live horse...from the skin under the hair to the coat color itself.....and applying this to my paintwork for a more realistic and life like end result. Each time I paint I am learning. My ref book library is growing...my equine genetics books and horse color books are a must for me....and the internet is a very useful tool:)

Click on the above photo to see it in large scale:)

Have a wonderful day all :)

2009-10-24T16:51:00.004-04:00

Hi all:)

Above are new photos of the one-of-a-kind new Ravenhill Revisited resin sculpted by Hilary Hurley and Stacey Tumlinson.....the new customized mane and tail were sculpted by Stacey herself:) This copy of Ravenhill is owned by Stacey Tumlinson and is being painted in oils by myself...his completion date is November 1st, 2009 :)

Click on the photos above to view them in actual size:)

"Ravenhill" revisited......

2009-09-28T15:00:00.005-04:00

It is an honor and privilege to have here sitting on my studio work table a wonderful sculpture....he is waiting patiently for me to begin my part of his coming to life...his colors.He is the ever popular Hilary Hurley/Stacey Tumlinson traditional sized "Ravenhill Revisited".....AND he is a one-of-a-kind :) This copy of "Ravenhill Revisited is owned by Stacey Tumlinson and will be sold via Stacey Tumlinson thru the sales venue of her choice. He sports a new mane and tail sculpted to perfection by Stacey and his new look suits him to a "T". "Ravenhill" is pictured here with some of the ref pictures I'll be using as a template for his colors and pattern...."Ravenhill" will include some fantastic super-fine hair detail both painted and delicately etched in oils....and some new techniques I've discovered will be used for this fantastic fella:)

I'm off to begin his prepwork :) More to come.....

IN THE STUDIO

2009-09-25T06:09:00.000-04:00

TOP PHOTO:
LITTLE "BITTY BOSCO" METICULOUSLY SCULPTED BY MORGEN KILBOURN ...SOOOO MUCH DETAIL WAS SCULPTED INTO THIS LITTLE FELLOW:) I'VE BEEN BOUNCING BACK AND FORTH WITH HIS FINAL COLOR....CHESSIE OR BAY....THINKING OF GOING WITH THE BAY AS THERE WILL BE A GOOD COLOR CONTRAST WITH THE DARK MANE, TAIL, AND LEGS:)

BOTTOM PHOTO:
SEEMS LIKE I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS LITTLE FELLOW FOR AGES :) OF COURSE THIS IS THE VERY RECOGNIZABLE "DINKY DUKE" SCULPTED BY MORGEN KILBOURN....LITTLE "DINKY" IS WEARING THE APPALOOSA SPORT HORSE COLORS. THE REF PICTURES I'M USING ARE BEHIND HIM. LITTLE "DINKY" HAS GHOST SPOTS, MAPPING AROUND HIS SPOTS AS IN HIS REF PICTURE ..TOO SMALL TO SEE:)...AND LATER THE FINE TICKING SEEN IN THE REF PICTURES BEHIND THE ELBOW WILL BE ADDED. I'VE LEFT "DINKYS" FACE A BIT MORE WHITE THAN WHAT IS FEATURED IN THE REF PHOTO....MY EYES SEE HIM MORE "BALANCED" WITH THE EXTRA WHITE IN HIS FACE.
I'M ALSO WORKING ON A CUSTOM BREYER NOKOTA......HE WILL SPORT A HIGHLY DETAILED WILD BAY FRAME OVERO COAT OF COLORS. AGAIN I'M WORKING WITH A REAL MUSTANG REF PICTURE...I LOVE THOSE REF PHOTOS....PHOTOS OF "NOKOTA" COMING SOON:)
HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL:)
C.S.RICHMOND STUDIOS

WELCOME TO C.S.RICHMOND STUDIOS

2009-09-25T05:18:00.000-04:00

WELCOME TO THE C.S.RICHMOND STUDIOS...HOME OF LIFE-LIKE EQUINE PAINTWORK OVERFLOWING WITH SOUL, PERSONALITY AND FIRE....I INCORPORATE VARIOUS TECHNIQUES, PRECISION, FINE DETAIL, AND SUPERIOR WORKMANSHIP TO PRODUCE LIVE SHOW QUALITY LIFE-LIKE EQUINE PAINTWORK IN MINATURE FORM. STOP ON IN AND TAKE A LOOK. I'M SURE YOU WILL LIKE WHAT YOU SEE.