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

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....

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..

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....

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 .....

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....

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"

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...

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...

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.....

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....

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....

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....

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