In the studio....

The daffodils are starting to bloom! Looking out my studio window here I can see the trees beginning to bud out as well. Shortly they will have those bright green new leaves sprouting! You know the color...that color that is half way between yellow and halfway between green? Lovely!

Work here in the studio is progressing well....Saturday was shipping day with 5 completed commissions shipped out.

The past two days I've been prepping commissions so that I can apply the primer. I like to have at the ready between three and five items to spray primer on at one time....

I also have a new water based sandable primer I want to try. It comes in a quart sized can and is made by Rustoleum.... it's brand name is "Bulls Eye" and cleans up with water, sands easily, and has very low odor....I hope it works well.

I purchased a really cheap air brush a while back to apply my Gesso to my items to be painted. After I apply the primer I like to give the item a coat of Gesso for a slight "tooth" to the surface to be painted....I use the el'cheapo air brush to apply the Gesso....thinning the gesso to about 60/40 (Gesso/water) I apply thin coats to the surface of each item. Let dry overnight between coats. ALWAYS use an approved mask when spraying with an airbrush..or using any kind of spray applications.....even when spraying outside.

I'll have to do a "test" with the primer before I apply it to an item scheduled to be painted....

Here are a few things I'm working on in the studio....you all may have seen some of these projects in previous posts...

The above photo is of a wonderful "Boise" resin sculpted by the talented Michelle Platt. Here in this photo "Boise" has about three coats of color...with the last coat I've worked in some of the darker areas and the beginnings of the dark dapples.

The above "Rose Reiner" I've posted previously here....in this photo "Reiner" has had the pinking of his skin applied as well as the darker shadows of his white coat. "Reiner" is sculpted by the talented Sarah Rose.

Here you can also see that I have removed this copy of "Reiner" from his base.

Above is the "Wyakin" resin, another wonderful sculpture created by the talented Michelle Platt. This copy of Wyakin is being painted to a detailed snowcap appaloosa. I've applied the first few layers of her dark base coat color and now I've applied the skin pinking and dark shading to the white areas of her coat.

Last but not least is another copy of the "Rose Reiner". This copy will be a pintaloosa color....I am comfortable with his pattern except the area near the poll/mane area...I dunno...might change that...will see.

The above "Reiner" has had one coat of paint applied.....lots lots and lots more to go on this project.
More updates soon!

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