Decisions on colors...

For a long while now I've been having difficulty making color choices for the resins I purchase... and have purchased in the past....that I will paint to be sales items. I've been doing commission paintwork for many years now which is painting the customers choice of color...no decision work on my part for color choice not having to choose colors to paint has rendered me "out of color choice practice" so to speak...

Yesterday I realized the factor that was making my color choice for sales items so difficult...it was the idea that I need to paint the most marketable color for sales. I would choose a color for a sales item and start to second guess my color choice as a color that would not sell.

We all know what a gamble these days a sales item can be with the economy being what it is ..we are seeing this from day to day in everything from homes for sale down to the most minute sales item that remains unsold on a store shelf.....this "sales" factor issue was making my choosing the color of my sales items a "HUGE" challenge. Over-thinking a color choice and flip-flopping between colors for me makes weeks go by with no progress on the sales item....

Sooooo...light bulb! Yesterday I realized that I need to be painting for "me"....a color I love and a color that inspires me as I used to do back when I first began painting the equine sculptures....I have realized that I need to paint sales items as if I am painting the item for myself to keep...after all I will have the item here in my personal collection to enjoy until it sells.

So I am thinking I need to forget that there are herds of the same breed color/ pattern on a specific resin out there....I had a customer write to me a few weeks ago about a color they wanted painted on a resin...they already own several of the same color on the same resin that they wanted me to paint...they wrote that they like to see the difference in each artists interpretation of the color in the painting medium and technique that they are using...and that all of the items look different although they are painted the same color...very good point....

My favorite colors to paint in order of favorites are appaloosas/pintaloosas, the dilute colors...the silver bays and other silvers fascinate me..maximum expressed sabinos..and the rose shades of grey and the fleabitten greys! Bay roans are also an inspiring color for me...next are the super dark chestnuts and bays...

Commission progress:
Indy has all of the first coat of details applied...moving on to the next several layers....he will be a silver bay pintaloosa....

Emilia Kurila "Bacchus"... trio seen here in studio...two are commissions and one is my copy...one commission will be silver dappled....

Only three of the 24 "goal to finish by the end of 2012" commissions remain to be prepped and painted.....I am betting that these three will run into completion for the month of February 2013. These last three are to be highly detailed with several hand painted fine hair detailing layers... the Valor sabino and the Fraley Iko and Tee Nah spotted appaloosa  ...among my favorite colors to paint and resin favorites too!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios