While this gal wasn’t my first custom order on a traditional scale mold (that would be Subterfuge), she’s my first portrait horse that wasn’t a Stablemate! Dandy has been the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted to paint and it has been one of the most enjoyable learning experiences.
From a blind eye to the not-quite-shell-not-quite-grey hooves, Dandy offered me a chance to try out a lot of things I’d never touched before. I’m actually going to be going back and creating how-to posts out of all the detail work I did on her (hooves, eyes, etc.) so this post is more of a image spam than anything else.
Dandy Composite References
You’ll notice that some of the photos look more red than tan– that’s due to the red undertones in her coat. In person she’s much more tan, so I’m still not sure why the camera keeps picking them up. But it amuses me that the real horse seemed to have the same color-shifting coat. 😉
Normally I’d just list the materials I used to create the custom, so folks could see what goes into a paintjob, but as I started to clean up I realized just how big a pile it was. So here’s a one last group shot before I cleaned up the workbench and I put it all away… this is what it takes to paint a Dandy!
Not often the materials get their own photoshoot! 😉
Supplies Used for Portrait Horse DandyMedium: Liquitex Artist Color Acrylics (Gesso, Mars Black, Raw Sienna, Taupe, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Oxide, Light Portrait Pink, Burnt Umber, Phthalocyanine Blue, Venetian Rose, Unbleached Titanium, Neutral Gray), Apple Barrel (20504 Black, 20762 Pure Silver), FolkArt (504 VanDyke Brown, 425 Medium Gray), Golden Iridescent Pearl (Fine), Prismacolor Pencils (943 Burnt Ochre, 941 Raw/Light Umber, 1074 French Grey 70%, 942 Yellow Ochre, 914 Cream, 1001 Salmon Pink, 948 Sepia, 1076 French Grey 90%, 964 Warm Grey Very Light), Sargent Art Earthtone Chalk Pastels, Pigma Micron 03 pen, Liquitex Matte Varnish, Liquitex Gloss Varnish