Silverheart is a custom order done on a Breyer Stablemate G3 Stock Horse mare and is only the second time I’ve ever painted this mold (Schneekatze being the first). She’s a silver snowcap appaloosa with metallic black points, only a few small spots, silver and bronze striped hooves, bronze eyes, and a heart-shaped star on her forehead.
She’s part of a pair, Golden Star is the other, and they taught me a lot about how to work with metallics!
To start with, silver is a very very hard color to get solid coverage on. I spent countless hours with her under bright lighting, tilting her at all angles trying to make sure the color was even. There’s a good half-dozen photos that exist only to highlight her work-in-progress flaws (the macro lens is not at all forgiving).
But that thin coverage was what allowed me to get the metallic black points to come out shimmery, but not overwhelmingly so. I was able to use the black pastels for the legs, so you get the nice smooth transition from black to silver, and then go back over it with a wash of the silver in order to pick up the iridescent sparkle.
I do miss the old ‘stainless steel’ color Liquitex used to have, it let me do a shaded silver as opposed to the flat color that Silverheart has. I tried working with the Apple Barrel, to give it some depth, but it didn’t end up doing much.
Still, I’m very happy with how she turned out and hopefully her owner will bo too! 🙂
Medium: Gesso, Liquitex Artist Color Acrylics (Gesso, Mars Black, Iridescent Bright Silver, Iridescent Rich Bronze), Apple Barrel (20762 Pure Silver), Sargent Art Chalk Pastels (Black)
