Seeing spots

After painting my appaloosa Stormwatch, my inbox has been inundated with people asking how he was painted. While I did my best to answer everyone who asked as clearly as possible, it occurred to me that it is very difficult to take a finished artwork and explain it's genesis in any kind of a useful way. So, I've decided to create a tutorial. I will be painting Stacey Tumlinson's lovely draft resin, Scarlett, to a bay blanket Appaloosa with liberal roaning. (I found an AMAZING photo of a draft horse with Appy markings and just had to recreate it in model form!) I won't be sharing the reference photo as it isn't mine to share, but this horse doesn't have any atypical features for an Appaloosa (other than draft breeding) so it shouldn't be difficult to find photo reference of your own for anything we discuss. Blog posts will be added as Scarlett progresses so please feel free to grab a model or resin of your own and paint along. I'm going to assume that the horse has already been prepped and is ready for paint. We'll be using airbrushed acrylics, colored pencil, watercolor pencils, and pastels. Let's get started!

Step 1: Base coat and under shading.

I base coat nearly all of my horses in cream. The shade I'm using on Scarlett is a mixture of Howard Hues Equine White (any warm white or off white should do) and Jo Sonja's Nature's Palette Primrose. I thin the paint to airbrush consistency with Golden Airbrush Medium. You can use water, but it'll make clogs more likely. I also highly recommend that you filter the paint for possible clots that will tick off your airbrush. Remember: "If the airbrush ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"

Give your horse about three coats, until the color is good and solid. Put her down and walk away until each coat is bone dry. This is VITAL! You will be handling this horse a lot as you roan it and if the paint isn't given time to dry THOROUGHLY between coats, I promise you, you will suffer for your sins! Scarlett is then shaded lightly with Chroma Nutmeg thinned with the medium.

By the way, please ignore my filthy workspace and cup of artist fuel (aka coffee). Next, we start making dapples! See you in a few hours!