Painting Party day ten

The first ten day of the International Model Horse Painting Party have been filled with customizing, prepping, priming, base coating and painting.

Many participants are embracing the old school NaMoPaiMo approach: One month, one model, start to finish.

photos by Charlene Flitsch

Others, like Heather Bullach, are part of #TeamFinishSomething.

Or in my case, #TeamFinishAnything. I have been picking away at all of these ponies, but so far, the end is still not in sight.

Nîrnaeth Gorthad is doing better. She started this model two years ago and finished him this week.

So handsome!

Kirsten Eidsmoe's unfinished projects date back decades rather than years. She writes: I finished these two! I've had these stablemates since probably the late 1980's. They've suffered a few layers of terrible paint jobs over the years, but I finally decided to strip them properly and make them better. You know, just to prove I can occasionally paint something other than fjords. I started them both in January and was going to put them aside to focus on NaMoPaiMo, but took the spirit of the new format to heart and finished them up. Hooray! 

(And now, back to my old school February project, which is, of course, a fjord.)

Sondra Householder is another member of this team and also #TeamWhenYourVisionExceedsYourSkills.

She writes: The piece I had really high hopes of finishing isn’t going to make it. Frankly, I’m not likely to finish any of the four pieces I chose to focus on. You see, I realize now these horses were in limbo because I was at a loss on how to proceed. 

Let me tell you about the Matador. The plan involved working dark to light to create a white horse oozing in shading and depth. It would be done in PanPastels over an airbrushed base coat. After a bazillion layers (ok, that’s an exaggeration), I got frustrated and set him aside. I did some more airbrushing... still no where near my vision. My pondering kept returning to oils being the medium to bring him to life, but I had painted a white horse in oils, and it was no fun whatsoever. Then Lynn Cassels-Caldwell recommended Gambling FastMatte! Oils are back on the table for this guy and I have roughly two weeks to ponder the hows while I wait for my order to arrive. 

These ponderings bring me to more of Matador’s story. Mel Miller recommended a video of a painting done in an hour, ten hours, and one hundred hours. The results of this experiment were staggering to me! I spend a lot of time futzing a piece, and still have a “ten hour painting.” How can I turn that time into real results? This sculpture has amazing hair! If I focus on each lock of hair with darks and lights and texture… I can visualize my brush strokes. I am also seeing in my mind the hairy texture of the dapples and the contrast of the knees and hocks. I’m writing all this down so I won’t forget how to spend my “one hundred hours.” Hopefully, a plan will bring my skills closer to my vision.

I'm not awarding any Champions of the Day this year, but if I was, that honor would surely go to Sondra. Even if all her models end up in the stripping bucket with Chartreuse Guy, she's still a winner. 

Congratulations to Nîrnaeth, Kirsten and everyone else who has finished up a long term project this month. To the rest of my fellow #TeamFinishSomething members, let's keep it going. This is a short month, and we have so much painting to do.