Classmates

I'm not the only one taking Heather Bullach's Into to Oil Painting Workshop: Painting Black.

It feels like all of NaMoPaiMo is there, painting on the screen.

photo by Serena Pedane

Here's a look at some of my classmates' horses after their first layer of oils.

photo by Jody Jones

Heather Malone writes: First layer down, it already has cat hair in it.

While some of the horses are looking very black,

photo by Serena Pedane

others - mostly those where the oil was applied directly onto the primer - are still various shades of red.

photo by Melinda Zeh

This is so pretty!

photo by Elaine Lindelef

Heather's warm black mixture is made up of three parts Ivory Black and one part Burnt Umber. However, a few people decided to go their own way. Tifaine Highly writes: I went a little off-script. Instead of using black + burnt umber or burnt sienna, I used purple. He will be black, but I want a very plummy black so I decided to experiment to see if I could get there. Thankfully, Heather encourages experimenting (especially if you've taken one or two or five of her classes before) so I didn't feel too bad by going slightly rogue.

Another difference between the base coated models and the oils-directly-on-primer models is the degree of coverage.

photo by Pam Tanzey

In addition to being blacker, the base coat horses are also more solid.

photo by Wendy Basinger

Myla Pearce explains: It’s okay if the first few layers are streaky.  As the color builds, it will become more opaque and even out.

A few overachievers are painting multiple models.

photo by Anne Giles

This is Betsy Groff's official NaMoPaiMo model,

and this is the sidekick. They both look fabulous!

All these models do.

photo by E Dawn Nels

Medallions, too!

photo by September Rennie-White

It's such a pleasure being part of the painting party within the painting party.

photo by Liisa Michele

Thank you again, Heather.

photo by Heather Bullach

I can't wait to see what all these horses look like after next week's class!