Start to finish with Maggie Bennett

The truth of the matter is, somewhere between thirty and fifty percent of the official NaMoPaiMo models won't be finished in February. There's no shame in this. It's just the way these things work. There is a solid chance that Maggie Bennett's model will be part of this group, but even, so there's a ton of information in this post that deserves to be shared. Also, I am secretly hoping that by including her in the Start to Finish series will encourage her to actually finish. Ha ha. I guess we'll see.

Start to Finish 

by Maggie Bennett

I like to enter NaMoPaiMo with no real hope of actually finishing my piece, but this year is off to an excellent (if late) start! I prepped and primed my Merry with both grey and white primer, with the white misted on from above as a sort of basic highlighting. Today I started painting him with acrylics. I bought this neat paintbrush that I wanted to try out, a filbert "grass comb".  It's everything I hoped for and more! Other than his eyes and mane, all paint on him right now has been added with that brush.

Starting off! You can see how this brush makes multiple marks with each stroke. You can also see the shaded primer.

First layer, Golden High Flow Acrylics, Titanium White. I like blocking in the eyes early too! I wanted to make sure I got the hair patterns right. That flank area can be tricky, but I actually sculpted in the hair pattern on this resin--it's subtle, but it makes for a nice guideline to follow!

Other side of the first layer. Gotta keep it even!

Weirdly distorted photo, but this shows the layer of grey I brushed on over the initial white layer. The grey is Vallejo Basalt Grey, thinned with Golden High Flow Medium.. I tried to cover any areas of primer that were still exposed, and didn't worry if I covered up most of my first white layer. This is a much warmer grey than I was originally planning to use, but I like it.

End of day one, under much better lighting for photos. Still a long way to go. but this is working just like I hoped! I used a bit of Vallejo Off White on his mane, just so it wasn't too glaringly primer grey as I work on him. I'm working my way back with another layer of white, just like the first one, and once again working on both sides as I go!

Another day, a bit more painting on my Merry resin! All handpainted acrylics so far. Dapples first...

Then a hairing layer over that!

Closer to show texture. I like the blend of colors so far! A lot of it will be hidden but it adds so much depth to the white areas.

Again, dapples first... Oh, and I painted and glossed his eyes. I like when they have eyes.

And I think that's enough for today! I got some more paint on his mane too. It will need lots more done to it, this is just a (Winsor & Newton--wanted a heavier body paint here) white with some of a tan/yellowish color mixed in right now. His body color is a little more contrasty than it looks here. I'm going to have to decide pretty soon if I want to go for the nearly white I had originally planned, or if I want some darker bits.

Hopefully, to be continued...