Brilliant basecoats

Yesterday, acrylic artist extraordinaire, Jenn Constantine, posted a picture of a model in purple base coat on the NaMoPaiMo Facebook page. Almost immediately, people had questions. Happily, Jenn was willing to share the answers. This is a really fantastic peak into her artistic process. Thank you so much, Jenn!

Okay, But Why is the Horse Purple?

by Jenn Constantine

If you saw my post from yesterday about how the first layers can a bit scary, you also saw this:

This is a great question that gets into some useful color theory but is also largely personal preference. This is not the *only* way to go about basecoating, this is just simply how I’ve chosen to do it, and your preferences/mileage may vary.

Very frequently, the starting colors on my horses are burn-your-retinas hot pink, purple, or blue. Usually the more intense the color, the better. Why? Because we’re setting up these colors to interact and support the colors yet to come.

When we look at a real horse, the color we perceive is light reflected off their hair. When we paint, we are mimicking those colors through something​ completely different. This means a few tricks of color theory to replicate the appearance.

Let’s “paint” three theoretical models, starting with “why pink?” because this is one I very strongly recommend using especially for red-based coats and dilutes of red. Our first model color is this liver chestnut, a genetically red base.

You look at it and say “Jenn, there is absolutely no hot pink on this horse, what the heck?” You’re not wrong, but instead of thinking about hot pink being in the final product, think of it as a layer to support the result.

Hot pink is a great undertone for white markings, because you can let a little hint of pink skin show through especially on the legs or where white markings turn into a pink nose. It also lets reds and browns pop. See that really strong orange on the lower leg and the face in both the reference pic and the painted model below? 

In paint, that’s a thin layer of copper over hot pink, and now it’s that lovely glowing coppery orange with power behind it. Any similar tones in the coat where it may stay lighter in dapples or flanks will also pop through. Sculpt is “D’ohboi” by Heather Puleo.

Our second theoretical model color is palomino, and this is a color that makes some of us wince. We start out with good intentions, build up our yellow layers…. and watch in horror as our model turns GREEN - maybe witha little BROWN in it - and we end up with what looks like baby poop on legs. So sorry that I don’t have pics to show this!

Check out this color wheel. See how yellow goes into green territory very easily? Even a very pure yellow will give off hints of green in layers, especially over a darker color. It just really struggles to give off that glowing​ golden yellow we see on palominos or other similar dilutes like buckskins. Arranging colors in this wheel gives us a little superpower here; do you see how there are colors also opposite each other? Those opposing colors can cancel out or at least tone the other down. If you’ve applied makeup, you may have put green over red spots on skin, and this is why. Green and red are opposites, and what’s very close to red as a more organic skin color? Hot pink.

A hot pink base will help keep that poopy green out of your yellows (a white base can also help if you want paler yellows/golds). While it can take a bit to build the yellow over it, starting with pink/red and throwing in a reinforcing layer or area here or there will balance out those unwanted greens in a more

intense palomino. So, any color that will need yellow or gold in it will really glow over a pink base. For this reason, almost any red based coat color I paint will start out pink in at least some areas.

Now our third color, this rose gray, which is a bay graying out, and following is a Kelly Sealey Lady Anne resin I completed using that reference.

Here is how she started!

Pink, purple AND orange! I put pink/orange down where I wanted the bay to pop through and then chose purple as my undertone for the graying areas where the color change is rather complete. One could also use blue depending on the tones they want hinting through on the final coat. Blacks based in these colors can also work but can be rather harsh so use those for coats with a lot of contrast in them (like very dark steely dapple grays). Here​ she is partially done, you can see where she’s headed with the basecoat still peeking through like background vocals.

And here she is finished!

This leads me back to the model in the first pic that’s purple with pink legs and some other colors started in layers. I was originally going to do a fleabitten gray on her, hence the purple, but then found this graying buckskin I really liked.

Now even though this is a buckskin at heart, the graying is so thorough and “cool” in color temperature that I’m going to keep the purple. Pink is on her legs where I may want white markings. The cream and black (actually a very dark purple) is blocking out where those colors are stronger in the base coat. Those will start to merge and then the finer hairing can begin.

Basecoating in other colors is also perfectly acceptable; just be aware they can affect the end result, especially if the layers coming after it are not many! My current NaMo project will be sunbleached black with some dapples, and I’m starting mostly in a golden ivory that will help those pop through! I will likely put some red or pink in the browner areas as well. Ivory and other creamy colors are also a good base for very pale coats like buttermilk buckskins, some shades of palomino and champagne where

there’s going to be very little yellow.

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask me more questions, especially about acrylics! Happy painting!

Thank you again, Jenn. That was awesome and extremely helpful!