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Showing posts with label teaser. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaser. Show all posts
Thursday, January 19, 2012
All Breeds Racing Board Spelling Season Ends February 4th
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Dreamflite's English Saddle Instruction Guide
See the original post here
Dreamflite Design is putting the finishing touches on her Stablemate Scale English Saddle Tutorial, preparing it for public release.
I'm really looking forward to snagging my own copy of this guide, because it'll be really helpful for me, having never made a saddle myself.
Dreamflite Design is putting the finishing touches on her Stablemate Scale English Saddle Tutorial, preparing it for public release.
The guide includes...
The guide will sell as a PDF for $10 a copy, but as a thank you to her blog readers, anyone who emails her and requests a copy between today and January 17th will get a copy for free! You'll have to click through to her blog to get her e-mail address, I'd rather give her direct traffic than share her e-mail addy myself, so click the link at the top of this post to get to her original blog post.
- 17 pages of information, instruction, and reference material.
- 71 full-color pictures and illustrations
- A list of suppliers and helpful links
- Photos of REAL saddles for reference
- Pattern for saddle parts, sized for the G3 Warmblood
- Some tips and tricks to make the process easier
I'm really looking forward to snagging my own copy of this guide, because it'll be really helpful for me, having never made a saddle myself.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Workbench Update
On New Year's Eve, Antar Al-Ahmar was finally in his first coat of primer, but before he'd even dried, I noticed some problems, so as soon as he was dry, out came the Bondo Glazing Putty (I am not paid by, nor affiliated with Bondo, I just really like their products!).
So, here's some progress pictures to show off what I have so far. This again, is part of trying to break my problem with posting work in progress pictures, so you've actually got two WIPs here, the horse, and the diorama I photographed him on.
The red spots are Bondo, the white spots are sanded high points. I'm still not done with the Bondo, I want to smooth his tail so it matches his mane a bit better, but this is how he looks at the moment. I think he's looking pretty spiffy.
And just to get me even further over the hump as far as posting progress pictures goes, here's another item on my workbench:
This
is the G2 Prancing Morgan body with the G2 Appaloosa tail, a G3 Mustang
head, and G2 Thoroughbred ears. I think he looks kind of
Andalusian-ish. This guy still needs a ton of work, including taking a Dremel to his neck/chest, and filling in a big hole in his neck. He actually doesn't stand on his own, he's leaning against the jump behind him, so I'm going to have to figure out a base for him as well.
So, here's some progress pictures to show off what I have so far. This again, is part of trying to break my problem with posting work in progress pictures, so you've actually got two WIPs here, the horse, and the diorama I photographed him on.
The red spots are Bondo, the white spots are sanded high points. I'm still not done with the Bondo, I want to smooth his tail so it matches his mane a bit better, but this is how he looks at the moment. I think he's looking pretty spiffy.
And just to get me even further over the hump as far as posting progress pictures goes, here's another item on my workbench:
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Projects on my Work Bench
I don't like to post WIPs for anything I do. I like my work to look kind of magical, like it just somehow, amazingly, comes out of nowhere all finished and pretty, and hopefully amazing.
However, since I want to do a roaning and a dappling tutorial, I'm having to rethink that a little, so, to get myself used to sharing WIPs in their ugly phases, here's the projects I have immediately to hand on my workbench at a little after 5 in the morning:
I'm still pastelling Wasabi Sensation's base coat before I can start on his roaning. I've adjusted the color a little to represent his real color a little better, but I think using the vivid/technicolor setting on my camera might have been the wrong choice for this stage of painting. Right now he is more vivid orange than I intend him to be. The next couple of layers are going to tone it down a bit and start darkening his head and legs. Right now, he's hanging out by my computer ready for the next step of pastel dust.
The wire is what I used to hold him for sealing, and to hang him by when he's drying. It's just some twisted wire around his neck, leaving a long enough tail for me to hold him and not spray myself. The wire's super thin, so I can still work around it as I pastel. When I'm done painting, I'll just have untwist it from around his neck. It's kind of creepy hanging a horse by the neck with a wire garrote though.
This is the CM that's been giving me so much hassle. Every time I think I'm done, there's something else that needs to be
done. This was meant to be a simple head swap, neck move, and now it's a
lot more than that. At this rate, I'll have resculpted everything by
the time I'm done.
Pride of Nayef is my new All Breeds Racing Board horse for next year. He's a TB
stallion. He's going to be a greying out bay with a chaser clip. The red
'stuff' is Bondo Glazing Putty, and it's what I use instead of Apoxie
Sculpt and modeling paste. This guy still has a lot of work to go. I've
got both front legs almost done, but as you can probably tell, the upper
long hair isn't fully edged yet. I still need to do his back legs, and
the entirety of his other side. I want to rework his head a little too.
I think I'll be using Pride of Nayef as a quickie tutorial for a dark grey bay and how to paint a clipped horse, since he's handy.
I actually have two more CMs handy to photograph, but I really can't be bothered, because I literally woke up less than half an hour ago, and haven't had coffee yet.
Blogging without coffee first probably wasn't the best idea, but I just wanted to get this done.
However, since I want to do a roaning and a dappling tutorial, I'm having to rethink that a little, so, to get myself used to sharing WIPs in their ugly phases, here's the projects I have immediately to hand on my workbench at a little after 5 in the morning:
 |
| LRH Wasabi Sensation |
I'm still pastelling Wasabi Sensation's base coat before I can start on his roaning. I've adjusted the color a little to represent his real color a little better, but I think using the vivid/technicolor setting on my camera might have been the wrong choice for this stage of painting. Right now he is more vivid orange than I intend him to be. The next couple of layers are going to tone it down a bit and start darkening his head and legs. Right now, he's hanging out by my computer ready for the next step of pastel dust.
The wire is what I used to hold him for sealing, and to hang him by when he's drying. It's just some twisted wire around his neck, leaving a long enough tail for me to hold him and not spray myself. The wire's super thin, so I can still work around it as I pastel. When I'm done painting, I'll just have untwist it from around his neck. It's kind of creepy hanging a horse by the neck with a wire garrote though.
 |
| Antar Al-Ahmar |
 |
| Pride of Nayef |
I think I'll be using Pride of Nayef as a quickie tutorial for a dark grey bay and how to paint a clipped horse, since he's handy.
I actually have two more CMs handy to photograph, but I really can't be bothered, because I literally woke up less than half an hour ago, and haven't had coffee yet.
Blogging without coffee first probably wasn't the best idea, but I just wanted to get this done.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Thinking About The Art of Horses
I've been hit with ideas as soon as I settled down for my "morning" coffee and catch up with what happened on the web while I slept.
I clicked through a few links, and found myself at Phaze Studios again. As often happens when I read someone else's blog, I stumbled across another gem: What do I want to do? In it, Liesl discusses some different approaches to art, and it's well worth reading for a quick grounding in different art styles.
While I was reading it, I started thinking about my artistic taste. My preference has always been toward the impressionistic end of the 'accuracy of depiction' scale.
That accuracy of depiction scale goes something like this:
My personal taste is somewhere in the mid point between impressionism and realism. I want to capture the spirit and feel that's in an impressionistic form, but to pay some mind to the realism of the subject. I want my work to look like it could be an individual you could really walk up to and meet, and one that you can guess how he'd behave as you approached.
I think that's why Antar has been working me so hard. I started off with a vague idea: I want an Arabian in the hard stand, but not perfectly so. I want him to have personality: I want him proud, but alert, strong, but gentle.
So, I altered the pose to turn his head, and he has an ear twitched back on the same side his head is turned to. He's in that moment just before we completely lose the hard stand and he cranes his neck to look behind him at the horse causing a ruckus somewhere behind him; the moment where he needs a tug on his lead to get his attention again.
This is actually something I have no reference pictures for: this pose worked solely from the picture I have in my head, and a little knowledge about biomechanics in movement and sensing.
When I was an Army Cadet, I was given a piece of advice on standing to attention and at ease: don't follow movement with your eyes. You might not notice it, but you will move your head and body to follow the movement. If you stare blankly ahead, and tune everything out, you'll stay mostly still, except for the slow weaving that comes with reacting to balance yourself as your chest moves while you're breathing and subtly shifts your center of balance.
When you hear an unexpected sound, if you're like me, you'll feel your ears twitch, and then you'll turn in the most biomechanically efficient method to look where the sound came from. This is an instinctual thing, and actually takes a lot of training and familiarity with a sound to not do. What you'll do naturally, is you'll turn the ear nearest to where the sound came from toward the source of the sound.
I watched a few documentaries about ergonomics and biomechanics during my GNVQ Engineering courses, which showed that if you ask someone to touch an object behind them without turning around, they'll naturally do it in the most efficient and fluid motion they can. As an example, let's imagine the target you want them to touch is at waist height, about two and a half feet behind their center line. They'll bend their dominant arm at the elbow and swivel the shoulder and wrist, in the same motion twisting their head, neck and torso to afford them a peripheral view of the target. They'll bend at the waist, dropping their dominant shoulder toward the target, and they'll slowly extend their dominant arm toward the target. Their fingers will make contact with the target with the palm up, and the wrist twisted toward the target, with the high point being the outside of their wrist.
So what does this mean for Antar?
Antar detects a sound behind him, and one ear immediately flicks toward it. The other twitches back out of its high forward pricked position, but returns forward when he starts turning his head in the direction of the sound. His ear will stay lined up with the source of the sound as his head comes around. The sound source comes into his peripheral vision first as his blindspot at the back of his head moves right over his haunches and shoulders. As he turns his head, he'll also twist it down, because it's the smoothest and most efficient motion. If he's unimpeded, he'll probably step his back right leg forward and right out of his hard stand to begin a pivot around his shoulders to put his left side to the source of the sound, and bring the thing causing the noise into the clearest part of his vision. The interesting thing is that as he steps around, he'll likely drop his tail a bit, both to free himself to move more easily, and as a reaction to mild fear or apprehension. The high position his tail is in during the hard stand is one of a proud, fearless horse, as it doesn't cover some of his most vulnerable areas. As a prey animal, he'll feel more apprehensive following a sudden noise, and will likely lower his tail a little to protect those delicate areas around his rear.
In my sculpt, Antar hasn't yet started stepping around, and hasn't lowered his tail yet. His legs should be tensing ready to begin moving. (Uh-oh, a new thing to work on! Oh dear!)
If Antar weren't a fearless bay Arabian and had heard something that truly scared the bejeezus out of him, he wouldn't do any of that, he'd spring forward, flattening his poor handler and bolt for safety. As it is, he's a bay horse, and as the Arab proverb says:
Now it's time for me to get back to work. I love this horse, but boy is he making me work hard to finish him before December's finished!
I clicked through a few links, and found myself at Phaze Studios again. As often happens when I read someone else's blog, I stumbled across another gem: What do I want to do? In it, Liesl discusses some different approaches to art, and it's well worth reading for a quick grounding in different art styles.
While I was reading it, I started thinking about my artistic taste. My preference has always been toward the impressionistic end of the 'accuracy of depiction' scale.
That accuracy of depiction scale goes something like this:
Impressionism doesn't seek to accurately capture a form, rather to capture a feeling, often a feeling of movement as well as emotion. A child's drawing of a horse will often be clearly identifiable as a horse, but to an adult's eyes it might look coarse and lacking in definition.
Realism seeks to capture a subject as it is, with no bells or whistles. To me, this style often looks dull and lifeless. The energy is gone, and a sculpture looks like what it is: a lifeless accurate representation of a form. When I look at realism, I can't connect to the subject at all. In striving to capture the reality, an artist often loses that je ne sais quois found in other models. It looks like a real flesh and blood subject, one you could walk up to in real life and recognize immediately, but the artist has often sacrificed spirit and personality to depict something realistically.
Hyper-realism is itself somewhat impressionistic, but in the opposite direction: it shows details that might not be visible on the real thing. On a model horse, you might see hints of underlying skeletal structure, or veins that in reality are not nearly so close to the surface. These models tend to look very dry. It works well for half-starved Akhal-Tekes and skinny two-year old racing TBs, but it looks dreadful on a draft horse or a fat little British native pony.
My personal taste is somewhere in the mid point between impressionism and realism. I want to capture the spirit and feel that's in an impressionistic form, but to pay some mind to the realism of the subject. I want my work to look like it could be an individual you could really walk up to and meet, and one that you can guess how he'd behave as you approached.
I think that's why Antar has been working me so hard. I started off with a vague idea: I want an Arabian in the hard stand, but not perfectly so. I want him to have personality: I want him proud, but alert, strong, but gentle.
So, I altered the pose to turn his head, and he has an ear twitched back on the same side his head is turned to. He's in that moment just before we completely lose the hard stand and he cranes his neck to look behind him at the horse causing a ruckus somewhere behind him; the moment where he needs a tug on his lead to get his attention again.
This is actually something I have no reference pictures for: this pose worked solely from the picture I have in my head, and a little knowledge about biomechanics in movement and sensing.
When I was an Army Cadet, I was given a piece of advice on standing to attention and at ease: don't follow movement with your eyes. You might not notice it, but you will move your head and body to follow the movement. If you stare blankly ahead, and tune everything out, you'll stay mostly still, except for the slow weaving that comes with reacting to balance yourself as your chest moves while you're breathing and subtly shifts your center of balance.
When you hear an unexpected sound, if you're like me, you'll feel your ears twitch, and then you'll turn in the most biomechanically efficient method to look where the sound came from. This is an instinctual thing, and actually takes a lot of training and familiarity with a sound to not do. What you'll do naturally, is you'll turn the ear nearest to where the sound came from toward the source of the sound.
I watched a few documentaries about ergonomics and biomechanics during my GNVQ Engineering courses, which showed that if you ask someone to touch an object behind them without turning around, they'll naturally do it in the most efficient and fluid motion they can. As an example, let's imagine the target you want them to touch is at waist height, about two and a half feet behind their center line. They'll bend their dominant arm at the elbow and swivel the shoulder and wrist, in the same motion twisting their head, neck and torso to afford them a peripheral view of the target. They'll bend at the waist, dropping their dominant shoulder toward the target, and they'll slowly extend their dominant arm toward the target. Their fingers will make contact with the target with the palm up, and the wrist twisted toward the target, with the high point being the outside of their wrist.
So what does this mean for Antar?
Antar detects a sound behind him, and one ear immediately flicks toward it. The other twitches back out of its high forward pricked position, but returns forward when he starts turning his head in the direction of the sound. His ear will stay lined up with the source of the sound as his head comes around. The sound source comes into his peripheral vision first as his blindspot at the back of his head moves right over his haunches and shoulders. As he turns his head, he'll also twist it down, because it's the smoothest and most efficient motion. If he's unimpeded, he'll probably step his back right leg forward and right out of his hard stand to begin a pivot around his shoulders to put his left side to the source of the sound, and bring the thing causing the noise into the clearest part of his vision. The interesting thing is that as he steps around, he'll likely drop his tail a bit, both to free himself to move more easily, and as a reaction to mild fear or apprehension. The high position his tail is in during the hard stand is one of a proud, fearless horse, as it doesn't cover some of his most vulnerable areas. As a prey animal, he'll feel more apprehensive following a sudden noise, and will likely lower his tail a little to protect those delicate areas around his rear.
In my sculpt, Antar hasn't yet started stepping around, and hasn't lowered his tail yet. His legs should be tensing ready to begin moving. (Uh-oh, a new thing to work on! Oh dear!)
If Antar weren't a fearless bay Arabian and had heard something that truly scared the bejeezus out of him, he wouldn't do any of that, he'd spring forward, flattening his poor handler and bolt for safety. As it is, he's a bay horse, and as the Arab proverb says:
“If someone tells you that a horse leapt to the bottom of an abyss without injuring himself, ask what color he was, and if you are told bay, then believe it. The bay says to an argument, ‘Come no closer!’”Arabians are also quite well known for being a breed that tends to spook in place, so Antar's mostly standing his ground, he just wants to know if maybe that's not such a good idea, so he wants to take a look behind him.
Now it's time for me to get back to work. I love this horse, but boy is he making me work hard to finish him before December's finished!
More of Antar's Aggravating Antics!
Later today, I'm finally going to go get the camera I wanted for my birthday. Sadly, Antar is still having a lot of customizing done. Every time I think I'm done, something else starts bothering me. At this rate he's going to be so different from the original that I'd probably be able to show him off and no-one would know which models he started as.
Yesterday/last night/this morning (all the same day for me, because I'm a Martian who lives on Mars time), I was working on his boy parts some more. I'm glad to say that's nearly done. Curse Antar's insistence on better boy parts, because that's what started this mess!
I also worked on his right eye a little today. He now has a brow ridge and eyeball that look like the one I've already finished on his left side. I still need to do the lower eyelid on the right. I worked on his right cheekbone a bit too, since it didn't match his left. His face is looking really nice and even (but not too even). He's not absolutely symmetrical, but it's close enough to look like a real living horse.
I set him down for a bit, and started browsing the web. It's when I'm taking a break that I start noticing problems with my artwork, no matter what kind. While I was staring at Antar, he said "mom, why don't I have chestnuts?" Well, he does now.
And then he said "I look like a fuzzy British native pony with this excessive hair on my tail, do something about it mom!" That was a quick problem to fix, I just peeled off some of the hair closer to his dock. It's looking a lot better now.
And back to browsing I went. I got to these wonderful blog posts by Phaze Studios: Horse Feet: Part 1 and Horse Feet: Part 2: Structure. Well, as you've probably guessed, that made me take a look at Antar's hooves.
Well, the model I started from has atrocious hooves, so now I need to figure out what I have to do to make them look better. I'm not too worried about all four feet being very different from each other, it makes him look more like a real horse anyway, but I can't stand that his hooves aren't quite correct. For starters, he needs his heel bulbs at the very least, as well as one of his front hooves rounded a bit more. I'm wondering how I'd go about carving his feet, since I did already carve his ears, but I don't have a clue how I'd do it at Stablemate scale with the tools I have. I think I need to work on his coronet bands too, they look puffy and unhealthy to me.
I think he needs some work on his knees and hocks, but I'm really not sure what I'm doing with them yet, I need to track down a few more references.
I think Antar won't be the first model I'll be taking pictures of with my new camera after all. He's not ready for his close up! He still needs his makeup and wardrobe. He told me today he wants a sidesaddle and racing saddle. I drew up a quick pattern for the side saddle while I waited for glazing putty to dry, and yes, I will share that when I finish making the saddle. I'll share the racing saddle pattern too.
Yesterday/last night/this morning (all the same day for me, because I'm a Martian who lives on Mars time), I was working on his boy parts some more. I'm glad to say that's nearly done. Curse Antar's insistence on better boy parts, because that's what started this mess!
I also worked on his right eye a little today. He now has a brow ridge and eyeball that look like the one I've already finished on his left side. I still need to do the lower eyelid on the right. I worked on his right cheekbone a bit too, since it didn't match his left. His face is looking really nice and even (but not too even). He's not absolutely symmetrical, but it's close enough to look like a real living horse.
I set him down for a bit, and started browsing the web. It's when I'm taking a break that I start noticing problems with my artwork, no matter what kind. While I was staring at Antar, he said "mom, why don't I have chestnuts?" Well, he does now.
And then he said "I look like a fuzzy British native pony with this excessive hair on my tail, do something about it mom!" That was a quick problem to fix, I just peeled off some of the hair closer to his dock. It's looking a lot better now.
And back to browsing I went. I got to these wonderful blog posts by Phaze Studios: Horse Feet: Part 1 and Horse Feet: Part 2: Structure. Well, as you've probably guessed, that made me take a look at Antar's hooves.
Well, the model I started from has atrocious hooves, so now I need to figure out what I have to do to make them look better. I'm not too worried about all four feet being very different from each other, it makes him look more like a real horse anyway, but I can't stand that his hooves aren't quite correct. For starters, he needs his heel bulbs at the very least, as well as one of his front hooves rounded a bit more. I'm wondering how I'd go about carving his feet, since I did already carve his ears, but I don't have a clue how I'd do it at Stablemate scale with the tools I have. I think I need to work on his coronet bands too, they look puffy and unhealthy to me.
I think he needs some work on his knees and hocks, but I'm really not sure what I'm doing with them yet, I need to track down a few more references.
I think Antar won't be the first model I'll be taking pictures of with my new camera after all. He's not ready for his close up! He still needs his makeup and wardrobe. He told me today he wants a sidesaddle and racing saddle. I drew up a quick pattern for the side saddle while I waited for glazing putty to dry, and yes, I will share that when I finish making the saddle. I'll share the racing saddle pattern too.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
LRH Antar Al-Ahmar Delayed
Truthfully, what it comes down to is that I've been getting gradually sicker this past week. It started off with fatigue and a mild upset stomach, then right on Thanksgiving, I found out that me and turkey aren't agreeing with each other right now. I can keep sweet potatoes and green beans down, but everything else is iffy at best, and makes me feel dizzy, and gives me a headache similar to a mild migraine. Why I had to get sick in the lead up to Thanksgiving and my birthday, I don't know... Needless to say, it's tricky working on a model horse when you're feeling nauseous, so I've been making very slow progress over the last week.
Due to some unexpected bills, my birthday present's going to be a bit late too, I have to wait for the next paycheck before I can go get my camera. Even if I wasn't sick and had finished him, Antar was destined to be a late foal. And that's fine by me. If he needs more time, he needs more time, but I really really want to have him done before the end of December, because I really want to help someone else achieve their breeding goal for the year.
This past day, I've been continuing to finish the final touches on what sculpting needs to be done. I was watching Gone With the Wind yesterday, and during the jumping scenes with Rhett and Bonnie, I noticed Antar's face still needed a lot of work. As is typical of Stablemates, he had almost no real detail to his face, it was just a horse-head shaped blob, really. So I got started working on restoring missing details, because I want this model to compete in head study as well as halter classes. He's an Egyptian Arabian, and the classic head contest is where the inspiration for photo show head study classes came from, so I thought it a must to have something presentable in a head study class. Right after Gone With the Wind finished, in went my DVD of Black Beauty to watch while I worked, because it'd be a convenient quick reference to glance at when I got stuck. By the end of Black Beauty, I still had some work to do, so in went The 13th Warrior, where I could watch Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan (Eben) and his "dog" to get more details.
As of 17:05 on the 26th of November, Antar's head is looking a billion percent better than it was. He now has his jibbah, and a nice muzzle, and a much more chiseled cheekbone and brow, but I still need to resculpt his right eyeball and lower eyelid. My boy is starting to look really nice and chiseled now, and I'm really proud of my progress, even if I am behind schedule.
Still on my to-do list is finishing his stallion parts, which are being stubborn, and a touch more work on his neck and throat to blend the work I've done on his head with the style on the rest of his body. I'm hoping to have him in his first coat of primer by the 28th.
Today's movie to work by: The Neverending Story. The scene with Artax makes me cry every time, but then, so does most of Black Beauty. Perhaps after The Neverending Story, I'll put in The Horse Whisperer. At about that point, I'll only have The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King left in my list of movies with lots of horses, but I think I want to leave a whole day for working to the whole trilogy.
Due to some unexpected bills, my birthday present's going to be a bit late too, I have to wait for the next paycheck before I can go get my camera. Even if I wasn't sick and had finished him, Antar was destined to be a late foal. And that's fine by me. If he needs more time, he needs more time, but I really really want to have him done before the end of December, because I really want to help someone else achieve their breeding goal for the year.
This past day, I've been continuing to finish the final touches on what sculpting needs to be done. I was watching Gone With the Wind yesterday, and during the jumping scenes with Rhett and Bonnie, I noticed Antar's face still needed a lot of work. As is typical of Stablemates, he had almost no real detail to his face, it was just a horse-head shaped blob, really. So I got started working on restoring missing details, because I want this model to compete in head study as well as halter classes. He's an Egyptian Arabian, and the classic head contest is where the inspiration for photo show head study classes came from, so I thought it a must to have something presentable in a head study class. Right after Gone With the Wind finished, in went my DVD of Black Beauty to watch while I worked, because it'd be a convenient quick reference to glance at when I got stuck. By the end of Black Beauty, I still had some work to do, so in went The 13th Warrior, where I could watch Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan (Eben) and his "dog" to get more details.
As of 17:05 on the 26th of November, Antar's head is looking a billion percent better than it was. He now has his jibbah, and a nice muzzle, and a much more chiseled cheekbone and brow, but I still need to resculpt his right eyeball and lower eyelid. My boy is starting to look really nice and chiseled now, and I'm really proud of my progress, even if I am behind schedule.
Still on my to-do list is finishing his stallion parts, which are being stubborn, and a touch more work on his neck and throat to blend the work I've done on his head with the style on the rest of his body. I'm hoping to have him in his first coat of primer by the 28th.
Today's movie to work by: The Neverending Story. The scene with Artax makes me cry every time, but then, so does most of Black Beauty. Perhaps after The Neverending Story, I'll put in The Horse Whisperer. At about that point, I'll only have The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King left in my list of movies with lots of horses, but I think I want to leave a whole day for working to the whole trilogy.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Upcoming Races
LRH Wafiyah to race in Iskoola Stakes
It's going to be young filly against mature stallion in the Iskoola Stakes, unless more entries come in. It's also going to be a great exhibition race for those who want to see Egyptian arabians.
LRH Wafiyah is matched up against Cherox Park's Majeed, an ABRB 2011 Triple Cup contender. Whatever happens, this race will be good for Wafiyah, we think she'll benefit from running with Majeed.
The track is expected to be springy, which will suit both horses well. We expect a fun, fast race, and we'll be happy even if Wafiyah loses, because it'll be wonderful to see these two racing together.
LRH Backfire to race in Vristina Stakes
Another two horse race, the Vristina Stakes will be run on muddy track, which won't suit either horse very well, though we anticipate White Pine Stables' Liberty An Justice to have more trouble with the conditions. Arnold's looking forward to this race. We switched his originally planned ride because we think Wafiyah needs a more active jockey.
This is the first race Backfire will actually have to work at, since she was the only runner in her maiden race.
LRH Shes All That to race in Tarn Lake Maiden
Once again, Cookie's racing Black Cauldron. This time, Shes All That is at a disadvantage, as the track conditions are expected to suit Black Cauldron better. Cookie was calmer this afternoon, we think keeping her at the track has helped. This time, she'll be backed by Ryan Kelly, one of our more junior jockeys. Ryan's been out there exercising Cookie for us, and they're working well as a team. Yesterday morning, he got Cookie to load with less fuss than she made in her last race, so if all goes well, Cookie will be keeping her gate card. We're not hoping for much from Cookie in this race, we just want her to get used to life and work at the track.
Ryan brought up an interesting point in our phone conversation yesterday morning: he thinks Cookie might still be a bit mentally immature for this. He mentioned that when he was walking her around the yard she was making the "baby face" at a lot of the other horses. The "baby face" is where a horse raises its lips slightly, then slaps its gums. It's a submissive sign that young horses use to say "Don't kill me! I'm a baby!" to other horses. I'm really hoping it's not that she's immature, because I really expect better from my late three year olds.
(Why am I mentioning the baby face? I think I actually want to make a few customs that are doing the baby face, since it's not something you see very often. Cookie will be one of the baby-face horses.)
Also, I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner yesterday! Because my mother-in-law was working yesterday, we're having ours today instead.
It's going to be young filly against mature stallion in the Iskoola Stakes, unless more entries come in. It's also going to be a great exhibition race for those who want to see Egyptian arabians.
LRH Wafiyah is matched up against Cherox Park's Majeed, an ABRB 2011 Triple Cup contender. Whatever happens, this race will be good for Wafiyah, we think she'll benefit from running with Majeed.
The track is expected to be springy, which will suit both horses well. We expect a fun, fast race, and we'll be happy even if Wafiyah loses, because it'll be wonderful to see these two racing together.
LRH Backfire to race in Vristina Stakes
Another two horse race, the Vristina Stakes will be run on muddy track, which won't suit either horse very well, though we anticipate White Pine Stables' Liberty An Justice to have more trouble with the conditions. Arnold's looking forward to this race. We switched his originally planned ride because we think Wafiyah needs a more active jockey.
This is the first race Backfire will actually have to work at, since she was the only runner in her maiden race.
LRH Shes All That to race in Tarn Lake Maiden
Once again, Cookie's racing Black Cauldron. This time, Shes All That is at a disadvantage, as the track conditions are expected to suit Black Cauldron better. Cookie was calmer this afternoon, we think keeping her at the track has helped. This time, she'll be backed by Ryan Kelly, one of our more junior jockeys. Ryan's been out there exercising Cookie for us, and they're working well as a team. Yesterday morning, he got Cookie to load with less fuss than she made in her last race, so if all goes well, Cookie will be keeping her gate card. We're not hoping for much from Cookie in this race, we just want her to get used to life and work at the track.
Ryan brought up an interesting point in our phone conversation yesterday morning: he thinks Cookie might still be a bit mentally immature for this. He mentioned that when he was walking her around the yard she was making the "baby face" at a lot of the other horses. The "baby face" is where a horse raises its lips slightly, then slaps its gums. It's a submissive sign that young horses use to say "Don't kill me! I'm a baby!" to other horses. I'm really hoping it's not that she's immature, because I really expect better from my late three year olds.
(Why am I mentioning the baby face? I think I actually want to make a few customs that are doing the baby face, since it's not something you see very often. Cookie will be one of the baby-face horses.)
Also, I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner yesterday! Because my mother-in-law was working yesterday, we're having ours today instead.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
All Breeds Racing Board Annual Starters Auction
The All Breeds Racing Board Starters Auction just ended. I bid on a few horses, but some of the bidding was crazy competitive, and I didn't have as many points to bid as some of the older members. I bowed out of bidding on two of the horses I was interested in, and put in bids on two more horses toward the end. I lost one, but kept the other, and I'm very happy I picked up at least one of the lots I bid on.
Here's the details for the horse I won in the auction:
2008 Arabian colt or filly by Before The Storm (Silver Prince X Layla) out of Johar (Dahess X Truely A Dream). Consigned by Emory Oak Stables.
I got to choose some of the details, like color and gender, and I've chosen to make a one of a kind custom.
Here's what I've decided on:
She's going to be named Aasifa Bint Johar.
She's going to be made from a Classic Andalusian Stallion, with a lot of customizing to turn her into a mare breaking from the start line. Here's a basic idea of what I want to do for the pose. I'll be replacing the neck, mane and tail with original sculpts, and the head's going to get a lot of detailing, and I suspect I'll be doing a lot of remaking around the flanks. This might just be one of the most drastic models I'll do.
Color wise, I want dapples like this, but with a chestnut base:
Aasifa is my next project for myself after I finish Antar, and get a few sales pieces done. I'm going to get bits and pieces of her done whenever the mood strikes and I've got some time to spare to get on with it.
Who knows, perhaps one day, an Antar Al-Ahmar X Aasifa Bint Johar foal might show up in the Starters Auction? ;)
Here's the details for the horse I won in the auction:
2008 Arabian colt or filly by Before The Storm (Silver Prince X Layla) out of Johar (Dahess X Truely A Dream). Consigned by Emory Oak Stables.
I got to choose some of the details, like color and gender, and I've chosen to make a one of a kind custom.
Here's what I've decided on:
She's going to be named Aasifa Bint Johar.
She's going to be made from a Classic Andalusian Stallion, with a lot of customizing to turn her into a mare breaking from the start line. Here's a basic idea of what I want to do for the pose. I'll be replacing the neck, mane and tail with original sculpts, and the head's going to get a lot of detailing, and I suspect I'll be doing a lot of remaking around the flanks. This might just be one of the most drastic models I'll do.
Color wise, I want dapples like this, but with a chestnut base:
Aasifa is my next project for myself after I finish Antar, and get a few sales pieces done. I'm going to get bits and pieces of her done whenever the mood strikes and I've got some time to spare to get on with it.
Who knows, perhaps one day, an Antar Al-Ahmar X Aasifa Bint Johar foal might show up in the Starters Auction? ;)
Friday, November 11, 2011
Upcoming Races
LRH Shes All That in the Band O'Green Maiden
After a tough time settling in at the track over the last fortnight, LRH Shes All That will be running her maiden race in the Band O'Green Maiden, scheduled for 12-11-10. We're hopeful that Cookie's nerves have settled enough for her to get the job done, the handlers at the track tell us she spent the first four days at the track pacing and weaving, and that she found the new conditions very stressful. We're glad we decided to trailer her in last fortnight when we took the rest of the horses for their maiden races. Ruth plans to spend as much time as she can with Cookie on the morning of the race. We're hoping that a lot of time spent grooming the poor girl will settle her down some.
The track condition is predicted to be springy turf, which should give Cookie and Stable For Champions' Black Cauldron a bit of a leg up over Rose Water Ranch's Little Eagle, for whom the conditions will be challenging. Both of Shes All That's challengers have run several maidens and have yet to win.
LRH Solar Eclipse in the Copperley District Stakes
We've trailered Sunny in for his second race of the month. We want to get him used to running tight scheduled races in preparation for a possible Triple Cup run somewhere down the line. Alfio's under instructions to let Sunny decide his own pace, the horse knows what he can and can't do, and we don't want to push him too hard.
This race, he'll be up against Rose Water Ranch's Big Red, a horse whose track preferences are exactly opposite to Sunny's. This time, we anticipate the track conditions will favor Sunny, since it'll be a fast track. We're glad the track's going our way this time, Sunny could use the help in his second race. We don't think Big Red's going to scratch, since unless there are more entrants closer to post time, he's guaranteed a win or place finish.
This will be Sunny's last run of the season. After that, he'll be taking a well-earned break through December, and going back into training in January. We think the snow we get in the winter will probably do him some good because it'll cool his legs and give him some light resistance training when he's out in the paddock.
After a tough time settling in at the track over the last fortnight, LRH Shes All That will be running her maiden race in the Band O'Green Maiden, scheduled for 12-11-10. We're hopeful that Cookie's nerves have settled enough for her to get the job done, the handlers at the track tell us she spent the first four days at the track pacing and weaving, and that she found the new conditions very stressful. We're glad we decided to trailer her in last fortnight when we took the rest of the horses for their maiden races. Ruth plans to spend as much time as she can with Cookie on the morning of the race. We're hoping that a lot of time spent grooming the poor girl will settle her down some.
The track condition is predicted to be springy turf, which should give Cookie and Stable For Champions' Black Cauldron a bit of a leg up over Rose Water Ranch's Little Eagle, for whom the conditions will be challenging. Both of Shes All That's challengers have run several maidens and have yet to win.
LRH Solar Eclipse in the Copperley District Stakes
We've trailered Sunny in for his second race of the month. We want to get him used to running tight scheduled races in preparation for a possible Triple Cup run somewhere down the line. Alfio's under instructions to let Sunny decide his own pace, the horse knows what he can and can't do, and we don't want to push him too hard.
This race, he'll be up against Rose Water Ranch's Big Red, a horse whose track preferences are exactly opposite to Sunny's. This time, we anticipate the track conditions will favor Sunny, since it'll be a fast track. We're glad the track's going our way this time, Sunny could use the help in his second race. We don't think Big Red's going to scratch, since unless there are more entrants closer to post time, he's guaranteed a win or place finish.
This will be Sunny's last run of the season. After that, he'll be taking a well-earned break through December, and going back into training in January. We think the snow we get in the winter will probably do him some good because it'll cool his legs and give him some light resistance training when he's out in the paddock.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
My birthday this month
At the end of November, it's my birthday. I've been trying to think how I can share that with people, but I don't really have anything I can give away as some kind of prize. I need good pictures for that, and I don't have a good camera.
One of the two things I want for my birthday this year is a new camera.
So, in anticipation, I've decided to finish a custom that's on my workbench right now in time for my birthday. I have no idea if it's possible. Just when I was ready to put a primer coat on him, he screamed "No! New tail! And how dare you not give me complete stallion parts!" So back to the workbench he went. I've got seventeen days to meet this deadline. Added difficulty: I want to make him a modern Arabian show halter so he doesn't have to be completely naked on his debut. He's a Stablemate, so this could be interesting to puzzle my way through. I bet there'll be snow on the ground by the time he makes his debut, so he'll be the first horse photographed with my new camera, and in the snow.
I'm actually going to show off a half finished model too. Right now, he's chestnut, and actually quite handsome (if a bit creepy with unfinished eyes and hooves), but until I have a better camera, he's stalled and going nowhere. I'm going to document how I turn him into a roan, so people can see how I do roans in pastels and acrylics, but before I do, I want to show off the first chestnut horse I've ever done, because I'm kind of impressed with it.
Hopefully I'll be able to show off my handiwork in a big way. Who knows? Maybe the workmanship might appeal to someone, and I'll pick up a commission or something?
In any case, I'll be putting up a countdown clock on my blog and my new site (it's pretty, go check it out!) Countdown clocks are exciting, and maybe you'll get a kick out of counting down with me to my 26th birthday.
One of the two things I want for my birthday this year is a new camera.
So, in anticipation, I've decided to finish a custom that's on my workbench right now in time for my birthday. I have no idea if it's possible. Just when I was ready to put a primer coat on him, he screamed "No! New tail! And how dare you not give me complete stallion parts!" So back to the workbench he went. I've got seventeen days to meet this deadline. Added difficulty: I want to make him a modern Arabian show halter so he doesn't have to be completely naked on his debut. He's a Stablemate, so this could be interesting to puzzle my way through. I bet there'll be snow on the ground by the time he makes his debut, so he'll be the first horse photographed with my new camera, and in the snow.
I'm actually going to show off a half finished model too. Right now, he's chestnut, and actually quite handsome (if a bit creepy with unfinished eyes and hooves), but until I have a better camera, he's stalled and going nowhere. I'm going to document how I turn him into a roan, so people can see how I do roans in pastels and acrylics, but before I do, I want to show off the first chestnut horse I've ever done, because I'm kind of impressed with it.
Hopefully I'll be able to show off my handiwork in a big way. Who knows? Maybe the workmanship might appeal to someone, and I'll pick up a commission or something?
In any case, I'll be putting up a countdown clock on my blog and my new site (it's pretty, go check it out!) Countdown clocks are exciting, and maybe you'll get a kick out of counting down with me to my 26th birthday.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Alternative Performance series starts today at 3pm!
The Long Road Home miniseries "Alternative Performance Events" starts today at 3pm. I hope you'll enjoy it. There will be a new installment every week at 3pm for the next month.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Upcoming Short Series: Alternative Performance Events
Today, I wanted to make some CL-scale lariats (not lassos, lasso is a
verb). I'd already found instructions for the proper way to tie them,
but I had forgotten what sort of length they tend to be. In searching, I
ended up finding my way to Wikipedia, the site that derails many of my
daily plans.
One page led to another, and I found myself looking at the list of horse disciplines for some uncommon performance options.
Perhaps some of these will inspire you to create unusual performance setups for your photo and live shows.
One page led to another, and I found myself looking at the list of horse disciplines for some uncommon performance options.
Perhaps some of these will inspire you to create unusual performance setups for your photo and live shows.
Friday, September 2, 2011
First Show Results and New Additions
Well, the August show results are in, so here's how I did.
LRH Heza Custom Blend
Novice OF: Paint: 5th Place out of 5 entrants
Novice OF: Minimal White Pinto: 9th place out of 9 entrants
Total points: 8
LRH Rum Runner
Novice OF: Young Stallion (3-8): 9th place out of 25 entrants
Novice OF: Other Pure Breed: 1st place out of 4 entrants
Novice OF: Bay/Brown: 3rd place out of 13 entrants
Total points: 20
Novice Custom/Resin/China was unjudged in August, so I don't have any results for LRH Nighthawke or LRH Xiwang. LRH Astor likewise has no points to report.
I think I need to try and get new pictures of some of my horses, because they're atrocious and not helping me at all. I actually really like LRH Rum Runner's picture, so I'm going to set up the same shot for some of my other horses if I can. At this point, I don't have a good enough camera to take good pictures of the minis, so I'm giving up on them until I have a nicer camera. I'll keep entering shows with what I have, since LRH Heza Custom Blend was still earning points.
In other news, I picked up three more horses today, for a grand total of three dollars. These I intend to keep. As crazy as it sounds, they're the cheapo Walmart toys. I actually see some potential in one of them as a mule, even in OF. Another one, with some customization, mostly just narrowing his chest, looks like a Mongolian pony. The last one needs his legs lengthened and his nose straightened, and I think he looks a bit like a Tennessee Walker. I'll get pictures in the morning.
I actually was looking for animals, and only one animal stood out, a toy rat. I think if I cut off his molded whiskers and hair him all over with kanekelon, he'll look really convincing. I didn't pick him up because I didn't have the supplies on hand to customize him yet. I'll get one next time I'm at Walmart. I honestly see show-winning potential with the rat with about thirty hours of hairing work. Even better, he's kind of gushy, so he'll feel nice in my hands when I take him out for pictures :)
LRH Heza Custom Blend
Novice OF: Minimal White Pinto: 9th place out of 9 entrants
Total points: 8
LRH Rum Runner
Novice OF: Other Pure Breed: 1st place out of 4 entrants
Novice OF: Bay/Brown: 3rd place out of 13 entrants
Total points: 20
Novice Custom/Resin/China was unjudged in August, so I don't have any results for LRH Nighthawke or LRH Xiwang. LRH Astor likewise has no points to report.
I think I need to try and get new pictures of some of my horses, because they're atrocious and not helping me at all. I actually really like LRH Rum Runner's picture, so I'm going to set up the same shot for some of my other horses if I can. At this point, I don't have a good enough camera to take good pictures of the minis, so I'm giving up on them until I have a nicer camera. I'll keep entering shows with what I have, since LRH Heza Custom Blend was still earning points.
In other news, I picked up three more horses today, for a grand total of three dollars. These I intend to keep. As crazy as it sounds, they're the cheapo Walmart toys. I actually see some potential in one of them as a mule, even in OF. Another one, with some customization, mostly just narrowing his chest, looks like a Mongolian pony. The last one needs his legs lengthened and his nose straightened, and I think he looks a bit like a Tennessee Walker. I'll get pictures in the morning.
I actually was looking for animals, and only one animal stood out, a toy rat. I think if I cut off his molded whiskers and hair him all over with kanekelon, he'll look really convincing. I didn't pick him up because I didn't have the supplies on hand to customize him yet. I'll get one next time I'm at Walmart. I honestly see show-winning potential with the rat with about thirty hours of hairing work. Even better, he's kind of gushy, so he'll feel nice in my hands when I take him out for pictures :)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Lots of small updates
I'm still prepping the Stablemates. I'd forgotten how long prepwork takes!
In between letting coats of primer dry, I've been trying to assemble my own Aussie saddle pattern in CL scale. I've been making the original shapes out of sheets of foam, so once I've got that finalized, I'll scan them in to show what I've got.
I've actually gotten to the point where I've made the saddle tree, and started making the seat itself. I did something a little different from a lot of model horse tackmakers, making the saddle tree out of sintra. Sintra is a closed cell PVC foam. It's quite resilient, and heat formable. It's flexible when it's thin, just flexible enough that used in tack making, it won't hurt it too much if you squish a saddle. I use sintra a lot in my costuming hobby, so I have tiny scraps sitting around a lot of the time. The cheap plastic for sale signs printed with black and orange that you find in stores are usually made out of sintra, which should give you an idea how cheap the material is.
I'm still working on the flaps, and I want to try something a little different in how my stirrups attach to make them removable and and easy to replace. I was thinking about somehow using hooks and eyes, but I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to make that work yet. I don't have any super-fine leather, I'm using what I have on hand, so it's going to look a little coarse, but it should be sufficient for photoshowing.
I've also got a quick no-pattern Portuguese/Spanish styled treeless saddle I'm making out of vinyl, leather, and foam, which is coming along nicely. I'll make a pattern for this too, since it's pretty quick and cheap to make, and would be good for a kid's tack collection.
I've also entered some of my horses into the races over at the Model Horse Fun Club.
In between letting coats of primer dry, I've been trying to assemble my own Aussie saddle pattern in CL scale. I've been making the original shapes out of sheets of foam, so once I've got that finalized, I'll scan them in to show what I've got.
I've actually gotten to the point where I've made the saddle tree, and started making the seat itself. I did something a little different from a lot of model horse tackmakers, making the saddle tree out of sintra. Sintra is a closed cell PVC foam. It's quite resilient, and heat formable. It's flexible when it's thin, just flexible enough that used in tack making, it won't hurt it too much if you squish a saddle. I use sintra a lot in my costuming hobby, so I have tiny scraps sitting around a lot of the time. The cheap plastic for sale signs printed with black and orange that you find in stores are usually made out of sintra, which should give you an idea how cheap the material is.
I'm still working on the flaps, and I want to try something a little different in how my stirrups attach to make them removable and and easy to replace. I was thinking about somehow using hooks and eyes, but I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to make that work yet. I don't have any super-fine leather, I'm using what I have on hand, so it's going to look a little coarse, but it should be sufficient for photoshowing.
I've also got a quick no-pattern Portuguese/Spanish styled treeless saddle I'm making out of vinyl, leather, and foam, which is coming along nicely. I'll make a pattern for this too, since it's pretty quick and cheap to make, and would be good for a kid's tack collection.
I've also entered some of my horses into the races over at the Model Horse Fun Club.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Prepwork
The last two days have had me hard at work prepping a batch of Stablemates for repainting. I'll be keeping the G2 Standardbred and the two foals, but the rest are going up for sale when they're finished.
I have one horse that's being a real pig to prep, because he's one of my first, badly done repaints, with thick paint all over him. Removing that paint is a pain in the hindquarters.
Right now, I've got three models in primer still needing a quick inspection to make sure they don't need more sanding, with the others still in need of a coat of primer.
I'll be sharing my progress with the Standardbred for a tutorial on how I approach painting roans.
I have one horse that's being a real pig to prep, because he's one of my first, badly done repaints, with thick paint all over him. Removing that paint is a pain in the hindquarters.
Right now, I've got three models in primer still needing a quick inspection to make sure they don't need more sanding, with the others still in need of a coat of primer.
I'll be sharing my progress with the Standardbred for a tutorial on how I approach painting roans.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Guess What I'm Trying To Learn
It involves some difficult knot tying...
If this were full-size, I'd need about 20ft of rope...
Cowboys used to be paid a good sum of money to tie one of the knots in this.
If this were full-size, I'd need about 20ft of rope...
Cowboys used to be paid a good sum of money to tie one of the knots in this.
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