Okaaaay so I said it had been too long...

Now it's been over two years! Bad Andrea!
Well that's what happens when you move and no longer have space to work in...apartment life is not always super conducive to sculpting and painting. But I have moved yet again, and while I can't work on projects at home, I have a much more awesome space that I can do some stuff in now...a whole bronze foundry! Oh yes, I am back in Tacoma, and my former coworkers have started up their own foundry since the Bronze Works went out of business! Sweet, no?!

http://2ravensstudio.com/ (give it a click, you know you wanna!)

So it all started with me repairing a cold cast bronze sculpture for them, since I'm the resident horse nut. Now the juices are starting to trickle, and I'm feeling the urge to work on my own projects once again. Here's to hoping a lahar of creative juices bursts forth, and I get something DONE!

Now if I could only locate my sculpting tools in all my stuff...

I've been quiet, I know...

Life has been distracting, as usual, and I'm going to be moving in less than a month. I will sadly be losing my workspace that I have currently, but I hope I can manage something. But I finally have a few pictures to post, at least. I did some work on November, and he is slowly getting closer to completion. I don't think I'm quite done with the oils yet, though.

Off with his legs!

Soooo I have some new junk to play with!

I FINALLY ordered some samples of a few varieties of Willow Wax! I've been eyeballing this stuff for at least a year, if not more, and I can't believe I waited so long! I wasn't sure what would work best for sculpting, as I have a lot of experience with wax, and it's not my favorite medium to create stuff in...but I think I found my happy medium! Ether seems to be just about what I've been looking for! It's pretty firm and carve-able when cool, and warms up fairly easily with just body heat and some doing. The other waxes are all more plastic and even harder to work up, but I'm sure will have their uses. I might need an even firmer wax for legs and heads and such, I just need to play with them all and decide which I prefer. The customer service was amazing, especially considering this is a hobby business for Gary!

If you've been wanting to give something new a try, go check out the site: http://www.willowproducts.com/

So far my normal serrated loop tool makes a dent in most of them, but it's carving, not sculpting. My wonderful homemade guitar string loops (custom made by a good friend and artist, Frank Breckenridge, who sadly has no online presence to link to), really only make much of a dent on the Ether wax, when cold. They work best with serrated tools when cold anyways, and just sorta ball up and do weird stuff with them when warmed. Gary said the best way to get them workable is to just throw a slab on a foam plate, under a 75 watt lamp. After Zen is warmed, it's quite easy to work with, pliable, but pretty plastic still, not quite like clay.

I'm pretty sure Ether will be my workhorse wax, for bodies anyways. It's good while cold, won't squish and smudge with reasonably careful handling, but is still workable without having to bust out heat if I'm not doing anything major. Great stuff!

So now I'm faced with chopping the legs off Obcecado, and redoing them in wax. I'm not sure which one I want to attempt this with yet, and I'm not looking forward to it really. I was starting to get them blocked in pretty good, and starting over is never super fun. But I'm sure I'll thank myself when it comes to molding later, if I do.

I have worked on November a bit, but have had some setbacks here and there...this has seriously been the most trying paint job I can remember doing LOL I hope he comes out decent, ahk.

Little taste of Rein...

Just started blocking in dapples on part of Mr. November, and I have a looooong way to go, but I thought I would share anyways! But now, it's time for me to hit the hay!

Waiting, sweating, etc.

So it's stinking hot, again!

Mr. November Rein has a few coats of oils on him, but has been giving me little fits. This resin is just fighting me every step of the way, it seems! Ah well, it will turn out eventually, with patience, and work.

Since I've had some off time between oil coats, I have been tinkering with Obcecado lately. He practically melted in my hands while sculpting on him earlier! I don't even know how hot it got today, but it's definitely hotter in my craft/computer room with my computer running all day, and not the best circulation due to plastic on the window outside (the house is being painted!). He's hanging out in my mini-fridge with a few bottles of beer for the night haha! Hope he doesn't wake up with a hangover...

I'll post a few pics, but they really aren't great. The lighting made him look quite strange and lumpish in a few areas. His lower legs are just hardly blocked in, and his upper legs just barely tied into his body so far. His muscles are scratchy and crazy with tool marks, and unfinished. He is still in the stage where things may change drastically, so he looks a real mess. But it's still fun to share!

And it starts!

I have finally busted out the oils, and have started blocking in color on the Reiner!

I decided to go with a lighter dapple gray. I figure it's a fun color to paint, it will look striking on him, and I haven't seen one in that color, or not yet anyways. So he has begun, and I will post pictures when I have something worth posting...I'm starting out a little different than I usually do, since grays are really difficult to basecoat in acrylic, like I normally do, so I'm trying to do the entire thing in oils. We will see how that goes! It might take me a while haha...

He was going to be light, and not terribly warm, but I put a little bit more brown in some of the mixes than I realized, and I was actually pleased with the warmth.

I don't generally name horses I paint, but I think I'll call him November Rein for now...

Still working on it...

There's no update on the sculpture currently, I'm afraid. I haven't had time to touch him in at least a month :( As soon as this big dance show thing is over with, I'll dive back into clay activities. Or so I hope!

The Reiner has been giving me prepping fits. Every time I think I'm done, and set him down to dry a few days, I find something else to fix! It's been a really long time since I've prepped, and I guess I forgot how trying it can be at times. I had everything filled from my last nit-picking session, only to get my darn fingerprint on the fresh primer I had just applied! Dagnabbit!!!

On top of all that, I live in an area that's SERIOUSLY lacking in places that sell art supplies. All I have to pick from locally is Michaels, Jo-Anns, and a very small independent place, that didn't even have precisely what I was looking for. Blick and Dan Smith are an hour ferry ride (not to mention a long up-hill walk, or having to pay to drive on) away. There's a smaller store somewhere in Tacoma, which is about a 40min drive, along with a bridge toll. I would very much like to live elsewhere, anyone have a closet I could sleep in?

But all the griping aside, I am getting a LITTLE closer to having pictures to share, I hope!