Creative juices are flowing!

When I spoke last time about the bug starting to bite again, I wasn't kidding. I've really been hit hard by the need to do something arty, and I'm glad, it hurt me a lot to not be doing anything constructive in the art world for the last few years.

Aside from the model horse re-paints I'm working on, I've also started dabbling into making Journal Cover's, and of course, having them purely horse related. Think square medallions, but on the front of a sturdy notepad/notebook! I had seen someone doing these, and I just had, had, had to convert this idea into horsey-style. I would have given anything to have something horsey-style sculpted onto the front of a journal when I was younger!

First quick mock-up sketch idea in a quick 10 minutes while on break at work:

I liked the design - the other day I had another idea concept sketched out, which I loved even more, but I thought this would be a good starting point, considering I haven't sculpted anything for 5 years now. Let's not get too complex on the first one, right?

I have to say, the horse 'fleshing out' started coming together so well, I had to stop myself from going full ham on the muzzle of the horse and detailing the crap out of it, in case changes in size had to be made. But I was getting the inspiration for this piece pretty quickly.

And here s/he is so far, fleshed out, with a blob for an ear so I can try and make sure the proportions are correct - I've already shortened his face a lot (and feeling like it might need tightening up still), but once I get an eyeball in that socket and work a little more, then I'll have an idea of if the proportions are correct. Thinking I may have to bite the bullet and throw it up on a forum for some suggestions and early critiques before any detail sneaks in there.

I have to admit, if he turns out anything like I'm hoping, I will be quite tempted to price getting a few of it cast to release this in a medallion if there is any interest, and keeping maybe 5 to make 5 different Journals.

We'll see - getting a head of myself a little bit (which is the norm for me).

Long time no update?

Hard to believe I haven't touched this blog in five years... a massive five years. I couldn't even begin to tell you what I've been up to in those five years.

But I am back, beginning to pick up the pencil, paint brush, sculpting tools and getting back into the "arty feel" - I have to say, during those five years, I pretty much lost my muse and all motivation to even look at a model horse, let alone anything else art related.Well I lie, I did try my hand at pixel art for a game that my partner-at-the-time was working on - but that fell in a hole when the relationship started breaking down, and eventually came to an end. I was super happy with the little characters that were being built for that though, and I will cherish those little pieces of artwork. Learning to do pixel art, as well the animation for them was a lot of fun to say the least.

But now ideas are starting to flow, and already I have designs and customs in mind, and I'm slowly restocking the art supplies - sadly my tub of Apoxie Sculpt has long expired and is no longer workable. I would be surprised if it still was after 5 years of being untouched. In the mean time, I have completed an old paint job that I started probably about 5 years ago, and never got to finish - so with some details added and completed, a Giselle/Valentine repaint was long finished. Her inspiration was the gorgeous bay sabino Thoroughbred mare (whose name escapes me right now) that is owned by Flying Colors Farm.

She'll be posted up for sale at some point when I manage to snap some decent (not-using-my-iPhone-camera) photo's. I'll be setting a starting price on her at $250 USD.

The next piece in the words is a repainted Silver, into a bay roan (yup, the sabino Giselle riled up the roan bug in me again!) - so I thought I would try out a slight new technique in mixing the 'roan hair' colours to see how it turns out. So far, I'm only in the roaning out detail stage, before I dull down the extreme, blunt detail of the hairs with some white pigment to blend it all together.

This is the only photo I have so far:

More in progress shots of him to come - and yes, he will be another one for sale when completed and when I dust off the old photo shooting area and find a camera that works (sadly my old digital SLR is d.e.a.d.).

The other thing I got to doing was dusting off the old Dremel and started cutting apart a Smarty Jones model whose paint job just wasn't working for me - he didn't want to be a simple repaint anymore, he wanted some spunk and character added to him. So, he will slowly morph into a misbehaving Warmblood/Sport-horse who is refusing to go near that spooky jump!

Other art stuff? Well I'm working on some glass candle holders (for tea light candles) with feathered designs on them made from paper (even better; made from old books) which I'll post up when completed.

I've also starting thinking of Christmas gifts for friends - with one idea being a sculpted book cover for a journal/notepad type book, with Rocket Racoon as the cover. But we'll see how that goes and if I get to actually making that one become a reality.

So welcome back - and hello again :)

Fractured ankle = more time to paint?

Yes... I fractured my ankle while trying to lock up a gate at work - sort of pathetic how I came to that injury with a gate when most people would assume I fell off a horse, or a horse jumped on me, or something 'horse-related' actually happened. But no... it was a gate, that was jammed on concrete, that I hauled on and got tangled up in. Very... impressive, right?

But, you have to make a positive out of the negative, and that positive is that between the times when the pain killers make me sick/tired/dizzy/in a haze, is time that I am actually painting and prepping models.

Two recent completions include these two:

Meet Benedicto (spanish for 'blessed')





He is of course, 'DeCaprio' who was scuplted by one of my favourite scupltors, Stacey Tumlinson. This guy just oozes such personality and softness and supplness - everything you want in a Warmblood, matched with that lovely neck and body structure. I was stoked to get a hold of this guy to be able to paint. And whilst this guy was a little unsure of his color, he actually did a color change half way through his base coats - he was going to be a black tobiano with cat-tracking, but during his base coats a friend of mine said he would look amazing if he went liver chestnut, and Benedicto said, 'oh may YES please!' and liver chestnut he went. He is inspired from the lovely Warmblood stallion Briar 899 with just a few small marking changes.

I'm hoping to proxy him at a US show in November and then have him home in time for our December show and then off to a show in January over the other side of Australia, then he'll most likely be for sale if he doesn't win me over more than he already has - in that case, he's already got a good friend of mine begging me to sell him to her :)

Next, meet miss Ashquar (Arabic for chestnut)





The super detailed 'Jezebel' resin by Sarah Rose - this girl is just beautiful in person, and also oozes a lot of personality. There isn't a bad angle you can photograph this mare from (but do excuse my grainy photo's, I'm still learning my new light tent set-up and camera).

I do believe my 'Gizelle' resin is now calling to me saying she wants to be a dappled liver chestnut :) In time my friend, in time... I'm practising my dappled version of my newly found love for liver chestnuts on a G1 'Silky Sullivan' stablemate, and if it is a win, then I believe she will get her wish. If it's a fail, well then I'm not going to do her any in-justice's.

Another one I have painted since my last post was a lovely liver chestnut roan sabino/overo 'Working Girl' resin, but I will do my best to get new (non blurry) photo's of her so I can show her off. She has being sold and will be with my good friend who also has her eyes on the 'DeCaprio' resin :)

Speaking of sales - Sanskrit sold to a lovely lady in Sweden, and I've already heard he recieved Champion at a recent photo show which qualifies him for the Swedish National Championships in November - best of luck to him and his new owner, I do hope I get an update in my email with some great news at his Swedish Live Show debute!

What a day...

Well I haven't posted on here in forever & I do apologise - I've being through some tough times in the past 10 months that I'd rather not relive again in this lifetime (or any other), but I am getting it togheter again slowly and surely.

BIG News - well lots of it, including my infamous Calamity Jane resin "Hehewuti" pulling out more wins, DUN Qualifications, Grand Champion's in Workmanship and Artist Resin, and also pulling out her highest award to date - Overall Reserve Supreme Champion at Live in the West 2010. This mare just keeps amazing me, and in the 6 - 7 shows she has now being to, she has never placed lower than 2nd in her Workmanship, Color & Breed classes!! And I am absolutely RAPTED with her!! She is a HUGE achievement for me and definate proof in my eyes that my roan techniques are working well for me. She came home with a swag of ribbons from the show on Sunday, placing 1st Workmanship, Champion Workmanship, Grand Champion Workmanship, 1st Other Breed, Champion Breed, Grand Champion AR Breed, 1st Other Color, Champion Broken Color, Grand Champion AR Color! WOW!

Ok, enough bragging :)

Some of the newbies that have being painted is a comission that has being on the table for a while - a CM'ed Flash with a new braided mane and then painted to a flashy dappled grey. He went on to pull two firsts in hic classes, and then two Champion ribbons to be in the line up for Overall Grand CM Champion - very happy with his results:





And I'm glad to report, his new owner is stoked with that news - always a happy moment!

Another newbie that joined me on the day was "Strawberry Strike", who is also for sale - so please free free to contact me about this girl. She was well loved on the day, and went on to win both her breed and color CM class, Champ out and then recieve the high honor of Grand Champion CM.

Priced at $135 AU plus postage.








Another new one that was shown with some sucess was a "Sanskrit" resin by Mel Miller and painted by myself into a bay sabino Marwari called "Sheikh" - he was second in his AR Other Breed class and placed 4th in a HUGE class of Bays (where my Absinth resin proudly won, and a Stormwatch which I painted and is owned by Melissa Boynes was second - woo hoo!). He has a custom base which makes him 100% more stable than he was without it, and has steel pins in his legs so that they slot into the base - this guy won't move now! Makes me feel a whole lot safer sitting him on a table upright.

Priced at $275 AU plus postage





Other results included my Absinth resin (also for sale) placing 1st in his bay class, and my other guys doing well - I will post more info on Absinth when I have the results and more info in general on what I am up to in the studio in the next few days.

Great to be back :)

~Sam

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Well the end of 2009 is upon us... and I'm honestly sitting here wondering where the year went - seems like I was sitting here only a few days ago bringing in 2009, let alone saying goodbye to it. From a personal note, it wasn't the best year, but I'm hoping 2010 will bring new things, better things, and the overdue 'good times' to come in for those who I love and cherish.

I hope 2010 brings you all great happiness and success!!

The last thing I'll probably get finished this year was to paint the first copy of my medallion I sculpted (not the first copy, but the first painted copy LOL), and here he is:





He has already being sold - thank you Christine!! I hope you love him!

Unpainted copies are still available for sale if you're interested, they at least make for good painting practice.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Merry Christmas to all!!

Well I hope everyone had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS while I was quiet on the Blog and enjoyed good times, lots of food and merry moments. Unfortunatly I was curled up in bed from the afternoon of my birthday (the 22nd) to pretty much this morning with either a virus or Swine Flu - I'm begining to think it was just some random virus because I've bounced back from it pretty quick and I didn't go downhill that badly, but the Doctor basically said I'd be taking the same medication anyway, so he saved me a bloodtest, which I HATE! (not a needle fan - can you tell?)

Anyway, in the meantime, I sent off my Chickory and Tango resin to a show in South Australia with my awesome Show Proxier down there (thank you Bec!) and was absolutely stoked to hear that DMD Ricardo (my Tango resin) had not only pulled a Champion in his division, but had also won Reserve Overall Supreme Champion of the show! WOO HOO!! Very happy with the results!! He also picked himself up a few more DUN Cards to take home as well for good measure.

Here he is:





Other news in the studio? Well thanks to a full time job, things have slowed right down unfortunatly, but I am finishing up the Flash CM who is going grey, and also finishing up my first painted copy of the medallion I scuplted back at the start of the year for someone - so photo's will come shortly of those guys as well.

Not much else to report! Hope the last few days of 2009 are good for everyone, and that you party hard to bring in the New Year - all the best to everyone in 2010!!! See you in the New Year, if not before!

~Sam

Live Show Results

Well what a week! I was hoping to have more horse's finished (including two comissions) to take with me to show, but with a new job, the real horses, and my freshly broken in stallion, I have little to no time during the week to do anything!

But I did take a small handful of horses with me, and all of them brought home DUN Cards (Qualifying cards for the Down Under Nationals *DUN* of which a Committee is slowly being formed to organise it - exciting huh?). These are the results of the crew I took that I personally painted:

DMD Ricardo (Tango resin shown as a bay roan sabino Spanish Barb)





4th - Other Color Open Workmanship (against all my other roans!)
3rd - Other Breed Arist Resin
3rd - Other Color Artist Resin (again, the class was all my roans! LOL)
1st - Other Breed CM/AR Mini
Reserve Champion Mini CM/AR Breed
1st - Other Color CM/AR Mini

Rayne On Me (Rayne resin shown as grey Thoroughbred - owned by Rondel)





1st - Grey/Chestnut Open Workmanship
4th - Thoroughbred/Sporthorse Artist Resin
2nd - Grey Artist Resin
2nd - Light Breed CM/AR Mini
4th - Grey/Chestnut CM/AR Mini

Kenhurst Kilimanjaro (Custom Huckleberry Bey shown as bay Hackney Horse)





3rd - Black/Bay/Brown Open Workmanship
1st - Other Breed CM
Champion CM Other Breed
1st - Bay/Brown CM
Reserve Champion CM Solid Color
Reserve Grand Champion CM

DMD Scrapey (Chickory resin shown as bay roan Shetland Pony)





5th - Other Color Open Workmanship (all against my other roans)
5th - Pony Breed Artist Resin
2nd - Other Color Artist Resin (against my other roans!)
2nd - Pony Breed CM/AR Mini
4th - Other Color CM/AR Mini

DMD Santiago (Alborozo shown as blue roan Persauvian Paso)





3rd - Other Color Workmanship (against my roans)
1st - Spanish Breed CM Spanish
Reserve Champion CM Stock/Exotic Breed
2nd - Other Color CM (2nd to my other roan in the class)

Makhpia-Sha (Nokota shown as bay roan Quarter Horse - owned by Tracy)





2nd - Other Color Open Workmanship (against my other roans)
2nd - Quarter Horse Breed CM
1st - Other Color CM
Champion CM Broken Color

Caramea Bold Print (Timepiece shown as bay Anglo-Arab Sporthorse - owned by Rachel)





2nd - Thoroughbred/Sporthorse Artist Resin
2nd - Bay/Brown Color Artist Resin
(Yes, I've made two mistakes with his photo - he should have two 2nd ribbons, and two blue Halter DUN cards - silly me!)

Well over all it was a very, very busy day - but a HUGE success. CONGRATES to everyone who attended and proxied (thank you for sending your guys over to our litte show in the West!) and a huge thank you to all our judges (myself, Mel Boynes, Mollie Burton, Jackie Siebel and Carol Warwick) and a huge thank you to our show mistress/master/exrodianaire... Mel Boynes!! And last but not least - mega thanks to everyone who sponsored and donated to the show, without your help we wouldn't have raffle items to help pay for the show!! THANK YOU!!

Phew.. think I'm done! Enjoy the pics - shame the weekened wasn't a day longer! Off to work for me...

~Sam