NaMoPaiMo - Day 1

First things first, I needed to clear my desk! XD

Now nice and tidy, I laid out all my materials ready to begin.

 I covered a small cutting mat with cling film so I could use it as a disposable pain palette if needed. True to form, right before I started work I managed to knock my water pot over and soaked the entire desk in it but it was easily cleaned up and I'm just glad it happened before I'd actually started painting!

Ready to paint!

 

I almost exclusively use the Citadel paints by Games Workshop as they come in a dizzying array of colours and are an absolute dream to work with. I've also got a few random brands of craft acrylics too. I'd be going over things later with pastels but I didn't want to clutter the desk with them too soon.

 After finally settling on a pinto pattern, I sketched it out with a pastel pencil to start. It didn't need to be too neat, just enough to work with.

Most tutorials will recommend going from light to dark but I always do the opposite in acrylics. I blocked out the basic pattern in a dark brown - specifically Citadel's 'Rhinox Hide'

Next I added a little 'Scorched Brown' along the flank and belly where the lighter shading will develop. After blobbing it on roughly I used a torn off section of makeup sponge to dab at it and even out the shading. These acrylics dry super fast, and especially when using sponges as they soak it up, so it's important not to overdo it.

After adding the 'Scorched Brown', I dabbed on a layer of 'Burnt Sienna' (which I think was the Reeves brand, which I don't normally use) with a little of the previous colour mixed in so it wasn't too stark a difference. Here, I'm applying a little 'Vermin Brown' with the makeup sponge, and using the dry side to blot the areas with too much paint. In my haste to record the video (which was achieved by using my necklace as a temporary hanging tripod #mcgyverit ) I picked up a sponge I'd used earlier so I managed to get a bit of darker colour on there too, so umm, don't do that. XD

A video posted by Christine Sutcliffe (@lynkhart) on Feb 2, 2017 at 10:21am PST

I used these silicone shaper tools to apply pastels in more of a direct and precise manner than brushes, so they're perfect for roaning/spotting and dapples.

I find the silicone gives you far more control over the shape of the dapples which is really handy on small models. As you can see I've already started adding basic shading to his muzzle and mane.

True to form, the pastel dapples vanished after a layer of sealer, so I tried a different tack, this time mixing the pastel dust with some matte sealer and painting them on. Unfortunately it went on far less opaque than I'd have liked, so I've had to tone them down a bit with anther layer of pastels.

While he was drying between layers, I started on Horatio.

 I applied a light couple of coats of Citadel's 'Kislev Flesh' with a makeup sponge as a basecoat to start off with. In hindsight I wish I hadn't, as it left a bit of a texture which is only now showing through in the pastel layers.

The pastels went on like a dream and I'm actually finding him ridiculously easy to paint - every layer turns out exactly as I want it to which is pretty rare!

He looks really Fjordy at this stage, lol

Before a layer of sealer this morning...

As soon as I added the first layer of paint on his mane and tail he screamed 'Highland' at me, which I'm really pleased with as I was afraid he'd decide to be a Fjord instead, and while I've nothing against Fjords, I had my heart set on him as a Highland!

He's still got a long way to go but I can't wait to start on all the details!