A World Beyond Our Ken

[johnegert]

OK, look....there are these people, see, who buy these toy horses, see, strip them down, repaint them, buy and make all this elaborate miniature tack, and show these tweaked- up Breyer-on-steroid mothers.........but no-- it's too horrible to think about for long! But believe me, breathern, it's true. And there are a lot of these people, breathern, rodeoing their little plastic pony's ***** off.... and a high level of skill, craftsmanship, andyes breathern, ART, all swirling around in a world ye know not of, and would not want to know of, except that it has produced a book, well known to jaded old figheads, which is arguably one of a tiny handful of indispensible reference volumes in our field of endeavor, and an absolute neccessity for anyone who ever thought of painting a horse. This magical work is none other than the ineffable "ColorFormulas & Techniques For The Model Horse Artist" by Carol Williams. I dusted off my copy yesterday and was yet again amazed by the fiendish level of knowledge and skill contained in this looseleaf- formatted, 28 chapter tome, accompanied by a fat stack of "formula cards" with paint mixes for a myriad of horse colors.If you have ever grappled with Paint Horse colors and patterns, the shapes and color of equine eyes, hooves, manes, tails or ANYTHING related to the color of horses, you will want this book. If you have enough emotional security, check out Carol's website at www.riorondo.com. She even has a section devoted to figure modelers who know a heavy hitter when we see one.I had a flash of paranoia about the availability of the book, but if you type the above title into google, you'll get the info. $42 USA, into the $50's overseas, and you can't live without it. Abandon hope all ye who enter here.....
john

 

[quang]

OK. Here's the Belgian Waffle coming to your rescue.

What John's trying to introduce here is a book about painting miniature horses: "Color Formulas & Techniques For The Model Horse Artist" by Carol Williams.

He sent me the book a few years ago while I was into my mounted Dog Soldier figure. A poisoned gift, in fact, because I discovered a world I never suspected of.

There's a whole set of RULES AND REGULATIONS concerning the colours of the horse and that includes the myriad of body/mane/hooves/eyes colour combinations. Some are common, some are exceptional and others are down right genetic abherrations/impossibilities.

To sum it up, horse colouring is far more complicated than one may think.

The good news is that there is EVERYTHING you need to know in this book (inc. a list of combinations, the terminology and the different colour mix formulas). It's handy, too (it's comprised of file cards, each one detachable with a specific combination).

The down side is that after reading the book, you will find flaws in nearly every painted horse (inc. the award-winning ones). Your innocence will be lost forever.

Who said; "Beware of geeks bearing gifts"? :lol:

Quang

 

[gordy]

Fascinating, who would have ever guessed?
many thanks for the heads up!

 

[johnegert]

Has it finally come down to this,Quang? I am now so ancient of mind and body that I need you to interpret my chanted wisdom? But you're right..... my "review" made no sense at all. Simply restated--" me like....me buy". Now where are those samurai sites, speculoo breath ?
" The geek shall inherit the earth..."
john

 

[quang]

Don't get me wrong, John.

I had no intent to play the human Babelfish. But you'd have to admit that not many on this site would have known the Homeric word-battles of the MMHQ and HM Forum days or your thundering Bible-thumping style . It was only 5-7 years ago, now it looks like prehistory (which in fact, it WAS!).

One sure fact is the relevance of your posting and the chances that it would introduce a whole new world to an unsuspecting audience. All I wanted to do is to point that out.

May be I was being presumptuous and may be I shouldn't have done it at all.

Quang

 

[quang]

Oh, and the fabulous samurai sites.

Well, most of 'em vanished into 'Error 404' territory. The remaining showed their real nature and became a front for some commercial operations.

'Where have all the flowers gone?'

Q.

 

[John Long]

Not to highjack the thread, but speaking of Samurai; Last night the Nat'l Geographic channel had an hour long episode on the history of Samurai. I'm sure it has much to do with the recent Tom Cruise movie release. The documentary was very good and had many reenactors in period costume.

 

[Dani A.]

Hello,

I have the book (it is really a thick folder), and it is TERRIFIC. Only thing it lacks is colour, it is B/W throughout, although I imagine it is unavoidable, given its (I suppose) limited audience. It has line schemes and some photos. You can supplement it with related webpages.

You can find info in this book you would NEVER think of. Yes, horse colours and markings have rules, and very strict ones they are! Not everything goes! You would be surprised! And, indeed, when you have read the book, you find mistakes almost on every painted model horse... In fact, these mistakes go unperceived because so few people is really knowledgeable with the subject (not only colour, BTW, anatomy, proportions, shapes and poses are often suspect too... even in commercial models from well-known and respected firms!).

I can only recommend it (although if you are using water-based paints exclusively you will draw less benefit - the book is mainly focused on oils).

HTH,

Dani

 

[johnegert]

No, Quang, I DEPEND on you to translate for me, especially now that this heinous swine flu is on me. I do think it's necessary to get some color photos of horses to augment Carol's book. Fortunately, there are numerous magazines readily available, like Paint Horse Journal, Apaloosa Journal, Quarter Horse Jour., and a number of Arabian mags. There are also some good books such as " Allen Photo Guide: Horse/ Pony Coat Color" by Carole Knowles Pfeifer, which has good photos and is fairly cheap. Some of us have used " The Color Of Horses: The Scientific and Authoritive Identification of the Color of the Horse" by Ben Green, though I think this book is overrated. As noted above, the worst mistake I can make is to go by others' work--always a bad idea for me.
john

 

[Anders Heintz]

Sounds like a great book to have! I've got 4 horses of my own so all I have to do for reference is look outside If anyone needs horse pictures, I can take some, I have "access" to all kinds of different horses that I can take pictures of.

As far as the Samurai thing, the History Channel aired a great 2 hour show of Samurai History. Im sure they will air it again soon.

 

[MSzwarc]

John,

For samurai info, try the Samurai Archives .

Mike

 

[frank h]

Hi John
I had heard of this book/folder but had likened my chances of obtaining
a copy to that of a search for the Holy Grail, thanks for the info.

To compliment the book on horse colouration I would like to bring to your
attention a publication "Modelling and Sculpting Animals" by Edouard Lanteri.

Lanteri was the teacher and mentor of Auguste Rodin sculptor of such works
as the "The Kiss" and "The Thinker".

The book deals with the correct proportions, relative to each other, taking account
of anatomy to produce a true representation of equine art it can also be used to
rectify some of the glaring short comings we find in very expensive mounted
kits.
The book is available from Dover Publications ISBN 0-486-25007-5
www.doverpublications.com
There is also "Modelling and Sculpting The Human Figure"by the same author.

Frank