WIP Critique Mounted 17th Lancer Zulu War 1879

[Richie]

Hi Carl - Thanks for looking in and the tip on the PVA, if I can get it completed to a good standard I will take it with me to the Sword & Lance.

Hi Brian - Mate, I could not have attempted this without you. Thanks for looking and glad you like my effort from this period. I have a great affinity for this period and in the last couple of months have purchased over 20 books for reading and research.

Hi Dave - "The Godfather of Groundwork", your pieces are so inspirational I thought I would have a go, again thanks for the tips, I should have asked you lads for advice before setting off.

Hi Derek - Thanks for looking in and for the heads up, hopefully I can make a half decent effort between the brushes and airgun.

Advice needed -PAINT THE HORSE IN ACRYLICS OR OILS for the best results?????

Again to everybody thanks for all the support, help and advice - it does make a huge difference.
cheers
Richie

A productive morning for me, I have painted the base, but need to do some tweeks. I have also put a base coat on the horse and oiled the base.

 

[1969]

Theres no holding you back with this one mate, looks like you are steaming along nicely.

Good to see some more colour added to the overall scene and horse, groundwork looks very convincing and works well for the subject.

I would have thought oils would work better for the horse, easier for blending on large areas and gives you good time to work with it.

Catch you later mate

Steve

 

[Dr Force]

Hi Richie

The groundwork turned out well mate, nice job

Now then, this is just my opinion and there are others far better placed than me to advise but I reckon oils for the horse.

Horses have a short hair with a sheen in variable light that gives the same colour,lots of different shades at the highest points of the bone/ muscle.

Keep it going mate and look forward to the next pics.

Dave

 

[Richie]

Hello the Leicester contingent,
Thanks for the reply, now that gives me some food for thought. The only oils paints I have are water based and I don't know if these would be suitable? Any advice from you Oilmen would be good.

My Vallejo's dry too flat.

If I need to buy more paints after what I have spent lately she would.............
cheers boys I will just go and find a needle and thread to sew them back on
I will go and do some searching, as I have another avenue aswell - Might as well be hung for sheep as a lamb
cheers
Richie

 

[Dr Force]

Hello the Leicester contingent,
Thanks for the reply, now that gives me some food for thought. The only oils paints I have are water based and I don't know if these would be suitable? Any advice from you Oilmen would be good.

My Vallejo's dry too flat.

If I need to buy more paints after what I have spent lately she would.............
cheers boys I will just go and find a needle and thread to sew them back on
I will go and do some searching, as I have another avenue aswell - Might as well be hung for sheep as a lamb
cheers
Richie

Hi Richie

You could do the base colour in acrylics followed by variable shades of oils allowing plenty of drying times between each coat ( that's the patient bit ) gradually building up the shades.

I have the very good Osprey book by Mark Bannerman which shows you how to apply a basic but very effective method to paint horses that goes like this:-

- white primer

- Matthew white undercoat

-apply copious amounts of burnt sienna oil paint to the whole horse. While still wet he then whisked off the excess with a wide brush in a downward motion to follow the natural growth of hair. The paint is so thinly applied that you can still see elements of white underneath.

- allow to dry for 3 days

- repeat step one with a slightly darker shade of burnt sienna you will see the highlighted points remain brighter whilst the shadows begin to take on a darker hue.the whisking motion drags the excess into the recess.

- allow to dry for 5 days

- Repeat the technique with another application of burnt sienna.

- allow 3 days to dry

- mix a complimentary but darker tone of burnt sienna and raw umber in a 1:2 ratio using the same technique above.

- allow to dry

-smear raw umber oils neat all over the horse and remove the excess with a wide brush following that downward motion.

- allow to dry

That's about it, you simply need to repeat the final steps to darken the coat but this method conveniently leaves the highest points at a different shade without the need for blending.

The results in the book look superb so might be worth you trying on a spare. The only thing I note is you have a grey primer, whereas he used a white primer followed by a matt white undercoat.

Hope this helps fella

Dave

 

[Richie]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for that mate, sounds like it may be an easier but effective way for me to follow and I would only need to buy a limited amount of oils.
cheers
Richie

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

Oils are oils Richard, stay away from the water based ones, there is nothing better for horses, base coat in humbrols or acrylics as close to the colour you want to achieve. "Close is near enough at this stage" For a medium to dark bay Burnt sienna and, burnt umber ,raw umber and naples yellow will get you there,and you will never need to replace these for a coupe of decades

Ron

 

[Richie]

Hi Ron,
Thanks for the input, I have a few mounted projects for the future so it may be worth while to invest in a few oils.
What other colours would you recommend for the equine side of it???? black, white, what else!!!
cheers Ron
Richie

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

Hi Ron,
Thanks for the input, I have a few mounted projects for the future so it may be worth while to invest in a few oils.
What other colours would you recommend for the equine side of it???? black, white, what else!!!
cheers Ron
Richie

Hi Richie
I think the one's I already said will be fine, covering most chestnuts and bays
you could add a gold ochre and English red which is more of a brown,but these I would add later as supplements , Black and white are basics you will need
Paynes Grey is very useful.

Ron

 

[Dan Morton]

SWEET! Well done Richie!

All the best,
Dan

 

[housecarl]

Looks impressive Richie. I haven't tried it but this looks informative. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S2fpoCDtAI
Carl.

 

[Richie]

Hi Ron,
Thanks for the info. concerning the oil paints, I will leave the water based ones in the box and get some proper oils. Already on the case. A big

I was thinking of buying a different type of acrylics after talking to Roger and seeing his painting post of the US cavalryman, but on reflection the more time I have to blend the better for me I think.

Hi Dan,
Thanks for looking in and the compliment. I see you are progressing with your mounted projects and Roger's doing a really nice job on your cavalryman. Will nip into your thread later.

Hi Carl,
Funny you should post that link I was having a look last night. It seems a very similar technique to the one Dave documented for me, looks like the way to go.
thanks for help lads:awesome:
cheers
Richie

 

[billyturnip]

Glad you got plenty of advice and you were able to reach a decision Richie, looking forward to seeing some paint on 'em.

Roger.

 

[chippy]

Sorry for jumping in late on ths one . Definitely oils on the horse . I like to undercoat my dark bays and black horses with a blue undercoat it gives them a completly different toneal quality , more of a therabreed look . It might be worth a try .
chippy

 

[Richie]

Hi Roger,
Apologies for the late reply, thanks for all your help, yes I decided on oils and went out Friday after work and bought some.

Hi Chippy,
Again apologies for the late reply, thanks for the tip I will try that on a future project.

Just a quick update, I have managed to put down a couple of layers of oils, still loads to do, but happy with the way they are going.
By squeezing them out on card, using thin layers and then putting it on top of the boiler to aid the drying, I can pick it up after 24hrs to work on.

I did have one disaster, I managed to snap one of the hind legs, I am hoping that I can conceal it with the oils if not the old nag may be getting a bandage.
cheers
Richie

 

[Dr Force]

Very good start Richie. Even though it has only a couple of coats, you can already see the tone on the higher points of muscle & bone.ive never painted horses before but have an idea for a future project so will watch with interest.

Cheers
Dave

 

[1969]

Hi mate,

Looking good so far with the oils, just a case of working on the contrasts now and should look great

Sorry to hear about the leg, better get your veterinarian head on

Steve

 

[billyturnip]

Good start Richie, and you're not alone in snapping horses legs, that's why I mainly paint flats.... less bits to break.

Roger.

 

[Richie]

Hi Dave - Thanks for looking in, I am a virgin horse painter too. Just make sure you use your engineering skill to make something for supporting the horse while painting. I wish I did

Hi Steve - Thanks. I tried to support the horse between 2 pin vices must have put too much pressure on. Need to come up with something different for future project. Any ideas!!

Hi Roger - Thanks. Is James Herriot still in your neck of the woods? I think it's it's going to be an equine bandage!!

A day off today so I have blocked in the reins and done some more blending and highlighting. I must say I really like pushing these oils about very forgiving.

ADVICE/CRITIQUE - are the tones looking OK please don't hold back. If not, correcting with oils is just the job, let me know your thoughts.

Also included is a photo of my latest acquisition ready for the Sword & Lance.
cheers
Richie

 

[Dr Force]

I think you have done a superb job Richie. This is not an easy skill and to think its also not one you are familiar with, makes it even more impressive.

The great thing about horses are the many variables of colour and tone so less or more coats will simply give a different overall colour.

Anyway mate this is looking to be a winner, just take your time on the rest and you will produce an excellent piece