Painted at last :)

After 4 days of painstaking painting I have completed the first Carousel Horse. I had forgotten how time consuming all those little details are :) He was FUN to paint, though, and a nice break from the hyper-realistic world of model horses. Sales information will be made available to members of the Rose Studios Announcement list on Monday the 28th.

Lots of you are asking what size he is. Here is a comparison to Rasam, my classic scale Arabian. Rasam's scale was based on the Breyer classic scaled horses, so you can see the carousel horse is a touch smaller:



Also just added to the blog is a poll asking for your vote on what you'd like to see me sculpt next. Please take a moment and help me decide what you all want to see coming from Rose Studios next.

Carousel horse in resin

I have a few castings of the carousel horse in resin! Yay! We are still working on some molding issues with him, due to the complexity of casting him with his base attached. He should be available for sale very soon, hopefully sometime this week. This guy is not meant to be a model horse, in fact I sculpted him before I rediscovered the hobby in the late 90's. He isn't as anatomically detailed as my models are, and his proportions might be a tad off, but I didn't want to re-sculpt him and possibly lose the feel of the sculpture that I had originally intended. His ornamentations are very detailed, with veining in the feathers of his wings, tassels on his bracelets, and fleur-de-lises on his saddle blanket and browband. He is going to be a blast to paint!







Speaking of painting, I have a Jezebel that is almost completed. She was done in oils, I just need to find the time to finish her up. I really like they way she turned out, and am quite pleased with the dappling I did, the most extensive dappling I've tackled in oils.





Winter arrived in a big way recently, with 2 feet in the first storm and another 8-10 inches yesterday. Todd has been dividing his attention between casting and shipping resins to snow removal and wood chopping. Poor guy! Winter is a lot of work here, but we love it.

Carousel Horse news!

Hard to believe that almost a year has gone by since I asked if there would be any interest in a carousel horse! Despite the fantastic response received, I put him once again on the back burner to sculpt 3 new mini scale horses (Doodlebug, Working Girl, and the latest Jezebel). I'm all mini-ed out now, and the carousel horse was still there, calling out to be cast. I now have a resin prototype to smooth and refine for the next few weeks, then production molds will be made and he will then be available for sale.

Here's my blog post from last year about him: http://rosestudios.blogspot.com/2008/12/carousel-horse-anyone.html

Jezebel

Finally..... she is finished! After what took an inordinate amount of time for a 1/32nd scale sculpture (6 months!) mini Nahar finally has a mate....Jezebel! He is obviously very pleased.

You might be thinking "what could be so time consuming about sculpting a standing horse"? After all, she's just standing there, no need to strain the brain figuring out how this muscle looks flexed, how far that joint can bend, etc, for an action pose. For me, however, standing horses are the most difficult of all equine sculpture to really 'pull off' well. You can't fall back on a dynamic pose to give your sculpture character, it has to be in the details. Exquisitely rendered if at all possible, of course :) Which explains the 6 months that went into Jezebel's creation. She had at least three major facial overhauls, and probably twice that many body re-dos. All this on a sculpture just a smidge over 3" tall. Yes, I did invest in new super high powered reading glasses :)

For those interested in acquiring a Jezebel, here is the link to her ad on MH$P. She will have her own page on the Rose Studios website very soon.

Sneak Peek!

Here is a sneak peek of what's been keeping me busy since spring:

I've spent a ton of time on this project, consciously pushing the envelope on realism by developing some new techniques. I'll be ready to share the rest of this critter in a few weeks. Right now it's into the mold box, then casting a resin master, then more detailing, smoothing, adding veins, etc, before making the production molds.

After this project? I'm considering finishing up a long set aside bratty pony, or my carousel horse.

Burnt Timber ride

We went on a short ride up the Burnt Timber trail yesterday, abut a 1/2 hour drive from home. Short because, well, we just got too cold. We do this trail every spring as sometimes there are big herds of elk with calves. It's been a chilly spring, but stubbornly we only brought along our normal riding gear like a light sweater and raincoats. Us women ended up wearing our rain gear to get a little warmer, not because it rained. It did, however, SNOW on us! I am so over the cold, are the warm temps ever going to arrive? Anyhow, enough of my complaints, here are the pics :)

This is a hugely popular trail for outfitters. Anyone who has watched Craig Cameron on RFDTV has seen parts of this trail and the big outfitter's camp way up the trail. Parking area for the Burnt Timber trail:

Entering into the Weminuche:


A short way up the trail it begins a steady climb which continues for about 3 miles:


We had ridden maybe 2.5 miles when Cindy and I began to ask each other "Is that aspen fluff or snow in the air?"......after a minute it was obvious that is was indeed snow. We could see across at some peaks that still have snow on them, and some of it looked fresh:


A short way past that Michaela announced that her chijuajua was shivering so we stopped to build a campfire and get warm:

Jypsi looking studious:

I know it looks sunny in the pic, but we were freezing and didn't want to leave the fire. We turned around and headed back, a 1/2 mile from the area where we usually see the elk. We were so cold we no longer cared about seeing the elk. If we would have had the proper gear it would have been fine, but our stubborn insistence that it was late spring got the better of us. As soon as we dropped out of the high meadows it became tolerable again.

This spring has been unseasonably cold. We did two Utah trips this spring and that was cold, too. I'm still waiting for some warm sunshine and a nice flat rock to bask on :)

I have a video of the only bad spot in the trail here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W4NZauVQrw&feature=channel_page

Mindy, Mindy, Mindy

With the recent rainy weather our riding has come to a (almost) halt...yeah, I admit it, I'm a fair weather trail rider. Both me and my horse loathe mud, rain, and most especially lightening (well, it's the thunder that my horse dislikes). I've been trying to take advantage of it and spend some time in the studio finishing some projects, mostly paint jobs that I basecoated in oils and had set aside to thoroughly dry. Last fall I started a Mindy as a portrait of my real horse Mindy. As is the case with me and pintos, it seemed like a good idea at first and then became a lot of work. I am notoriously slow at all my artistic endeavors, even tiny little mini resins in pinto. She ended up being a semi-portrait, as my real Mindy's facial marking just looked weird on the model. Finally she is complete (yay!):

Her hooves are of note as they are black hooves on a tobiano pinto. This is possible because of the extreme ermine spots. My filly has hooves and markings just like this.


Speaking of Mindy, Todd has started working with her. She has been infrequently handled as we have a 4 year old colt that has been taking up most of Todd's horse training time. She is 3 and a bit on the small side, so he won't start riding her until next year. She's a friendly, pretty little thing and so so smart! For now her training includes mostly desensitizing and lungeing. Here are a few videos of Todd introducing a plastic bag (have your sound turned up since Todd's commentary is so darn cute!)

Working Girl in bay

It's always fun to paint a few of my newest resin release before I begin a new scupting project. I love pintos, appies, dapples, but there is something so elegant about a simple color. It doesn't compete with the sculpture and shows off the underlying structure in a way that the 'hey, look at ME!" fancy colors don't. Most real horses come in 'plain Jane' colors, but are still beautiful.

I handpainted my Working Girl in oils, which I prefer. For me it is easier to get a rich, luminous, and controlled final product using them. I used to do all my paintwork with an airbrush, and got pretty good at it, but once I begain using oils my airbrush was, for the most part, stashed away. I envy those who are masterful with the airbrush, especially as I wait, and wait, and wait for my oil paint to dry......!!!!




With her simple paintjob, I wanted to add some special touches to really pull her look together. I made her a set of metal shoes (not easy at 1/32nd scale!) and added a few ermine spots and hoof stripes:

Here she is with the tiny tack set I made last month (probably my first and last set at this impossibly small scale):

I'd love to paint up a few more, but might not have the time. The next sculpture is awaiting me, spring has spring as well as the weeds, and the real horses need to be ridden. I'd have some much more time to devote to my art if I lived in a condo......hmmmmm........NO!

Spring has semi-sprung here in Southwestern Colorado. One day it's in the 60's and sunny, the next day it snows. We've been getting some riding in here and there, and managed to get a few nice days of sun and adventure over in Utah for my birthday at the end of March.

One of my favorite ruins in Arch Canyon, high up on a cliff (we call it "The Turkey Pen):



Todd showing off my birthday find with an unimpressed, worried mount observing:



Todd and our friend Wendy on the slickrock above Butler Wash:

When we returned I sat down to 'whip out a sm scale saddle'. Little did I know that making a 1/32 scale saddle is very difficult and frustrating. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, with some proportion and scale issues, but it's ok for my first (and probably last!) attempt and such tiny tack:

That's my newest resin release "Working Girl", a sm scale Quarter Horse mare. She's available now, all her sales info is on the website at www.rosehorse.com/WG.html

Well, a friend just called to forwarn me of an impending storm coming my way, and I love to watch them, so off I go.......

Sneek Peek!

Winter projects

Wow, times flew by again and almost 2 months have passed since the last blog post......it seems like just yesterday I posted the carousel horse photos!
I turn into a hermit workaholic in the winter, since there is little to do outside. I've made progress with the carousel horse and the two minis I recently started.

I've also been doing some painting and to my surprise I have four horses coming along, which is a rareity for me as I seldom paint at all. Typically I will complete and sell 2-3 horses a year.

The chestnut Doodlebug should be done within the next week and offered for sale, followed by the Mindy in March. I'm taking my time with Miss America, and Rasam, they will be completed sometime in the next 2-3 months.

Today it is raining, but warm. Our snow is melting and I am looking forward to spring. But not too soon, I have a lot of studio work to finish up first :)