Today I'm glad to show off my first custom, Imperial Topaz (Topaz for short). She's a classic size, on the Might Tango mold. Topaz is a tributr to two mares I learned to ride with. The first was Topaz, who patiently prodded around the ring with six year old me. Later I worked with her daughter, Debonair, who taught me some about jumping and a lot about patience.
When I ordered her online, I was going to keep her as an original finish model. She clearly had other ideas though. Right out of the box, I couldn't keep her standing for longer than thirty seconds at best. I tried different types of footing and leaning her on other models.
I'm not proud to admit it, but at some point I lost all my patience, did some quick research, and pulled out the hair dryer to fix those darn legs! It took about a week of solid effort to get her standing, somewhat nicely. At that point I was sick of her, and decided to give finish work a go as well.
Eventually I settled on pastels as my medium, with acrylic detail for the eyes. Using multiple tutorials, I was able to create her over the course of two or three months. Overall I'm happy, for a first attempt at least.
The mane was one of the final parts I pastelled, very carefully on the braids. I found using an eyeshadow brush gave me great control, even on the sides and gaps between braids. Next time I may try sculpting my own, or I'll have to find a better way to sand the braids, in person they're a bit flat on top :( I used a small amount of gray to shadow around the braids, the same as I did to add muscle shading (You can sort of see it in front of the shoulder here)
The eyes were definitely the most intimidating part of the project. If I hadn't found micro brushes this poor girl may have had "blackout" eyes. I'm still not completely thrilled with the eyes, but they'll only get better right? I feel the pupil is off, and the eye may be a little light overall.
My other weak point was the hooves. I would like to get better growth lines on the next one, maybe thinned acrylics would do better? I am glad I was able to find out when to use a dark or light colored hoof however, since it was something I didn't pay much attention to in my riding days.
Markings: For my white areas I added water to my white pastel and used it like a paint. I like the way it worked on the legs, nice solid coverage without too much effort. On the face it went on a bit thick, but I did manage a thin coat in an attempt at softening it. I would like to get some pink skin showing next time I do a wide blaze like this.
When I ordered her online, I was going to keep her as an original finish model. She clearly had other ideas though. Right out of the box, I couldn't keep her standing for longer than thirty seconds at best. I tried different types of footing and leaning her on other models.
I'm not proud to admit it, but at some point I lost all my patience, did some quick research, and pulled out the hair dryer to fix those darn legs! It took about a week of solid effort to get her standing, somewhat nicely. At that point I was sick of her, and decided to give finish work a go as well.
Eventually I settled on pastels as my medium, with acrylic detail for the eyes. Using multiple tutorials, I was able to create her over the course of two or three months. Overall I'm happy, for a first attempt at least.
The mane was one of the final parts I pastelled, very carefully on the braids. I found using an eyeshadow brush gave me great control, even on the sides and gaps between braids. Next time I may try sculpting my own, or I'll have to find a better way to sand the braids, in person they're a bit flat on top :( I used a small amount of gray to shadow around the braids, the same as I did to add muscle shading (You can sort of see it in front of the shoulder here)
My other weak point was the hooves. I would like to get better growth lines on the next one, maybe thinned acrylics would do better? I am glad I was able to find out when to use a dark or light colored hoof however, since it was something I didn't pay much attention to in my riding days.
Markings: For my white areas I added water to my white pastel and used it like a paint. I like the way it worked on the legs, nice solid coverage without too much effort. On the face it went on a bit thick, but I did manage a thin coat in an attempt at softening it. I would like to get some pink skin showing next time I do a wide blaze like this.
What did you learn working on your first custom?
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