For a horse whose first 4 layers went so fast and well, you sure are fighting now! Not like a tiger: More like a spitting housecat. The problems all started after Layer 4's sealant returned with so much graininess and speckling. This photo may make him look good, but up close things are going wrong.
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| Kotinga Layer 5 |
The whole critter is sprinkled with the finest spatters, as though a universe of minute air-bubbles had formed and popped. Not the first time I've seen this, but this is the worst case in memory. Look closely at the poll behind the ears.
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| Layer 5 Offside Head |
Look at the shoulder front and the foreleg.
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| Layer 5 Near Shoulder |
Look at the hind quarter, and along the top of the hock.
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| Layer 5 Hind |
Here's an indelicate view but it shows the early stages of the hindquarter crack problems. (I can't call it a quarter crack, can I?! But butt-crack is too crude. Vent maybe.) I really am having problems making the brush reach this area. That odd patch of color has been there for 3 layers with no explanation.
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| Layer 5 Undertail |
My first act for Layer 5 was to clean-paper-towel-rub the whole horse. This was repeated for Layer 6. My instinct tells me this flaw is temperature-based. It is after all in the 20s out there. I will try and bring him in after 15 minutes, not half an hour.
Layer 5 did not deepen the color that much; I keep forgetting how thin pastel layers are. Nonetheless this is the stage I described on FB as "skating on the thin ice of Too Much of a Good Thing." He had gotten deeply copper-red, a tan beyond my safety limit. Also, this day (Feb 5) went to so many other things it became a rest day for art. Got my BFest tickets! Kim came over and admired him! I gave her a horse,... (but still, how is it that with no less than a rare 3 social inputs, a visit and 2 calls, all successful, I should still feel so down, as though by a betrayal --? This is not Kotinga's fault, but something larger, well beyond him.)
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| Kotinga Layer 5 |
My in-house scientist and weather guru denied any knowledge of what would make a model speckle like that. He unkindly remarked, "whoever put this in February was a chemistry putz!" I had to laugh. Layer 6 should go back to yellow gold and Brilliant-Or PearlEx or even Sparkle-Or if we need to go that light.
Layer 6 started by repeating the buffing with a clean(er) paper towel. All I can think of at the moment is to try more layers. I also tried a little gray in appropriate places, but this disappeared under the sealant.
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| Layer 6 Near Shoulder |
Another problem, the crack between the quarters, has grown so exasperating that I stripped it with alcohol down to the plastic. Gesso to the rescue! This is when I wrote the embarrassing phrase "the Diapering of Kotinga." No privacy for this poor pony; his owner did not primer the area and is now paying for that error.
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| Layer 6 diaper stage |
Before anyone asks, Yes, the Stone ASB mold has somewhat recessed testicles, but Kotinga has been customized here (filed & carved) to have them stand out a little more. They're not perfect, just better than they were.
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| Layer 6 vent view |
When the Gesso was dry the area was treated with Kotinga Layer 6, a mixture of pastels (Richeson nos.106, 141, 84, 104, 120 and white) plus PearlEx Brilliant Or. I'm surprised by the power of the white in this mix. This color, a beautiful gold, was originally Ambolena Layer 5.
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| Layer 6 First layer on vent |
I did not really mean to focus so much on this view of this horse. Let's get back to broadsides.
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| Kotinga Layer 6 Offside |
After spraying [sealing] Layer 6, my heart has sunk. I appear to've hit the limits of the system. The graininess and speckling is just as bad, no better than Layer 5 and in different places. The 15-minute wait made no diff. I've got to try something radically else.
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| Layer 6 Near |
Layer 7 was a disaster. I admit, I was impatient. I tried the alcohol painting, that which had worked so well with Ambolena in 2019 and successfully with Marimba in 2021. No dice. Without a pic, you won't believe it, but I nearly ruined him. What was controllable with a small foal and had somehow worked with a mare did not work with the real estate of this Trad stallion. I chose the wrong PearlEx (Sparkle instead of Brilliant) which was too light and grainy; I hadn't practiced and had little skill; I went at him in patches,... There is a reason there's no photos of this stage. Ugly stage? Let's say impatiently thoughtless.
When the dust settled, I re-pastelled him all over. The speckles are gone! but so are the muscle shadings and the lighter palomino gold. This photo shows him before spraying. Likely to stay that way for a while,...
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| Kotinga Layer 7 |
He may have gained another underlayer of PearlEx, but he's back in deep tan mode, and I'm nearly out of time. The rest of NaMo hobbydom has all the remaining February; I do not. Me and mine are leaving for Florida on the 15th. Still a week left? Yes and the extreme cold weather is doing a number on my ability to spray-seal. If the speckles are caused by it, I cannot go forward until it warms up,... sometime in the middle of next week.
It was only now that it occurred to me this speckling might be caused by something besides the weather. The can of Krylon is 8 years old, and has seen all my previous four (4) NaMo horses through their births. Could it be running out? It is seriously lighter in weight than the new Rustoleum I purchased last year,... for just this contingency,...
I find myself in the charming predicament of needing warmer weather to test the new spray can -- which is the original problem! My husband's suggestion, that I peel Kotinga's tapes and turn him in as finished and just complete him when we get back in March (warmer weather!), reflects more care for myself than for the horse. If I did that I'm sure I would ruin whatever pastelling Kotinga is wearing right now.
Off to find a test horse...
May everyone who is painting find their way through their ugly stages with swift efficiency and bright spirits!
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