Kotinga Layer 11: Finished

 

Quietly, but with brimming delight, I made the decision Wednesday afternoon the 11th to declare victory.  The eleventh layer, the pure PearlEx one, was the last before the peeling of the tapes.  I was satisfied.  I was also out of time;  a 3-week family trip loomed in mere days (packing) and other demands (taxes) were fast approaching.  Normally I hate deadlines but in this case it was a blessing.

Layer 11 after

 The tapes, put on more than a month ago, could now come off.   The process took  more time and care than I'd thought needful.  A few little spots had turned coppery with the pastel filtering through, but they were easily wiped clean -- that's glossy OF plastic under there.  For contrast, here's a view of Kotinga when they first went on, January 9th:

 Here's the only picture taken 'mid-peel:' 

  

This shot (below) is the one I posted to the FB group.  To quote: "I hadn't originally intended for this to be the first completed glimpse, but it is the first time I saw him finished myself, and in the end I couldn't resist.  The official photo is in the album but this is the one that tells a story."   Official = bridled, album = NaMoPaiMo completion.

 In case you're wondering whether I'm PhotoShopping the color:  Of course I am -- reducing the saturation, amoung other things --!!  My lamps and camera just don't take his real color into account,...

 Here's my traditional shoot spot, out on the back deck railing, Feb. 12th.  This is honestly the first time anyone could go out on deck;  it was snowbound during all 11 of Kotinga's days.

Now at last we can start seeing close ups and faces.  I'd put a swatch of white where I wanted a forelock.  However there was no 3D material there and right now it looks like part of his blaze, a curious but not unknown tobiano effect.  I'd forgotten the tiny 'kissy spot' on his upper lip;  that is genuine Original Finish.

 Switching to indoor photography (a foregone conclusion, it was on-and-off snowing that day), I first documented the end results of his various 'adventures.'  Here's the Amazon scratch.

Offside hip scratch

 This is the final shoulder pit:

Near shoulder

 And this is how the chest area turned out.  I was particularly pleased with the PearlEx here.  The whole area nearly disappeared under that gold and I decided that was beautiful.

 Since this is NaMoPaiMo I want to drop in a word about signing one's model.  (I haven't done Kotinga yet.)  I unfortunately don't know the painter of the original Stone Jingleheimer Schmidt.  I will try to squeeze abbreviations onto his hoof bottoms or somewhere to indicate that that was what he started as;  I can't take all the credit.  Fret not they would wear off;  I tattoo my NaMos with drafting ink.  Signing

Now, of course, I turned to tack.  Oh baby.  Trigger lives.  I care not how corny it must be to hold to an ideal set so long ago, the palomino in a silver saddle chosen because he looked the best on black-&-white TV.  I simply love this horse.  I have tried so hard for him, and here he is.

As it happened there were only 2 silver Parade saddle sets on hand that were good enough for the job.  And one of them wasn't by me--!!   Cary Nelson's so-called Russian set will be seen here, a treat for you patient readers.  (I will get around to blogging about it,... some day...)  The first bridle on him had to be my own TSII #400, built in 1997.  This is the one in the official NMPM finish photo.  Here we can catch just a suggestion of the prism tape colors.

Number 400's browband was too large, and I turned to the Russian.  This portrait came out well:

 The pose I'd had in mind all along, Kotinga wearing only a silver bridle, was a challenge with this piece of tack.  One reason I didn't use this shot for the official one was because I didn't want to be forever explaining about the tail.  The reins are so long that winding the romal through it was the only way to keep them positioned.

 Here's a nice close up.  The bridle is more delicate than TSII #400's, and takes more care to put on; but those throatlatch conchos (along with the rest) really pop.

 Finally, I went ahead and fitted the entire saddle to him.  The puffiness of the corona blanket is quite obvious.  Cary stuffed it thickly on purpose, because real ones are like that.  It's a way to help distribute the weight.  The cinch, hiding behind the fender here, has a little black tassel.

 We will end this stretch of palomino indulgence with a classic view.   (Then I think he should go off on his honeymoon with Sassy...)

My thank you list, in addition to all the usual suspects listed in my previous NaMos, includes Kathy Bogucki who sculpted this fantastic horse.  I have really come to know this model intimately!  Cary Nelson is to be commended for an amazing piece of tack (as well as Christie Partee who let me have it).  Fellow bloggers old and new deserve mention:  Lynn Isenbarger, Anne Field, Melissa Grant, Bobbie Coulter, Kirsten Wellman, Teresa Rogers, 'fabala' and Lesli Kathman.  Ryan Morrisey is an unknowing accessory to the crime:  She sold me this horse without any idea I was going to destroy him,.. and then resurrect him.  Erin Michelle of Stone Horses should be on this list, as she was instrumental, though indirectly, in my decisions to attempt him.

Finally, an unending round of applause for the original instigator of NaMoPaiMo, Jennifer Buxton, and those who support it;  and for George my husband.  You have helped my dream come true. 

Kotinga Layers 8 - 10

 

Progress on this horse has been a constantly shifting series of skirmishes.  Overall the progress has been towards a darker, denser animal than what I first had in mind.  On the positive side, I have learned so much about repairing various errors!  My confidence has been built up amazingly!  But I also wonder if I could ever paint a horse without messing him up!  It's only after NaMoPaiMo that I feel I'm "up" with the skills;  if I started over now, I'd hit closer to my original intent.

But then, my original intent wasn't very focused.  It did not know what it was doing.  Ten layers later, this horse is strongly himself, born of haptic exploration and with delighted triumph.  He could be no other than what he is:  Totally for me, no customers or competition involved.  That is such a great relief.

Kotinga Layer 7 

Let's briefly return to Layer 7.  As told, the speckling was causing me to doubt my sealant.  It turned out I was right.  Layer 6 was the last with my old can of Krylon matte.  Farewell old friend:  You've done wonders on 4 previous horses all the way back to 2018 (!), but that graininess is just not cutting it.  The temperatures were bitter too and I called a halt.  When the temps rose again, on Tuesday the 10th, I was outside testing my new can.  First a little Stablemate and then Kotinga enjoyed the fruits of Rustoleum.  (Below, you can just see the test SM's legs.)  The SM told me this spray was likely to be more glossy, a claim which turned out to be untrue.  But since I wanted a more glossy horse, he made my choice easier.

Layer 8 before sealing

Despite being covered earlier, there is more to Layer 7:  It was also the place where I made my gravest error.  This was alcohol-painting for some gray shadings.  Palominos have gray skin, and I wanted to show this on his lower legs, muzzle, undercarriage and other shadings.  Alas, alas.  I chose too dark a pastel mix and would spend the rest of NaMoPaiMo trying to undo this.  This photo is actually Layer 8 but shows the situation.

Layer 8  Chest shadings

What was acceptable for the inguinal and muzzle turned out horrible on the chest.  I learned, also (oh I wish I didn't have to KEEP learning this!) that combining alcohol-painting with regular pastel painting just isn't a good idea on a horse as large as this.  Ambolena's triumph has been a difficult act to follow.  Gilding the Lily

It was during the spraying of Layer 8 that Kotinga had a bad accident.  These goofs are always where you don't remember exactly how it happened!  He fell over, I grabbed him, he twisted somehow and when he rose up straight again he had a scratch on his butt.  

Layer 8 after

To my flustered, astonished and pained eye, it looked just like the Amazon logo.

Layer 8 hip scratch

 How is this possible?! cries the agonized heart.  I have put so much work into this horse!!  And in one drop he's ruined everything.  It'll take me a long time to fix this one.  As it turned out, this scratch was greatly reduced (I had the skill) but not entirely disappeared.  My horse was going to live with it, a minor flaw to go with his other flaws.  All along he's been tippy, but I'd been careful.  Maybe now, on the 10th day, with victory within smelling distance, I was getting sloppy.  Impatience is real.

With pasteling there's always two stages to the layers, the before and the after sealing (spraying).  The before stage is when you try out your ideas.  The after is when you find out whether you succeeded.  The after is sometimes a case of reducing your expectations, or shall we say, more kindly, adjusting them.

Layer 9 was full of lessons for me.  It was during this layer I tried out my ideas about sanding.  Take a piece of very fine sandpaper (320 grit) and, holding it folded, very very gently touch it to the horse. Oh the delicacy of that touch!  I was glad to discover I could be that light of hand;  it felt like a heritage from tackmaking.  The trick turned out to be considering it not so much sanding as being a change of color at that minutely tiny area.  Over several layers, this worked well for me.

Layer 9 before

 Kotinga had accumulated a trio of notable errors.  There was the hip, the near shoulder and the chest.  After spraying, they looked like this:

Layer 9 after, Hip scratch

 The hip wasn't too bad.  The shoulder was still a mess, and I was calling it a pit. 

Layer 9 after, near shoulder 

And the chest was dreadful, despite my sanding skill.

Layer 9 after, chest

As with the hip scratch, this area would not fully recover, but be coated over and reach a point where I finally decided it was okay.

All along Kotinga was getting darker,... and flatter.  I think my biggest lesson with this horse was failing to consider that the sealant made him darker.  The success of Layer 4's copper had blinded me.  (H'hmm, Ambolena, anyone?!)  Somewhere around Layer 5 I'd lost the muscle shadings and I could not recover them.  What was possible with a light horse going dark was not possible, for me, with a dark horse going light.  It could be that more layers might've solved it;  but I was out of time. 

Layer 10, after

Layer 10's most notable aspect, besides a gathering acceptance of his being completed, was the decision to test out his last step, pastel gilding with PearlEx.   Testing:  Had I not learned, the hard way, to test?!?  Not with alcohol, but the regular way, I dusted his off foreleg with Brilliant Or, using the dedicated PearlEx brush first discovered with Brasenose back in 2018, my first NaMoPaiMo.  Brasenose Finished.  Yes, Kotinga is my fifth NaMo model to be finished.  All five of them used PearlEx.  I was pleased to see the leg come out with a golden glow.  Thus his last step would be an all-over gilding.  Not like Ambolena's, but with more of a softer effect, my dream of a metallic palomino was coming true.

 

Kotinga Layers 5 - 7

 

 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.

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.

Layer 5 Offside Head

Look at the shoulder front and the foreleg.

Layer 5 Near Shoulder

Look at the hind quarter, and along the top of the hock. 

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.

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.) 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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,...

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!

 

 

Kotinga Layer 4

 

Thanks to Braymere's blog covering Jenn Constantine's advising to use reds and pinks as foundations for palominos, -- plus my own eyes telling me Kotinga was not equal to my references, too green! -- everything changed with Layer 4.  There was time after all on Monday, even if very late.

I knew he needed some infusion of browns and reds.  What I hadn't thought of was that my previous NaMo horses had left packets of mixed red-brown pastel powders with heavy doses of copper PearlEx.  At a bound my imagination soared:  Not an undercoat but merely another coat would stave off the green.  It seemed daring, but if we muffed it I'd just put more goldy-orange on,...     This next photo shows my methods:  the pastels themselves with the X-Acto knife to carve off powder, then the bowl for the finished mix.  Yes, it's labor-intensive, but it allows a high degree of control over color and amount.

Starting Layer 4

(The photos just don't do him justice!)  My gar have you ever been afraid of your own success?!!  I did not know I could do this --!!  At a bound everything changes -- the copper is just as metallic as the gold, and the reddish-pink of it does the job perfectly.  Use Q tips to 'erase' and bring back the gold-yellow highlights of the muscles...

Kotinga Layer 4, near side

 These photos are before spraying.  Honestly I was NOT expecting this glorious gold!!  NOW he matches the reference--!  Palomino as I dreampt it!  It becomes obvious my next goals are to deepen and smoothe this color -- minimize streaks -- while enhancing the lighter areas of the muscles.  Also, gray:  knees, hocks, muzzle, under the tail.  Alas for that pink between his cheeks, y'should've known palominos have gray skin there.  Shall we do that area with alcohol,  plus my big color brush doesn't fit under his tail,...  Note the brush shown sitting on the bowl (below) is the dusting brush and not the color-applying one.

Kotinga Layer 4  off side

 I wanted to see how the edges of the masked areas were doing.  Unable to resist I peeled the tapes from one eye.  The tape is there to protect the original finish Stone eye, far better than anything I could come up with.  Another happy surprise:  things seem to be okay.

Kotinga Layer 4 off face

 Oh yes, short posts are possible after all.

Nex morning:  A post-spraying inspection of Layer 4 reveals the same glorious color but changes in texture, a widespread minute speckling and graininess.  We shall see what I can do.

After all this, we still have a surprise up our sleeve:  Ambolena's clear glass gold.  Ambolena Gilded Lily. 

 

Kotinga Layers 1 - 3

 

 

Every one of my 5 previous NaMoPaiMo horses has had its special glories and challenges, but they've all been in the middle stages or late in the game.  Kotinga's have both been very nearly right off the bat.  I've been so heavily warned and expecting of the 'ugly stage,' somewhere around Layers 4 or 5, that I couldn't quite believe it when he manifested a nasty sealant wrinkling on Layer 2.  (After all, it was 24 degrees in the spraying shed.)  "What, boy," I said plaintively, "so early in the game?"  But it is impossible to overstate how blase I felt.  I can barely explain it, but his wrinkle challenges did not worry me in the slightest.

 Three places with nasty wrinkles, never before seen!  (Offside neck, near shoulder and under the off elbow.)  I was pretty sure I'd oversprayed.  Using an aerosol can is something I only do rarely.  (To be honest, only during NaMo.  As I'm sure I've said many times, it's been three years.)  But some things return.  Perhaps it's muscle memory.  Or perhaps I choose pastels because they were so similar to leather dyeing, and I do my dyeing with many sweepy little strokings and it's the same motion.

 Layer 1 went fantastic.  Everything was prepared:  fresh waxed paper to stand on (because if he fell over on the old stuff he'd pick up white paint);  backup sealant can waiting in case my current can, the same one I've used all along (that's at least 8 years) conked out;  and memories of 30 minutes drying in the shed followed by an hour in the house warming up.  It all worked.  I felt the swell of success.

Kotinga Layer 1

Kotinga Layer 2

Layer 2 threw me wrenches, it is true, despite its overall success.  But I buckled down and tackled the wrinkles once he was dry.  Step 1:  buff with a piece of fleece.  Step 2:  find the 320 sandpaper and have a go. 

Sanding revealed the most amazing tiny network of what looked like capillaries.  They were blue-ish.  I had got down to the plastic!  Step 3:  find the Gesso and fix those tiny networks.  Step 4:  Realize all that's needed is many thin coats of Gesso over the now-smooth patch, because you can pastel over all of it later.  And that's what happened. 

 I won't tell you how dismayed I am that my hand sometimes trembles something awful,... fortunately I can still paint something like this,...

Layer 3 was completed on Day 1, a record for me.  Not only did his white Gesso patches disappear, this layer was the first of the darker muscle-line enhancements.  Each layer is also giving him a dose of PearlEx Brilliant Or.  I know from experience it takes time for that metallicism to show up, so I'm not worried about that either.  Layer 3 really gave me a thrill.  This horse is so slab-sided, rich in real estate without muscling, that I'd known all along his special challenge was going to be emphasizing 3-D shapes with 2-D.  Without having been taught Trompe-L'oeil I still think I can get away with it.  

Kotinga Layer 3

 Day 2 will surely not have any painting time.  Mondays usually don't and this one is unusually booked.  But I am so confident now.  I will be happy with 5 layers this week.  Oh Kotinga, when my friend Bobbie said, "I look forward to seeing your golden Saddlebred," you came to life.

May everyone's confidence and hopes be rewarded.