No, I don't. I work full time and have very limited time for working on my artwork. I prefer to work on my own projects rather than having commissions "hanging over my head."
How do you paint your horses?
I paint primarily with pastels, and I do my white markings and details in acrylic paints. Jenn Danza has a great tutorial on her website about Pastel Basics. Carol Williams of Rio Rondo also has an excellent tutorial on how to prep resins. Melanie Miller and Ed Gonzales also have some good tutorials avalable online:
To add to these wonderful tutorials, here's basically what I do:
First I do all the sanding of seams and all that good stuff. I have a dremel tool I use for carving hooves and nostrils on plastic models, and then I finish them off with carbide scrapers from riorondo.com. Sandpaper would works for this, too. If you use a dremel tool, though, be careful--it can slip and you don't want to hurt yourself. I fill divots with Apoxie Sculpt and pinholes with brush-on gel resin.
Then I spray with Rustoleum Painters Touch primer (you can get it at Home Depot). Better to spray several light layers rather than one thick layer. This usually brings out places you will need to resand or pinholes that you didn't see before. Then you can prime it again. I always spray primer and stuff outside--not good to do it inside and breathe fumes.
I have gone through a lot of growing pains learning how to pastel, and these are some things that I've figured out that work for me. You will have to do some experimenting to learn what methods work best for you.
After the primer, I sometimes paint a base coat in acrylics (using a few thin layers to avoid brush strokes) that is the lightest color that will show on the horse (other than white markings). Let it dry thoroughly. Otherwise, I have to make sure I build up many layers of pastels so the primer is completely covered. Do not let the primer show through, as primer will change color over time.After the base coat, I spray it with Testor's Dullcote. (Available at Michael's Crafts Store near the model cars--it that has a *VERY* matte texture and works much better than workable fixatives. Unfortunately, the workable fixatives are intended for working with paints and such after you're done pastelling, not for adding more pastels--they don't give enough tooth. Again, spray outside!)) Do NOT TOUCH this layer with your bare hands AT ALL. The oils in your hands "grab" the pastel dust and give you dark splotches when you apply the pastel dust. Use gloves--I get disposable plastic food handler gloves you can find at any warehouse store. After each coat of Dullcote, I frequently lightly dust the whole model with white or some shade of off-white before I apply any other colors. This evens out the color better and gives it a softer look. If I'm going for a more dramatic look, I don't do this. Just be careful when adding the darker coloring, b/c the white will pretty much disappear when you spray it again. Be conservative in the beginning until you get comfortable with how the color will change when you spray it. It's easiest to work light to dark. You can always go darker, but it's a real pain to try to reverse it and go lighter with pastels. Trust me on this!
I use soft/medium paint brushes and sometimes even Q-tips to apply the pastel dust, depending on what look I'm going for. I found a pack of 10 large round brushes at Michael's that are my absolute favorite--you'll have to try different brushes to see what you like. I use sandpaper to grind the pastels into dust. I started out using NuPastels by Prismacolor. They're not too expensive and I like the pigment in them. I've also heard Alpha Colors are a good, inexpensive product. I've recently started using Unison pastels, but they are pricey b/c they are handmade in England. The colors are excellent quality, but you have to use them carefully because many of their colors contain cadmium, which is toxic. I wear a dust mask when I pastel, and I usually just wipe my brush on the Unison pastels rather than grind them up. They are soft enough to do that and it cuts down on dust. Be prepared to do LOTS of layers of pastels--this is what gives it the realistic depth. Apply pastels until they don't stick anymore, spray, let dry, repeat. Be prepared to use an entire can of dullcote or more on one horse.
When finished pastelling, seal with the Dullcote. Paint eyes, hooves and white markings with acrylics. I use MANY layers of a VERY thinned down mixture of 1/3 white gesso, 1/3 titanium white acrylic, and 1/3 iridescent white acrylic for the white markings. This is what keeps the brush strokes out of the white markings. I also add a touch of some browns to the white so it's not an unrealistic, blinding white, although I think some people like that. Personal preference, I guess. I also like to use pastels to add shading to my white markings, but again this is a matter of personal taste. You will figure out what works for you.
When all finished, I seal with a couple coats of Krylon Crystal Clear. This is a very glossy non-yellowing sealer that I like to use to protect the paintjob. Let dry thoroughly. I then use 2-3 light coats of Dull Cote to give it a matte finish. Let this dry thoroughly, then I use Liquitex High Gloss Varnish to gloss eyes, nostrils, and sometimes hooves.
**ALWAYS** test your sealer on something else BEFORE you spray your horse that you spent countless hours painting. Sometimes cans of sealer are bad, and this will save you some tears of frustration! Don't learn this the hard way like I did!
How did you learn to paint horses?
A lot of experimenting, learning from mistakes, studying real horses and photos of real horses, and searching forums at Model Horse Blab. This forum has been a great resource for me. To be a member and have full access to all forums, it is an $18 annual subscription fee. It has been more than worth every penny for me--I look at it as being like a magazine subscription!
How do you reposition and resculpt Breyer horses?
I use Aves Apoxie Sculpt. It is a 2-part epoxy clay that sets in 2-3 hours. There are a number of online sources for it. A secret to making it look nice is to smooth it with rubbing alcohol and a paintbrush when you're finished sculpting but before it dries. Here are a couple more customizing links that explain a little more about repositioning:
