Hello there!
Today I'm blogging about some new models I'm working on. I am hoping to release this pair at the Hullabaloo in August but as we are moving house in a month or two, it will be a challenge getting them complete in time to have them cast for that event. I do like a challenge though...
I knew in my mind what I wanted to create. I've made too many orphans and felt it high time to make a mare, but having researched the breed in question (I'm not revealing that just yet), I found the foals just way too lovely to ignore, and so this because a dual project - a Mare and a Foal, I decided to make the foal a Colt, it just makes it easier when I say I'm sculpting "her" (the mare) and "him" (the foal)
So I got to twisting wire. Most of my recent models have started out life as twisted wire. I twist it because the wax-clay I use can slide along smooth wire, so twisting it gives nice little nooks for the clay to squish into and grip better.
Here's the first of the pair! Looking like a little dinosaur - they all look like dinosaurs to begin with! This will become the colt...
...and here they both are. As it was March when I started the pair, it was dark in the evenings, so much of the early photography left a lot to be desired I'm afraid!
I started applying the clay, but quickly discovered that, as they are so small, working in the soft waxy clay I like would cause me issues with them literally melting in my hands! So after starting out with adding wax-clay to the mare armature and struggling even at this early stage, I re-made her armature and started over using Apoxie Sculpt in my favourite silver-grey colour. The second armature I made was with a smooth aluminium wire, this is because the Apoxie Sculpt is nice and sticky and doesn't move once cured on the wires.
Using Apoxie Sculpt to sculpt from scratch is a new and scary method for me. I like the security of having soft clay, so I can move legs about and change the post a little as I go, using the Apoxie Sculpt adds a lot of pressure to get things right from the start, which had me a little worried, although as they began to come together, I was pretty happy with the proportions etc. Being careful with the measurements from the start was very important and although I knew I'd not nail it first time, the wires are pretty well placed (phew!).
The next session saw me covering most of the armature, I don't tend to worry too much about the lower legs until much later on in the process, but do like to have something there to help me visualise the proportions of the legs and body. At this stage the mare is starting to show the compact build of the breed I'm after, but the foal is still looking a bit like a greyhound!
More clay, and a realisation that the foal's shoulders need attention, the wire was too high. Not a problem, but it involves dremelling as I didn't want to risk damaging my carbide scraper cutting the metal wire. The Apoxie Sculpt can become a new armature once set, so cutting away the wires is no issue from this point (though the foal's legs are way too thin at this stage to manage without a fine wire holding them together).
Dremelling for me means going out into the conservatory (aka the studio) and during March evenings it's too cold for comfort! So I left him for the moment and concentrated on building his fine legs up and balancing out the mare a bit more. Both have a very long way to go yet.
After adding clay, I take it away. Or rather, a typical session for me involves scraping away areas I want to remove, followed by adding the clay where needed, this way I can end the session leaving the clay to fully set ready for any filing or scraping next time. At this point I had put placement markers on her face and started carving her shoulders and elbows. Scraping the Apoxie is very hard on my hands, particularly as she is so tiny and has so little area to hold on to, my hands suffered a lot after the first session, so I've had to learn to pace myself. Usually, I've made all the larger edits during the soft clay stage and it's just refining the Apoxie Sculpt, but working this way is much tougher on my body. I'm undecided as yet whether sculpting using these methods will work for me, but for this pair, it's already decided and I'm not stopping now!
Another session and you can't really see much change. I've worked on her face, neck and added a suggestion of the feathers she'll have (breed clue!). I also added an ear to the foal - I don't like to add ears until I know where to put them - sounds obvious, but it's not!
Another session, spot the difference... More neck and head/face work done and I tinkered with the foal's back legs a little, but as I'm only working short sessions (about 2 hours) progress is a little slow. I realised that the mare's eyes were off, well, either her eyes were too high, or everything else was too low. These conundrums baffle me, I spent a long time staring at her and my references trying to work it out!
Poor little guy, he looks less than impressed! I finally got that session in the conservatory with the Dremel and worked on his shoulders. Not having the photos with me in there it was mostly guesswork so I took off more than I thought needed, as it's been easier to add clay that take it away on these.
After another session of tinkering and trying to balance things out, he has the beginnings of another ear and more added to his legs. I covered up the dremelled areas a little with clay, just to give me a more even shade of clay to work on as patchy clay can really mess up the proportions (in my eyes). I also worked some more on the mare's face, head and neck. The mare's ears were way too low as were her nostrils. I addressed those areas and found I liked her facial feature placement much better. Here she only has 1.5 ears, but you get the idea.
Same session - view from the front. I really like the way they're going now, I could just see this pair standing in the field, her waiting for a treat and him wondering whether to chew on your wellies!
Next session and this is where we are currently at with them. This time I built up the mare's new ear (and then squashed it trying to work on too many areas at once!) and worked on her back end,she needed a bit more back there, she was looking a bit weak in the hind quarters and too narrow as well. You'd be amazed at how much clay I added to her left ... cheek, but I'm much happier with it now. I'll need to work the other side up a bit more during the next session.
I'm struggling with the foal. Finding reference images of foals of his breed has been a challenge. The pair come under the "large pony" banner, so he's not cute and fuzzy like a mini foal, but it way off being a sleek leggy horse foal. He has way more work needing before I'll be as happy with him as I currently am with the mare. His legs will thicken up quite a bit once I've worked out how far to go, and I might even attempt a bit of foaly fuzz on him too. He's under 2" tall, it's a crazy idea, but I fancy having a go :)
So, meet the latest little horses from Kelly's Studio. Technically, they are 1:24 scale which I believe makes them "Curio" scale, or an easier comparison is that they would be the same scale as "Schleich" model horses. As they are ponies and the mare is to be between 14 and 14.2hh, she is approx. 5cm tall at the withers, but these things may change - sculpting models is a very evolutionary process, she may well grown or shrink a little as I work on her, which is why I don't want to commit to a breed. I'm aiming for them to be suitable for two specific breeds, but of course "large pony" can also apply to many breeds around the world (including some very interesting Japanese breeds - if you fancy something a little more unusual) so I am hoping to see this little pair featuring in many breed classes and in a wonderful array of colours and patterns.
In terms of showing, once complete this pair would be very typical of a well-bred show mare and foal and I would expect them to be welcomed in the Live Show classes for suitable breeds. I plan to give her a full mane and tail which is suitable for showing her "native" or as a show broodmare. The foal will also have a natural mane and tail but as he's really still quite young (a few weeks in my head), I don't think that will reflect his suitability for showing under the real horse breed standards. Mares of this breed are shown in-hand with their foals alongside, they are not shown under saddle (hmmm, ridable version too, anyone?)...
I hope you enjoy reading about the creation of these little creatures, I don't pretend to be an expert, in fact it's pretty obvious I don't know what I'm doing half the time, but I like to think I can turn these disasters round and make something that is worryingly wonky into something that could theoretically trot along the table!
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