Painting Preparation. . .

A couple of nice shots of horse with 'bay' coloration, basically black manes, tales, and lower legs.

And two of so called 'chestnuts.'

Getting everything ready on the ol' painting desk to begin applying the basic horse flesh colors this evening.  I've dug out my preferred tubes of Grumbacher and Winsor & Newton oils: Sepia, Burnt Sienna (erroneously referred to in a previous post as Burnt Umber), Van Dyke Brown, and Light English Red.  Most of the 36 horses will get a reddish chestnut coloring on bodies, manes, and tails.  Burnt Sienna and Light English Red are idea for that although I'll need to be careful with the Light English Red as it is very orange, so perhaps a bit of toning down with Van Dyke Brown will be in order before actually applying it to the model horses.  But looking at photographs and illustrations of horses will immediately show that variations abound. 

I also recall reading somewhere years ago, and it was about Napoleonic cavalry, that Chestnuts were the most common color for cavalry horses, hence my decision to paint most of my herd in this way.

Seven of the 36, though, are base- and undercoated in a subdued yellow.  And these are earmarked to become 'bays,' which will be sprinkled through the three-squadron regiment once everything has been finished and glossed.  For them, I will use the darker, less reddish Van Dyke Brown and Sepia varieties of brown.

I actually find myself eager to start this evening.  As with most painting projects, the early steps are fairly easy no-brainer processes where one does not have to think too much as they happily apply to their subjects.  The only tendency I have, and must remain aware of is to avoid loading my brush with too much paint, which will make the process of wiping off the oils messier than it need be and risks allowing less of the colored undercoat to show through the glaze, defeating the whole purpose.  You can always go back and add more oil paint if you want, but it's difficult to remove if you go too heavy from the outset. 

Wish me luck.

-- Stokes