A Little Saturday Afternoon Painting. . .

Two shots of the latest painting progress. The riders, horses, and limbers are about done. Just lots of harnesses and a hint of traces to wash in dark brown now along with girths and stirrup leathers followed by a couple of coats of gloss varnish and then the groundwork.

A couple of pleasant hours painting during the early afternoon today as the Young Master played nearby and occasionally wandered over to see what in the heck ol' Dad was up to. Only eight days left in July. Yikes! I'd better get cracking on these if I hope to make inroads on the six corresponding Prussian limbers, teams, and riders by mid-August. Just a little over a month from now, and the fall semester starts. Sigh.

A word on the brass buttons. I think, after many years attempting buttons, that I've finally worked it out. Use fairly small brush with a good point, like a #1 round, and barely touch the drop of paint to the raise areas on each casting. If you have not indulged in too much caffeine that day, the buttons will be highlighted by the barest hint of metallic color. I used acrylic hobby paint here, but dryer, stiffer oil colors would make this step even easier. I have also used the latter to do buttons in the past with equally pleasing results.

-- Stokes

Comments

Wellington Man said…

Painting draught horses is strangely soothing, is it not?

Top tip on the buttons. Regards, WM

3:34 PM

The Good Soldier Svjek said…

Read somewhere lately about using the pointed end of a cocktail stick to paint buttons, you jab the stick into the paint and touch the desired area - I have not tried it myself. Tony

4:00 PM

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