In the Works Wednesday

This post runs almost too late at night to remain Wednesday for some of you readers, but I'll swing it in under the wire to get my post title! 

Given the complete lack of light, the photos are not my best. However they give a good idea of the changes made to this little gal. She's pretty much done at this point except for her chest/underbelly/groin area. Those areas shouldn't take too long to finish and then I'll make my mold to get my master copy. That's where the real work begins. 

Those ears really need thinning and refining for that particular Saddlebred look. I loved the flagged tail!

I also loved the roached mane/forelock. It allows me to leave that neck exposed. As much as I love to sculpt hair on a horse, when you have such a beautiful neck, sometimes it's hard on me to have to cover it up.

I also adore the action of this piece! The resin legs will be heated and tilted in more to show the almost perfectly in-line positioning of the weight-bearing legs. That back hock needs tucking in more too. I had a blast really watching how these guys moved to get the dynamic twisting of the joints correct.

Notice the difference in the head? Besides some ear shaping (remember, thinning will come later in more durable resin form), I completely repositioned and resculpted her eyes. I added a little more to the front lower cheeks, and also reshaped the top of the nose a little. It really helped to make her look more like the breed she is portraying. Those ears getting thinned will make a huge difference in finishing off that look.

It is always astounding to me to see just how much difference the smallest little touch of clay will make on a piece. A sixteenth of an inch can make or break the look you were going for. It never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many pieces I've worked on. 

The Sum of all her Parts is a Whole

Here is our little science experiment from the last post. Notice she comes together quite nicely! Hopefully you can tell what breed she is now. :) She's looking *exactly* like my reference photo so I'm thrilled so far!

 The body comes together within a few hours usually. Mainly because I don't struggle with little intricate details as the body is a big mass with the exception of little wrinkles and rolls here and there. Getting those legs and head attached to the armature probably take the most time as that's where I do a lot of measuring. Once those things are on and secure, it's really hard to move them so it's best to make sure they're in the right spot to begin with. 

And while pushing those legs around they are easy to snap so you have to be gentle. You can see in this photo I managed to break off a little chunk of the weight-bearing leg while I was putting it on to the armature. Doh! It was repaired relatively well though I'll count on this being an area in the master resin to pay attention to and fix more. 

I *lurve* the way her neck came out!!!! Thin and long and delicate. The nice thing about this gal is she'll be getting a roached mane so I won't have to cover it all up! The real horse has neck "rolls" just like this gals, even though she's not cresty. She's still got her neck just about as far back as it can probably go and all that skin has to compact to do so, even on an ASB. The trick was to not go crazy with them, as I usually tend to want to do. 

The other side to this gal has not been touched. So, while this side looks good, the other is a horrible mess. Nothing smudging around clay doesn't fix! And I'll need a base for her. I just want a little something around the front weight-bearing leg. Debating on whether to attach that or make it detachable. Still thinking on it. And this young little filly has a name now too - Clementine.