How-To

How To Sculpt Those Moving Manes

Kristian Beverly5 Comments

In honor of today being my last day of school, here’s a how-to!

How to Sculpt The Moving Mane

Ingredients:
Horse
Wire
Super Glue and Baking Soda
Apoxie
Sculpting tool
First find reference pictures of what you want the mane to look like. This is the most important part. If you don’t have a reference picture, how will your model turn out right?
Now I use wire that you can buy at a craft store. You do not want it to be flimsy like a noodle, but you want it to be loose enough for you to be able to move it but stiff enough for it to hold its shape.
Next, with a marker, draw where you want the holes to be. Then drill them in. They do not have to be deep.  
Cut out the number of pieces of wire you want in the length you want. Make the wire pieces longer than what you need. It’s always easier to chop off than to add on. Hold the wire with your hand while you pour super glue in. Then sprinkle baking soda onto the super glue. Repeat until all of the pieces are done. 

Take out some Apoxie and put it onto the wire. You do not want a ton. Just enough to cover the wire. Here is where you figure out how long you want the mane. Only use Apoxie to cover where you will want the hair to go.
Here comes the patience part. Let the Apoxie  harden/ cure. 

Here comes the fun part! Mix some Apoxie and roll it into fat noodle shapes. Layer it onto the cured Apoxie, in the direction of the hair.

Using water, I blend the noodle shapes.
Now I get out my sculpting too. You can use anything from actual tools made for sculpting to paper clips. It all depends on what you like. This is what I used for this

Press into the Apoxie and make divots in the general direction of the mane. This is not the detail part. This is just to keep the mane from being in one shape. I smooth the mane with a stiff paint brush dipped in water.

Now here comes the detailing part. 
You can use the same tool or something different. It’s all up to you. Look at your reference and start drawing into the mane in the direction of the reference. Don’t go all in the same direction. Vary it a bit. Have some strokes be long and others be short. Once you are done, use the paint brush to get rid of the extra bits of clay and smooth it down.

There ya go! You have a flowing mane!

Prepping N' Picking

Kristian BeverlyLeave a comment

Frank-A-Storm has finished getting prepped.

I’m going to use my airbrush to paint him, so I’m going to try something new to get smooth white markings.
Using Blue Painter’s Tape, I marked off any area I didn’t want to be painted. For some of the markings,  I gave myself enough leeway to add in hair details. So far this looks like it will be a new routine for painting!
Poor guy looks like he’s being mummified… :)

The Tree's The Word

Kristian Beverly4 Comments

Real saddles and miniature sized saddles have one thing in common. They all have a tree, which is the backbone of the saddle. It gives it shape, and keeps it from looking  flat.
Saddle trees can be bought from numerous companies. I still buy them, but I’ve started making my own too.
What you’ll need
• Super glue
• baking soda
• aluminum soda can
• scissors
• exacto knife
• Foil
• Body Model
• Wire
Making trees doesn’t have to be limited to english saddles. You can make endurance, western, and saddle seat too!
First you need to break out tack catalogs or start googling. You want to have an idea of what you want to create. 
Next strip it of everything. For a western saddle tree, you have to make the gullet, horn, and seat. First figure out how large you want it to be. If you aren’t sure, look at pictures of tacked up horses.
To make the seat, take out an aluminum can. I use regular soda cans. After I drink ’em, I wash’em and use’em for trees. The cans are sturdy and thin.                                                                                                 Trace the general shape, then cut it out.
 Shape it in the general shape of a saddle. Twist it around a pen or pencil to make it “arch” up. If making a western saddle tree, add horn. For the horn,  take out foil and roll it into the general shape of a gullet. Take out a piece of wire and wrap it around the gullet then shape it up if you want.
Congrats, you’ve made a tree!

Arts and School Day 2

Kristian BeverlyLeave a comment

Today was yet another Art and School day. This was my last, completely free day of summer, so I did school arts and craft. So here’s another how-to. This one is how to make a calender. I was pretty proud of myself!

Tools Needed:
Frame with a glass or plastic front
Scissors
Marker
Poster board or large piece of hard paper
Ruler
*Optional- spray paint
1) Take your frame,

And take it apart. Do you see a cat tail? You will only need the very back, the frame, and the glass/plastic front. 
2) If you want to paint the frame, go ahead. I bought mine at a yard sale, so I spray painted it black to match the cork board yesterday! Take your piece of poster board and cut it to match the back. Then glue.
3) Depending on how you want to set up your calender, take out your ruler and measure.                                             
4) Then use your marker and mark it up. Then reassemble and put everything back in.
Vala! You’re done and have a home-made calender!