Feeling sick

I've been feeling somewhat ill for the past week, so I haven't managed to get as much done as I would have liked. It's hard to think artistically with a sore throat and a drippy nose! I have managed a little bit though.

I've especially been working on Abel, trying to get him finished up. I've been working on adding his fine veining, using Sarah M-B's "messo". It's a mixture of modeling paste and gesso. I couldn't find my gesso, so I'm using white acrylic paint instead. I always find that gesso goes grainy on me in any case--maybe my bottle is bad or something. I struggled with this at first, until I discovered that the way to get smooth veins is to load up one side of the paintbrush (wiping the other side clean) and roll the messo off while pulling the paintbrush along. It takes some practice but works pretty well eventually. My first veins came out too big, so after they dried I sanded them off and tried again. In this picture I've slightly hit the veins with sandpaper, so they show up white against the red/brown primer. They were just a bit too big. I'll see when I put on another coat of primer if they're in scale now. I don't want to end up looking like he has worms or snakes under his skin! I'm using photos I have taken of some of the horses I know for reference--one of them has some very prominent veins/capillaries.

I've done a tiny bit of micro mini work, working on the mare
and fixing her shoulder and jaw. She needs some serious hoof and leg work (one of her hooves is missing entirely, although you can't see in this photo!), but I haven't felt up to mixing up some epoxy and doing it. I have to plan to sit down and work for at least an hour straight, and I just haven't managed that this week. It's easier to work on something like the veining, which can be set down at any time with just as much warning as it takes to rinse a brush.

This is my "studio" area as is it now. It's gotten a lot more crowded because my bed was moved in here and I got a table instead of a desk. The table is great-it's a peanut-shaped table from Ikea, with these really neat turn-out trays I put on the legs. I keep tools that I'm using in there so they're close at hand.
As you can see I work messy.

You can also see some of the aquariums in the background there. I have seven in here, ranging from 2.5 gallons to 55 gallons. Nice to look at when I should be working! The 55 gallon is right behind me when I'm taking the picture.

This is a small section of the 55 gallon aquarium. All my tanks are planted with live plants. The fish like 'em and so do I!


I had my last day working at the barn at school this week. They won't let me come and ride or work anymore since I'm no longer a student, having graduated this year. I'm really going to miss getting to work with horses twice a week, but it's really expensive to ride anywhere in this area that I've found.

Look at that ear flopping around! This is Hershey, a TB who I've grown very fond of in the last few months, as he was on stall rest and loved having plenty of time spent with him.