I always start with white primer and I let that be my "whites." I am currently using Rustoleum Flat White Plastic Primer and sealing with Krylon Matte Finish. I seal the primer before I add any pastels and wear gloves at all times while handling the model.

 

I have found that pastels (both stick and pan types) and earth pigments work best for me and my style and technique. I like pastels because I can do multiple layers really fast, not having to wait for paint to dry. I do paint the eyes and chestnuts with acrylics though. I use pastel sticks that are shaved down to a powder into a paper plate, or earth pigments, or pan pastels or combination of them. I mix and match them to achieve the desired color. The first layer of pastels is pinks in inner ears, around eye socket, muzzle and genitals and butt cheeks. (I use a small soft brush for this.) I also add pink or tan on the hooves. I usually use two coats of pink, and I seal between each layer.

 

Next I start the mottling. My best advice for this is to use clear reference photos of a real horse’s mottling that goes with the pattern you have chosen. Not all Appies mottle alike. I apply dark gray pastels over the pinks to indicate mottling. I "stipple" sometimes with a rubber tipped Paint Eraser, but mostly I use tiny Micro Brushes and add layers as needed for darkness.

 

One thing I see a lot of artists do that is not correct for Appaloosas, is to put too many spots or too much dark skin on the center area of the sheath or in between the thighs. The vast majority of Appies' genitalia is pink all down the middle. The gray radiates outward towards the butt and flanks, if that makes sense. There, again, use a good reference photo for accuracy.

 

Sometimes I use a sharpened eraser pencil or kneaded eraser to remove gray in places to achieve the desired mottling effect. Here you can see the mottling inside the ears, around the eyes and on the muzzle. At this point, I seal the model and leave the mottling as is until I finish the rest of the horse. I can always go back and make it darker if needed.

 

The next step is to rough in the pattern with gray. I generally rough in the whole Appy pattern in light and dark grays before the coat color begins. In heavily roaned areas (seen here on neck, chest and barrel), I apply pastels with the micro brush in a stippling technique. Just dab, dab, dab away. I leave it splotchy and random, with some white showing through and alternate with some darker specks, being careful to follow the direction of hair flow. Then for the next layers I do the same - much like the hair by hair technique artists use with paint, but SO much faster. It is more "impressionistic" than "realistic" but gives the look of roaning as well. In areas that will be solid (like this one’s forelegs) I smoothed the pastel with a brush.

 

Then I start adding the colors over the gray pattern areas, with micro brush or paint eraser in stippling technique. For areas that are more solid, not so roan-y, I smooth over the stippled pastels with a small brush. I leave some show-through white and on successive layers make some stipples darker. Then I just keep adding layers of color, working toward the desired effect, always working light-to-dark with the pastels. I always seal between each layer, and I work in sections, not all over the horse at once.

 

In this photo, the mane and tail color is started and I've done some work on the feathers. I continue to darken and add color as desired, still using random, stippling strokes until the pattern is completed and as dark as you want it.

 

And then the final details - the eyes, chestnuts, shoes and nails are painted with acrylics and silver sharpie. I gloss the eyes and inside nostrils with Liquitex Gloss Varnish, and he's done! 

 

Ink Spots is a customized Breyer Shannondell. I repositioned his left rear leg to stand flat on the ground and slightly moved his left front leg backward at the knee.

 

At his first show, All The Pretty Ponies Show in Florida, I am happy to report that he won his breed class and then took home the Overall Grand Champion Custom ribbon! (Photo by owner)