Nothing like hair to add character...........


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Hairy bits

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I had a sudden and undeniable urge to sculpt some hairy ponies. Hair has never been my thing and I have struggled with 2 dimension V's 3 dimension ...but I seem to have found my groove whilst sculpting Weathergirls tail. I was particularly pleased with my new customs feathery legs when using this method, so I thought I would share :) Step one is the armature. I cut a channel along Bluebell's crest, the exact same way as when I am doing braids (tutorial here ). Once this is done I run a wave or fin of apoxie along the groove, squished and pressing with my fingers. I want this completely random, but still following the general shape I want the mane or tail to end up. As you can see it is pretty awkward and ugly. I allow this to set completely. 3 Dimensional! Next step is the real hair. I am using Aves Apoxie Sculpt and Methylated spirits. Metho will thin Magic Sculpt as well, but gets crumbly after a certain point, whereas Apoxie Sculpt goes gooey. Th...
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Moving limbs

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I am not going to call this a tutorial, as it isn't, it is more of a show and tell. This is how I do it, there are many different ways, cutting and pinning, warming and slow bending etc, but this is the way that works for me. Before we start though, I do want to say, Dremels and heat guns are not for the faint hearted, they are dangerous tools in the wrong hands, please be careful and protect yourself. As mentioned in the previous post, I am CMing a Zenyetta to an ASB. A rather drastic CM, but the theory is the same for all my CMing, wether it is simple or drastic. Firstly, I mark the joints. This gives me the bending points, and I can also measure making sure the OF is even. Always, always, always ...starting form the highest joint (shoulder, hip) moving down the limbs comparing to the reference photos work out what needs moving. Sometimes, on a simple CM shoulders and rump joints don't need moving, but rarely. Once I think I know where I am heading, I mark out the...
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Character.

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As a portrait artist, faces are my 'thing', I enjoy creating them more then any other part of the horse, and have usually finished the face in the very early stages. On this guy I am only re-sculpting the bottom half of his face, as the eyes he already has are fine, they will get eyelashes, but that is it. So let's begin :) First assemble all the players. Pony, Apoxie Sculpt, for face work like this I use the Aves safety solvent for smoothing (it stays wetter for longer then the metho, and does not make the clay sticky like water) a soft cheapo brush. My sculpting tools are an orange (cuticle) stick, a sanded and shaped wooden skewer and a toothpick. Pony is ready, his face is already roughed up from where I dremeled his features off. Following my reference photos, I add to his profile, giving him more forehead, continuing right down and including the squishy bit between his nostrils. Once I think I have it 'about' right, I use my finger in the solven...
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