Their owners picked their names so I added to their photos! :)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Recent Wrap Ups :)
These are things from earlier this year... more that I've taken on this summer are following on their heels though! :D
Their owners picked their names so I added to their photos! :)
Their owners picked their names so I added to their photos! :)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Just quickly I documented the experience..
"New England Performance Challenge" yesterday = Performance showing "take 2"! :) Actually this is the 3rd performance show I've attempted. The first one was 4-5 years ago (4 I think?) & was just one entry. This one was a lot more serious. In fact *I* get WAAAAY too serious about this stuff. At least in planning and forethought. It brings out my competitive streak in the worst way imo. But I just LOVE the wee gidgets and tiny things you get to play with.
All the same, I need to write out a TON of thank you's this time. The last show was a month ago. And I judged halter afterwards. This time I was less "shell shocked". I attempted fewer tack swaps & didn't try to enter both horses in most classes (I could have using the borrowed tack& props available to me). And yet? I still was probably head down & shuffling around like a little troll in a hurry the whole time. omg... what IS it about this? Like I said, I need to thank some folks.
I know a few tack & prop makers would like to hear/see how things looked & went. & thus it seemed easier to make this here album;
http://www.artbymorgen.com/galleries/sculptingjournal/NEPC_pics/album/album/
Ok, an onto many other things I need to get back to! (none the least of which is painting horses!) :) Fortunately my little wee tools and such are all now really well packed into a rolling cart of drawers. So when I'm working on a sculpture or painting I will know where these things are now. I guess being forced to organize it all (or go mad!) is a good thing. My table at the show tho.. it looked like a bomb went off. Poor Nancy the show holder assumed I'd want to be selling things? HA! I didn't even find the time to take my business cards out and put them in the little business card holder. Uhm yeah... performance showing is definitely a weird disease obsesssion of massive magnitude. Hysterically too -> I was hardly very concerned with placings... it was more a game of what I could get out & together. It's definitely a great way to challenge yourself! That or a serious mental illness that needs a reality show and some Oprah episodes to expose it... ;)
I posted them on the comments but I'll paste the links where credit is due here (I'm sure I'm missing many an item here too - deepest apologies!)...
Donna Hutchins of Shadowcat Studios http://www.freewebs.com/shadowcatstudios/ (bridles & halters!)
Kirsteen Haley http://khcustomtack.com/ (saddles you can't convince people to sell)
Doreen McGuire http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Poochkers-Model-Horse-Accessories__W0QQ_armrsZ1 (jump standards and way cool props!)
Anne St Onge Fields www.fieldofdolls.com (swears she will never make dolls with removable clothes again) ;)
Jana Skybova www.jscustomtack.net (amazing english tack & rubber bell boots everyone in the world can afford & needs!!!)
Corinne Ensor of the amazing SMB boots (shoebox saddlery!) http://www.shoeboxsaddlery.com/
Soon to be coming home... romel reins attached to a WONDERFUL braid-laden bridle of my own by Heather Abounader of Desert Night Creations http://desertnightcreations.blogspot.com/2009/10/pleased.html
Right now blogger isn't letting me upload an image... interesting. This could be a MAJOR issue for my contest blog tomorrow... hmmmm... well stay tuned. I'll try it here first before getting stuck mid-way through the contest #2 upload. ACK! (later edit: it worked again... hopefully this means no problems for the contest too)...
Saturday, October 10, 2009
One of many things I've been working on... :)
My camera batteries won't let me recharge them hardly at all anymore sadly... anyhow, so you may recognize this backdrop from another artist... ;)
Anyhow, I have 3 horses that are nearly wrapped up here, several that are coming along fast! Woohoo!! But this guy is actually JUST basecoated barely right now. I have many layers over this. I really wanted that translucent dapple look around the fleabites he's going to get. Fleabites are something you mostly see the detail in close up. I wanted him to be eye catching from a greater distance thus the depth thing... and the layers to come. I'm just waiting now on his owner to tell me if he's to be more like 1 horse or another now.
I really found a technique that works for me for dapples. In oils thus far I've only been satisfied and sold 1 to date iirc? I'm really not liking oils for making dapples from scratch. They add depth to them.. but for me they just get too muddy OR stark.. I'm digging this. Liesl takes a wonderful photo but she was frustrated that she couldn't quite capture the dapples right either. Which imo is how I want them... like women's silk stockings, they have 'depth'. Lets hope I don't screw it up from here. I have earlier pictures before this layer of white (and airbrushy blacks) went on. Again tho, couldn't get my own dang camera to stay on long enough even for 1 pic taken to show how. Sorry! I'm not sure I want to give up my technique anyhow. Expect to see more dappled things from me in the future though when I clear out my backlog. ;)
Well here's something in progress finally anyhow.
& Yes really. I consider it a base coat still. It's far too grainy & stark in spots, even if it wasn't scheduled for a fleabite makeover. :D Needs more layers to smooth out the grainy & more highlights in some parts too.
Anyhow, I have 3 horses that are nearly wrapped up here, several that are coming along fast! Woohoo!! But this guy is actually JUST basecoated barely right now. I have many layers over this. I really wanted that translucent dapple look around the fleabites he's going to get. Fleabites are something you mostly see the detail in close up. I wanted him to be eye catching from a greater distance thus the depth thing... and the layers to come. I'm just waiting now on his owner to tell me if he's to be more like 1 horse or another now.
I really found a technique that works for me for dapples. In oils thus far I've only been satisfied and sold 1 to date iirc? I'm really not liking oils for making dapples from scratch. They add depth to them.. but for me they just get too muddy OR stark.. I'm digging this. Liesl takes a wonderful photo but she was frustrated that she couldn't quite capture the dapples right either. Which imo is how I want them... like women's silk stockings, they have 'depth'. Lets hope I don't screw it up from here. I have earlier pictures before this layer of white (and airbrushy blacks) went on. Again tho, couldn't get my own dang camera to stay on long enough even for 1 pic taken to show how. Sorry! I'm not sure I want to give up my technique anyhow. Expect to see more dappled things from me in the future though when I clear out my backlog. ;)
Well here's something in progress finally anyhow.
& Yes really. I consider it a base coat still. It's far too grainy & stark in spots, even if it wasn't scheduled for a fleabite makeover. :D Needs more layers to smooth out the grainy & more highlights in some parts too.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Video archiving here today
Ok, video time…
I’ve been on a mission to see certain muscles in certain poses… well forever really. I just firmly believe that the very best way is video pausing. Although I’ve discovered recently (in the last month) that high speed video (which produces exceptionally clear “slow motion” or “SloMo”, is that a brand?)… is the very best way to study the motion of the muscle and all else to boot.
Thus I’m truly using this like a journal today and embedding 20 or so movies that seem helpful to me (that I wouldn’t like to lose the links of). So on to random bookmarks basically…:) It’s easier to archive them here than just as links like I normally do. (Easier for me, to sort through at least!)
For fun here are the Muybridge photographs http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/Movement/HGal.html to compare them to.
Nice resolution;
Another;
And just amazing how they look like little bull dogs running flat out like this;
I wish I had 3D glasses. I thought there were some here but apparently not.. wonder if this works with them!
I just LOVE this horse’s build;
Backwards canter. I’ve seen this a few times as an offshoot of the many things that can be taught. I’d bet I’m not alone in knowing what this is like to ride when a horse wants to gallop and you’re holding them back! ;) Course then it’s a little less controlled and has a lot more air time. :D
Interesting variety of things to be observed here. On many levels. ;)
I’ve never met a saddlebred I didn’t think of as being worthy of the name “Gumby” (or Stretch or something like that…). They’re becoming popular in dressage because they redefine the word “supple”! (Making them great for lateral work but also great for the precision of transitions that requires being elastic to round up or push out through the whole body).
Way creepy music here at first
Mostly here I’m noticing the shoulder absorbing the impact when a heavier horse is on the forehand like this…
Don’t ever let someone tell you that English riders never take their legs out of that equitation position. ;) No but seriously, the non-shod videos here are interesting. Some of the best are extreme close ups of the hoof landing in various forms (shod/unshod/trims etc). If you are into that definitely worth going over to the off-shoot videos)
Nomal race horse gallop stride. Compare it to the next one tho!
Interesting that this is 3 beat and the front actually hits down a sec before the hind. Wondering if this is a facet of being such a young horse? Being held back? Or what..?? Definitely not “stretching out” movement. Interesting though. They call it a “slow canter” which cracks me up a tad because your average rider in any other discipline would not feel that way – grins. That said, it's a good case for showing how the footfalls determine the gait, not the speed.
And I’ll tuck this here to compare this next one from a ¾ angle to the above too;
On to the other type of racing, the harness guys… pacers;
Now for a trotter… Always fascinating to see just how close the fronts come to the hinds before breakover. Otherwise not much use except to note the angles of the pasterns (rest is blurry/dark and such)
Commercial fodder.. not quite sure why this fascinated me enough to save the link. Pretty sure it was just the weird terrain montage biz…?
Arabian horse whisper. Interesting and yes, a little tough for me to watch b/c I used to this sort of body language work with my horse who was actually every bit as silly & then docile/responsive as some of these guys when he played (before he stopped eating and becoming miserable and oversensitive & then confused in general as he declined in those last 2 months). I suppose it was therapeutic for me to watch though. Someday again.
And lastly.. this has no real useful material in it but you should watch it to the end if you’re going to.. it’s a little different than you might remember.. ;)
In the course of my collecting these over this last month on you tube, I discovered that Getty Images now has Footage you can search through too;
http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&p=horse%20slow%20motion&assetType=film
I’ve been on a mission to see certain muscles in certain poses… well forever really. I just firmly believe that the very best way is video pausing. Although I’ve discovered recently (in the last month) that high speed video (which produces exceptionally clear “slow motion” or “SloMo”, is that a brand?)… is the very best way to study the motion of the muscle and all else to boot.
Thus I’m truly using this like a journal today and embedding 20 or so movies that seem helpful to me (that I wouldn’t like to lose the links of). So on to random bookmarks basically…:) It’s easier to archive them here than just as links like I normally do. (Easier for me, to sort through at least!)
For fun here are the Muybridge photographs http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/Movement/HGal.html to compare them to.
Nice resolution;
Another;
And just amazing how they look like little bull dogs running flat out like this;
I wish I had 3D glasses. I thought there were some here but apparently not.. wonder if this works with them!
I just LOVE this horse’s build;
Backwards canter. I’ve seen this a few times as an offshoot of the many things that can be taught. I’d bet I’m not alone in knowing what this is like to ride when a horse wants to gallop and you’re holding them back! ;) Course then it’s a little less controlled and has a lot more air time. :D
Interesting variety of things to be observed here. On many levels. ;)
I’ve never met a saddlebred I didn’t think of as being worthy of the name “Gumby” (or Stretch or something like that…). They’re becoming popular in dressage because they redefine the word “supple”! (Making them great for lateral work but also great for the precision of transitions that requires being elastic to round up or push out through the whole body).
Way creepy music here at first
Mostly here I’m noticing the shoulder absorbing the impact when a heavier horse is on the forehand like this…
Don’t ever let someone tell you that English riders never take their legs out of that equitation position. ;) No but seriously, the non-shod videos here are interesting. Some of the best are extreme close ups of the hoof landing in various forms (shod/unshod/trims etc). If you are into that definitely worth going over to the off-shoot videos)
Nomal race horse gallop stride. Compare it to the next one tho!
Interesting that this is 3 beat and the front actually hits down a sec before the hind. Wondering if this is a facet of being such a young horse? Being held back? Or what..?? Definitely not “stretching out” movement. Interesting though. They call it a “slow canter” which cracks me up a tad because your average rider in any other discipline would not feel that way – grins. That said, it's a good case for showing how the footfalls determine the gait, not the speed.
And I’ll tuck this here to compare this next one from a ¾ angle to the above too;
On to the other type of racing, the harness guys… pacers;
Now for a trotter… Always fascinating to see just how close the fronts come to the hinds before breakover. Otherwise not much use except to note the angles of the pasterns (rest is blurry/dark and such)
Commercial fodder.. not quite sure why this fascinated me enough to save the link. Pretty sure it was just the weird terrain montage biz…?
Arabian horse whisper. Interesting and yes, a little tough for me to watch b/c I used to this sort of body language work with my horse who was actually every bit as silly & then docile/responsive as some of these guys when he played (before he stopped eating and becoming miserable and oversensitive & then confused in general as he declined in those last 2 months). I suppose it was therapeutic for me to watch though. Someday again.
And lastly.. this has no real useful material in it but you should watch it to the end if you’re going to.. it’s a little different than you might remember.. ;)
In the course of my collecting these over this last month on you tube, I discovered that Getty Images now has Footage you can search through too;
http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&p=horse%20slow%20motion&assetType=film
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Can't forget the contest announcement!! (plus more babble)
Gotta take a second to PROMOTE (duh!)! I always forget the blog when it comes to important stuff (hangs head in shame)…
Ok, well I’m holding my contests again this year -> this time I’m cleaning off the shelves (there is no way I’m going to paint all of my AP dinky dukes and Flitwicks). I’d asked the casters to make a couple more too to replace seconds I wound up selling on my group (discounted) rather than keeping as the edition #s reflected. Normally I try to keep around 10 for myself when the whole edition is said and done. Long story short, after painting 4 Flitwicks I have only 1 left (there were 2 that I’ve painted weren’t from my own stock of 10). Eek! Mini’s break in transit so easily when sent in big bunches to ya. There really is no point to this ramble I suppose… :-P Uhm yeah.. nope. Forgot my point..
BOTTOM LINE -> check it out! You can win minis!
Contest #1 for da painters! (but owners win too) http://kilbourn-contest1.blogspot.com/
Contest #2 for da owners to get creative! http://kilbourn-contest2.blogspot.com/
And while I’m at it, I should report that the bitty bosco edition continues to dwindle down.. under 20 castings left.
Lastly! Gotta share quickly an Echo medallion I made for my dad & aunt. My dad leaves this coming week to drive across the country to AZ by way of NC (where he will stop to see my youngest brother in Charlotte). My dad has been torturing us with stories that would curl your hair about his preparations… this year he tells me he is certain he will be “just fine” with his car because “he only needs to use the brakes about 10 times for the whole trip”. You didn’t read that wrong. (He doesn’t think the brakes are bad mind you, it’s just that he’s playing contingency planner – I’m more worried about something transmission or engine cooling wise breaking down on him) I can’t comment when he says things like this. We all (his children) close our eyes and pray often for him. What can I say. He leads “the life” many men dream about (being a wanderer.. eating and drinking and being merry). We just have to be happy for him and hold our breath. Sadly (since this is the first time he’s had good reception on his cell phone in about a month), I had to tell him about my aunt Ellen dying a few weeks back and my other aunt being in the hospital (she is out now but it’s all rather stressful/upsetting). I'm hoping he gets a chance to go visit them before he leaves.
Meanwhile, my aunt that he’s going to see and stay with for the winter (HIS sister not my mom’s), is his older sister and she’s in her 90’s. (She's 20 something years older I believe?) Rock on Aunt Dorothy!! She’s the one a few folks might remember me talking about a ways back over my Joe Reed sculpture (she and her hubby Bert would have my dad stay with them for a few summers). Bottom of this page; http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:g-9GU3gm00IJ:www.artbymorgen.com/intheworks.html+%22Dorothy+Kilbourn%22+%22Bert+Wood%22&hl=en&client=firefox-a&gl=us&strip=0 (you can read about them and the sculpture - still very much in progress there because it's HUGE on the bottom of that page) ... I got to go to Bert’s induction ceremony a few years ago and it was quite an honor. My cousin Cliff (who is my father’s age because it’s all VERY confusing thanks to the prolific nature of the men in the Kilbourn lineage.. –sighs-).. anyhow, he made the speech. Sadly this was the last time I’ve seen Dorothy in person. I need to get out there again too… isn’t there always so so very much we would like to do? -sighs- Most amazing and inspiring woman. (big warm fuzzy smiles)
(I'm going to take a gamble that dad and Dorothy aren't going to see this before tomorrow by posting it.. no one go tell them though, eh? tx!) ;)
ANYhow, sooooooo a busy weekend this weekend! In a few hours I get to go watch Skye and Steve get married (Skye is a long time hobbyist who sometimes makes funny comments here on my blog at me about this horse I gave her that she continues to call “your horse” whenever he’s naughty - read " Recipe For Disaster's" comments in this post she is such a brat!!) :D… eee for them!!! (after I’ve given them their gift I’ll post it up here to share).. And the tomorrow I say goodbye again to dad for the winter. And see my sisters too for the first time in a year. Crazy season coming up here.. ack!
& Really though, there is lots of other good stuff getting wrapped up in the studio but again, no pictures for now. I’ll save it for when I’m serious about getting good ones. Ok – gotta go get dressed up now.. eek!
Ok, well I’m holding my contests again this year -> this time I’m cleaning off the shelves (there is no way I’m going to paint all of my AP dinky dukes and Flitwicks). I’d asked the casters to make a couple more too to replace seconds I wound up selling on my group (discounted) rather than keeping as the edition #s reflected. Normally I try to keep around 10 for myself when the whole edition is said and done. Long story short, after painting 4 Flitwicks I have only 1 left (there were 2 that I’ve painted weren’t from my own stock of 10). Eek! Mini’s break in transit so easily when sent in big bunches to ya. There really is no point to this ramble I suppose… :-P Uhm yeah.. nope. Forgot my point..
BOTTOM LINE -> check it out! You can win minis!
Contest #1 for da painters! (but owners win too) http://kilbourn-contest1.blogspot.com/
Contest #2 for da owners to get creative! http://kilbourn-contest2.blogspot.com/
And while I’m at it, I should report that the bitty bosco edition continues to dwindle down.. under 20 castings left.
Lastly! Gotta share quickly an Echo medallion I made for my dad & aunt. My dad leaves this coming week to drive across the country to AZ by way of NC (where he will stop to see my youngest brother in Charlotte). My dad has been torturing us with stories that would curl your hair about his preparations… this year he tells me he is certain he will be “just fine” with his car because “he only needs to use the brakes about 10 times for the whole trip”. You didn’t read that wrong. (He doesn’t think the brakes are bad mind you, it’s just that he’s playing contingency planner – I’m more worried about something transmission or engine cooling wise breaking down on him) I can’t comment when he says things like this. We all (his children) close our eyes and pray often for him. What can I say. He leads “the life” many men dream about (being a wanderer.. eating and drinking and being merry). We just have to be happy for him and hold our breath. Sadly (since this is the first time he’s had good reception on his cell phone in about a month), I had to tell him about my aunt Ellen dying a few weeks back and my other aunt being in the hospital (she is out now but it’s all rather stressful/upsetting). I'm hoping he gets a chance to go visit them before he leaves.
Meanwhile, my aunt that he’s going to see and stay with for the winter (HIS sister not my mom’s), is his older sister and she’s in her 90’s. (She's 20 something years older I believe?) Rock on Aunt Dorothy!! She’s the one a few folks might remember me talking about a ways back over my Joe Reed sculpture (she and her hubby Bert would have my dad stay with them for a few summers). Bottom of this page; http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:g-9GU3gm00IJ:www.artbymorgen.com/intheworks.html+%22Dorothy+Kilbourn%22+%22Bert+Wood%22&hl=en&client=firefox-a&gl=us&strip=0 (you can read about them and the sculpture - still very much in progress there because it's HUGE on the bottom of that page) ... I got to go to Bert’s induction ceremony a few years ago and it was quite an honor. My cousin Cliff (who is my father’s age because it’s all VERY confusing thanks to the prolific nature of the men in the Kilbourn lineage.. –sighs-).. anyhow, he made the speech. Sadly this was the last time I’ve seen Dorothy in person. I need to get out there again too… isn’t there always so so very much we would like to do? -sighs- Most amazing and inspiring woman. (big warm fuzzy smiles)
(I'm going to take a gamble that dad and Dorothy aren't going to see this before tomorrow by posting it.. no one go tell them though, eh? tx!) ;)
ANYhow, sooooooo a busy weekend this weekend! In a few hours I get to go watch Skye and Steve get married (Skye is a long time hobbyist who sometimes makes funny comments here on my blog at me about this horse I gave her that she continues to call “your horse” whenever he’s naughty - read " Recipe For Disaster's" comments in this post she is such a brat!!) :D… eee for them!!! (after I’ve given them their gift I’ll post it up here to share).. And the tomorrow I say goodbye again to dad for the winter. And see my sisters too for the first time in a year. Crazy season coming up here.. ack!
& Really though, there is lots of other good stuff getting wrapped up in the studio but again, no pictures for now. I’ll save it for when I’m serious about getting good ones. Ok – gotta go get dressed up now.. eek!
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