Meet "F.O. Slick Willie", the beautiful "Dozen Roses" resin sculpted by Kathleen Bogucki. One of my long sought-after Holy Grails, he sat around my house for over a year, not wanting to know what color he wanted to be. Finally he DID make his wishes known to me, and I began to paint! Here he is, sporting his initial coat of paint! Just one of many brushed-on thinned-down layers of burnt sienna (reddish brown).

After quite awhile, I was able to build up a good, flat base coat of burnt sienna, which I then touched up by going over with the same color, only in the airbrush. True, you could do all the painting with an airbrush, but my nozzle was clogged and so I used a regular brush, until I had the time to take it apart and ream it out. Notice I've begun shading already, by leaving the lower legs lighter, and putting darker shadings along the topine and belly.

Then came the darkened brown...just the same burnt sienna with some black mixed in. It did give the color a nice purpley "liverish" color cast to it which is what I was aiming for. Again, note the attention to highlights and shading, leaving the flanks and backs of the lower legs lighter...ditto the point of the shoulder, upper parts of the forearms, and the poll/neck/jowls.

Now the Dapples!! I use a regular brush to apply dapples...just using a thinned-down lighter wash of the body color, immediately dabbed at with a fingertip. Also I began painting the mane and tail, working wet-on-wet. I still use acrylics, but if you work quickly, you can get some very nice blending. Also note a white base coat for the mane ribbons, so whatever color I end up making them will "pop" out nicely. And the whites of the eyes. I also added a bit of "reflection" on the flank, using a wash of raw sienna (same color I used on the mane and tail)

Those dapples were WAY too harsh, and I didn't care for the "flat" look of the horse overall. So using a wash of raw sienna, I went back over him airbrushing some goldeny highlights to the flank/belly, behind the elbow, top of the shoulder, and throat, which also helped tone back some of the dapples a bit.

And back over him yet again with a dark brown airbrushed layer, deeping the previous shadings, and toning the dapples back even further...they're still there, if you look close enough.

And like a yoyo, I went back over him again with the Raw Sienna wash, to yet again "pop" out those highlights that got a bit buried in the darker shadings. Also by now, the iris to the eyes is in, and the hooves have been painted.

And here he is, finished!! Green and white mane ribbons, finished eyeballs, the base painted, a matte protective coating applied overall, clear nail polish gloss applied to the eyeballs and hooves, and most importantly, a photo with proper lighting!! Willie won't be appearing at any live shows for quite awhile (I think the first one in these parts is in March or April), but he plans to start showing in MEPSA very soon!! Stay tuned for updates. And no, he is NOT for sale! :-)