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Author Topic: References for painting horses  (Read 9313 times)

Offline Calimero

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References for painting horses
« on: January 18, 2009, 09:51:05 PM »
I’m painting Napoleonic French Cuirassiers at the moment (among other things) and I was wondering if the color of the horse look right? There’s quite a lot of very good painter here on the LAF so, I figure, why don’t ask for comments and/or tips. The color I’m trying to achieve is Bay… Do you think it look good? Should I change something?



P.S.: The actual figure is a little less on the "yellowy side" but that’s the best I can do with my camera…

Cheers!
« Last Edit: January 23, 2009, 10:13:13 PM by Calimero »
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Offline Johan

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2009, 10:09:46 PM »
As far as I can remember from different sources the French used dark horses for their heavy cavalry, of course towards 1815 they may have had to use anything that came along due to lack of horses.

Offline Calimero

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2009, 10:38:45 PM »

Thanks guys. I realise that I’ve made a mistake on my interpretation of the color Bay… I was under the impression than Bay was a kind of "golden color" when, in fact, it's much more of a reddish brown. I will change the color of the horse. The fact is than the actual Bay color (the true one) should be easier to achieve. Thanks again.  8)

Offline Johan

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2009, 12:15:56 AM »
If you go over the colour like you have it with a vandyke brown oilpaint or sepia oilpaint then wait for a few minutes and gently wipe the sides you've got the perfect horsecolour

Offline Calimero

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2009, 03:13:53 PM »
Still experimenting… Which of the following color, if any, would be best for Bay horses?



Maybe a mix of the two horses on the second rank?

Offline Ray Rivers

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2009, 08:17:50 PM »
The answer is... there is no real answer.

All of the horses look fine because horses are all kinds of different colors.

Personally, for a bay I would move a bit darker, say GW Bestial Brown.  But really... there is always going to be quite a variety of color in just about any category of horse.  Even blacks are not always all black.

 ;)

Offline Calimero

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2009, 10:44:07 PM »

So, this is how the quest end… after 5 or 6 layers of paint on the horse, trying to find a correct shade, it’s about time... 11 more figures to do to finish the unit…  ;D



Cheers!

Offline MadMö

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2009, 10:20:03 AM »

Offline Aaron

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2009, 02:14:27 PM »
Excellent work! Please post a picture of the whole unit when you finish them. I can almost hear the thunder of galloping hooves!

Offline Calimero

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2009, 04:55:02 PM »

I’ve read the comments, about horses, of some LAFers on the tread Beware; The Doones ride by Captain Blood and I find it very interesting. As, I’m myself looking at a way to paint more realistic horses, I decide to post the PM that Ruarigh kindly send me. I think it could help other peoples too. Maybe I could change the tread and made it about painting horses in general?

Hi,

Thanks for the interest in my comments. Ray is right in his post on your thread, when he says that horses are all different colours. I do think that the mane on your bay should be closer to black than the brown you have used but I like your paint job. The brown mane and tail are closer to chestnut in colour while the black points are typical of a bay. This link takes you to a US colour chart for wild horse colours:
http://www.fort.usgs.gov/resources/spotlight/horse/color_mark.asp
Here is another page with colours and descriptions:
http://www.aghr.com/colors2.html
Some of these colours are clearly not the same as we describe them in the UK. A UK site that includes colour descriptions and pictures is here:
http://www.equine-world.co.uk/about_horses/horse_colours.htm
There are links on the page to descriptions of the different types of white markings too. I hope these are of use. If you find them useful, please feel free to post them in your thread.

Cheers,
Ruarigh

Offline Calimero

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2009, 04:58:28 PM »
.... I can almost hear the thunder of galloping hooves! ...

No, that was my teeth grinding together when painting the darn horses!  lol
« Last Edit: January 22, 2009, 08:05:41 PM by Calimero »

Offline Lt. Hazel

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2009, 05:39:04 PM »
If you go over the colour like you have it with a vandyke brown oilpaint or sepia oilpaint then wait for a few minutes and gently wipe the sides you've got the perfect horsecolour
I tried this and have to agree. It´s quick, easy and gives a good restult!!

Offline Aaron

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2009, 07:53:04 PM »
I bought a couple of cheapish books on horses that I occasionally break out to help with accuracy. One particularly handy one is called "Horse Breeds of the World". It covers the history and temperment of over 100 horse breeds.  It also lists what colors are usual for the breed.  It was jam-packed with pictures and was picked up in a remaindered section for under $10!

In fact, I think this might be it with a different cover: http://www.amazon.com/Horse-Breeds-World-Nicola-Swinney/dp/1592289908/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232653898&sr=8-1


Offline Argonor

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Re: WIP – Napoleonic French Cuirassiers’ Horses
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2009, 06:51:16 PM »
This thread is turning into a real treasure trove of resources on horse colours.  :)

I've only painted very few 28 mm horses myself, and I recently began using the 3-layer technique, and haven't dared go into markings on my horses, yet. They can be added later, if I feel so inclined, just now I'm experimenting with colours and colour mixes to get nice effects using only those 3 layers....

I think the above cuirassier horse is perfect for a horse in a unit - and more than I would haved cared to do.

You might want to make some horses in the unit slightly darker or lighter (or both) to break the 'model soldier impression' from a group of almost identical models?

I found with my Warg Riders, that slight variations in mount colours make for a much more realistic look.
Ask at the LAF, and answer shall thy be given!


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