Shire has a tail braid now and more:

She's nearing completion but still some more work to do.  She's got a tail braid and I'm not sure if her female parts which you can see a slight indication of are too low.  I compared her to several reference pictures and they seem to be in the right location.  I drilled a hole through the sides of the tail braid because that's where a ribbon will be run through.  She's also going to have two tiny whatever you call those things.  Flags? Coming out of the sides of her tail to match the ones in the mane. I did some work to her ears and gave her forelocks also. She's a far cry  (at least I think)  from the original clyde mare she once was.  The tail braid is from a picture I saw where they had the folded short bob braid with a small knot like bun in it and ribbons tied around it.  From looking at the various show photos of Shires, I think you can pretty much do whatever you want to the tail so as you just dress it up. Because I've seen the fan style ribbons the tied ribbons with bows and long streamers hanging down, a tight bun knot, a long braid, short braids, and just all sorts of variations of styles to basically braid fold tuck and tie ribbons around the drafter's tail.  So I guess anything goes.  The mane's, same thing. I tried to see if there was any particular number of flags on the mane and they varied.  The ribbons are braided into the mane at the top with the mane allowed to be free flowing. The flags are attached and that's about it. You can have a ribbon alone that ends abruptly, or tassels at the back hanging down, ribbon streamers, or even flowers.  It's basically as long as you have the mane on the right side, the braid at the top, and the flags in matching ribbons.  That's about it. 

The stud spider is looking better.  He's got all his mane and most if not all of his tail pretty much.  He needs some sanding on his male parts and prepping, then he's getting primed. 

I'm excited about this one.  He's gonna be an awesome appy.

Then finally I've got the little Andalusian looking sharp I think.  He's got a long tail (which isn't done yet) and a cont. weave braid with roses and leaves all along the top of his mane and two roses with leaves on the base of his still incomplete tail. I'm trying to decide what color to commit to with this guy. I'm torn.  Palomino, Cremello, or Dapple Grey. I think I may have some ribbons also in the mane tied around the roses with little streamers hanging down and maybe have two of them draping over the left side of his neck just to put something on that side of him so he wont look so bare there.

More work on the Shire and others:

Well this time she's got a mane and feathering on her legs.  I may add a little or not. I don't know.  I'm thinking I wanna do a tail braid for her.  I also plan to add a ribbon and the little flags or whatever you call them to her mane.  I do need to tweak that left knee a bit still.

Here's the andalusian stablemate.  He's got a neck but he needs sanding and fine tuning. 

And now for the Stud Spider which is going to be an appaloosa stallion. I still have some more owrk to do to his mane.  I didn't get to finish it. He was just too wet right now. He needs to dry first before I can do anything else to him. 

Shire + Andy Stablemate + Stud Spider CM = F.U.N:

Let it snow!  And it did.  So I've been busy now.  Relaxing with my artwork.  Here's the Shire mare now with a new neck.  I cut a gap out of her neck right behind her head and shortened it a little.  Then I tucked it a little bit.  I also gave her a higher rump, and did some work to her bottom lip.  She's also had some shoulder work done a little bit.  She's now got mare gender as well as an indication of a tail.  I don't know whether to do a braided knot tail or do a loose free flowing tail. I know whatever it will be will be short. 

Oh and here are some pictures I dug up to compare. I think she's looking pretty good so far.

Next, I've got the Stud Spider in the mail and have removed the neck and gave him a lowered head, sanded him down partially, and slimmed down the tail.  He's gonna be an appaloosa I think. 

Here's a cool one.  I recently got a brand new Andalusian stablemate. The new 20015 one. I've straightened the front leg to be outstretched in the Spanish Walk gait. I've lowered and tucked the neck. I will add more to it tonight maybe. I've also partially sanded the tail and moved it. I also straightened the front left leg also.   I don't know whether to do a braided tail or leave it long. I also am on the fence about what to do with the mane.  I don't know if I wanna single braid it, or rosette braid it, or do the weave braid, or leave it long. I wanna do something different. I think I want to sculpt roses into it. 

Shire has a neck:

The shire has a neck but I may need to shorten it now.  And I may drop her head a little bit.  Not actually drop it but tuck it down a little more.  I've seen some pictures where Shires have their heads held high but some of them are also more relaxed.  I don't know yet.  The necks on some shires are that long and others are way short.  Conformation on Shires it seems is a difference of opinion, because I'm scrolling through horse show pictures and I'm seeing champion after champion and some have longer legs than others, some have thicker necks, and some have longer backs, some have shorter backs.  It's crazy! Some of them have a more pronounced butt slope and some are more rounded. Yet they all apparently have pleased a judge to feel they best represent the Shire breed the way they individually look.  That or there just were such a diverse group of them at the shows those days that they were forced to picked the best of the worst.  I doubt it though.  Oh well, I hope my lady looks half way decent once she's done.  I did some sculpting and evened up the right front leg a bit but I haven't done as much to the left front leg yet.  I shaved down the hind legs a little and will do some more in sanding. I added all I could to her neck for the time but I couldn't add the whole amount because it was just too soft.  I need to finish the neck. She needs more of a bottom lip also. It's coming.

Shire Mare in Development:

Ok,  more updates.  The Shire mare/filly  is looking better now i think.  I opted to just remove the tail completely and do it laying relaxed normally.  I still don't know whether I wanna do a bob tail or a longer loose tail.  We'll have to see what looks best on her.  In the first set of pictures, I've got her legs lengthened and that really helped alot.  She looks a little over at the knee on her right side but I'l take care of that when I fill in the front legs and start shaping them up. Right now this is just the cutting and stretching phase.

Now in the next set, I've begun doing some basic fill work.

Now in this last set, I've done some more fill work as well as some sculpting.  The hind legs are too full right now and I will be sanding them down slimmer once they dry completely. 

I'd rather have too much apoxie on it than not enough because it's a pain smoothing it once you have to place chunks in shallow areas. I'd rather have it too full then shape and sand it down til it looks right.  

Her neck looks too short almost in these last shots but I think it's an optical illusion from the small amount of apoxie filling it in.  We'll see once it's dryer.

I've got a lot of tweaking ahead of me. 

TWH ready for priming and New Shire Mare/Filly concept:

The TWH is ready for final prep and priming.  Can't wait!

And now for a new project.  This is gonna be fun.  I'm not sure where I'm actually going with this one yet.  I've taken the Clydesdale Mare model I had as an unfinished CM Vanner from years ago, and have started from scratch.  I had this image in my mind of a yearling Shire filly standing with her nose in the air and her tail flipped up flexing a little with a snooty expression, but I'm not sure.  I'm not sure what I wanna do with her body still.  I'm on the fence about the neck.  I raised it and I can't get the length right so I dropped it down again. I did pull her hind legs back some and her front legs up some.  I've shaved down her chest and will resculpt that entirely.  I cut her belly all the way down and pulled it together to reduce the bloat of the barrel on her.  I wanted her more young and slender and not so beefy and mature. I may need to actually lengthen her legs some still.  

This is her so far.  I'm still not sure what to do with her to fix it.

According to this picture, I may really need to lengthen all four legs a bit.

I'm thinking the tail may need to come down and the body lengthened a hair, and the head just turned or raised up high.  I don't know. Such a pain.  

Random Fun Post:

Mostly I blog on my updated models and artwork.  I'm working still on a TWH standing and I'm extra excited about a Stud Spider I've got coming that I'm gonna go awesome appy with.  Don't wanna miss that! 

The Grammys just aired and of course it wouldn't BE the Grammys unless Kanye West makes a public ass out of himself ....AGAIN.  He rushes up onstage again this time when Beck is accepting his award.  He quickly plays it off as if to say "Nahh, just joking"  then leaves the stage quickly.  However, he blasts Beck outside to a reporter because Beyonce didn't win the award...again, and thought she deserved it more.  So his intentions to crash Beck's moment were there, he just chickened out at the last minute but still managed to disrupt the moment for Beck.  I think the next time the Grammy's airs they need to put up a baricade to block Kanye from going onstage.  A big STREET SIGN should be sufficient in stopping him.  It's worked in the past! 

 Jack-Ass Of The Day

The Walking Dead started back up again last night.  R.I.P. Tyrese.  I had no idea they'd kill someone off the first episode. I knew it would be either him or his sister to go next though. They've just introduced Noah to the cast and the rest are veterans and they wont kill them yet.  They'll wait for the season's end for one of them to go.  The only secondary characters they could kill off right now are Tyrese and his sister, or well, maybe one of those chicks with Abraham's crew.  But I think for the end of this season finale, when they kill off a regular cast member....one of the veterans.  I think it'll be Carol.  She's played out.  It's time for her to go.  I think once you've contributed all you can contribute to it, then it's time.  It was time sad as it was though for Hershal when they killed him off, same with Andrea, and I think now Carol's usefulness as a contributing character has come to an end.  Though I've missed the mark before. 

The BAFTA awards were also on last night.  To the cable channel BBCAmerica  I would like to say from the absolute bottom of my heart personally...  

YOU SUCK!

For editing out Tom Hiddleston's award presentation, and the sole reason why I both watched the damn broadcast, and taped it to the DVR as well.  You didn't think I actually watched it to see Eddie Redmayne beat Bennedict Cumberbatch again did you?

Speaking of...

And lastly and best of all HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY Birthday to actor

TOM HIDDLESTON!!!

Happy 34th Birthday LOKI!

You thing from another world you!....