By Erich Fritz.com G -MA.AB www 39

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Gordon Warren
5 years ago
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1 By Erich Fritz 39

I have been airbrushing seriously for the last five years. I am mainly self-taught, aside from the few videos I do own. I love to read AB-Mag to learn new skills and techniques.

As an artist, I have always tried to portray a feeling or emotion through my work. I have always loved horses and so I make them my main focus.

Using photo realism, I try to put you right there with the animals. I like to work mainly with transparent colors, because they give the painting so much depth.

Photo 1 and 2 I like to paint on 1/4 Masonite, because it s very easy to come by and it takes the paint so well with a nice smooth finish. It also won t warp like 1/8 will.

After the second coat, I allow at least 12 hours drying time before adding any other paint.

2 I have been airbrushing seriously for the last five years. I am mainly self-taught, aside from the few videos I do own. I love to read AB-Mag to learn new skills and techniques. At this year s ABU, I got a chance to show off some of my work to several people who said I should write an article on how to paint a horse. As an artist, I have always tried to portray a feeling or emotion through my work. I have always loved horses and so I make them my main focus. When I paint or draw a horse, I want the viewer to see, hear and feel everything going on in the picture. I want you to know what the horses are thinking. Using photo realism, I try to put you right there with the animals. I like to work mainly with transparent colors, because they give the painting so much depth. You have to build up the colors very slowly with light layers, if you go to fast the paint runs. This article is just an example of how I portray my horses. I hope you enjoy it. Photo 1 and 2 I like to paint on 1/4 Masonite, because it s very easy to come by and it takes the paint so well with a nice smooth finish. It also won t warp like 1/8 will. Once I have decided on a size, I cut the board and apply two coats of latex primer, allowing three or four hours drying time between coats. After the second coat, I allow at least 12 hours drying time before adding any other paint. Once completely dry, I paint the board tan to give the whole piece a tan undertone with regular latex based house paint. I then sketch out the horse. It s really hard to see, but it is there. If you look closely on the right side of photo 1 is the picture of the horse I am painting. I need to take the girl out and do something with the rest of the horse s body. Photo 3 and 4 Using my Mike Learn Mojo, I have begun building up and fleshing out the horse. I am using Createx transparent dark brown paint for this step. The horse is black, but if you have ever seen a black horse you know that there is always an undertone of brown or grey. In this case, it was brown. I paint everything with the brown so it all has continuity. I try to leave all the lighter spots with a light dusting of color. At this point I m still not sure what the background will look like. As a general rule I like to keep things fluid. The pieces usually grow as I work on them. AB MAG 3rd QTR

Photo 5 Here I am still working on developing the under painting of the horse.

This is the most time consuming part of the whole painting.

I prefer the look of freehand painting. It just looks more natural to me.

I dust over the entire face and body with the grey, and then build up the darker areas.

Photo 8 With mane and ears darkened, the grey is set aside for the next step.

3 Photo 5 Here I am still working on developing the under painting of the horse. I really like to paint as much detail with the transparent dark brown as I can. This is the most time consuming part of the whole painting. Photo 6 Here you can see a close-up of the nostril being fleshed out. I don t usually use shields. I prefer the look of freehand painting. It just looks more natural to me. Photo 7 Still using my Mike Learn Mojo, I am now deepening the darks with Createx transparent Grey. I dust over the entire face and body with the grey, and then build up the darker areas. I am still trying to leave the lightest spots very light. Photo 8 With mane and ears darkened, the grey is set aside for the next step. Photo 9 Using my Richpen Apollo 112B, I start spraying in the highlights. I like this airbrush for this because of the very small color cup. Using a mixture of transparent dark brown, transparent ultramarine blue and white for the highlight color, the horse starts to come to life. I thin down my paint with transparent base so the white doesn t stick to the needle as much. 41

Photo 10 Here you can see the horse s face with the highlights complete.

The really bright highlights in the mane will be dulled way down at the end.

get tinted. Photo 12 Having completed the horse, I mask it off with frisket film.

I make sure I cover the entire area completely. I am not worried about overspray at this point.

I pay very close attention to how the fence bends and curves.

4 Photo 10 Here you can see the horse s face with the highlights complete. Photo 11 Here again using my Apollo, I have added the white markings on the horses face. The really bright highlights in the mane will be dulled way down at the end. I don t want to tint them yet because the mane will break out into the background and I will add more before they all get tinted. Photo 12 Having completed the horse, I mask it off with frisket film. With my Mike Learn Mojo in hand and using my highlight color, I spray in the white vinyl fence. I make sure I cover the entire area completely. I am not worried about overspray at this point. Photo 13 Using my transparent grey again, I flesh out the fence. I pay very close attention to how the fence bends and curves. With vinyl fencing there are no hard edges, so keeping everything soft is very important. When the shadows are complete, I spray a very light coat of the dark brown over the whole fence to give it the feel of reflected light from the outdoor surroundings. Finally I take the highlight color and spray the top and bottom edge of the fence. Photo 14 With the fence complete, I mask it off with frisket film. AB MAG 3rd QTR

Photo 15 Having all my main objects frisketed, I mix up my base coat with some transparent base and spray out all my overspray.

Photo 16 When I took this job, the client had given me several pictures of the horse. There was one with this great out of focus background that I decided to use.

Photo 17 Using transparent brite green, I build more definition into the background.

Photo 18 Having the background complete, I start unmasking the horse, but something doesn t look right to me in the way the horse is standing.

I also go in and darken up shadows and even the tone out throughout the whole piece.

5 Photo 15 Having all my main objects frisketed, I mix up my base coat with some transparent base and spray out all my overspray. At this point I m still not really sure what the background will look like, but with transparent colors any overspray will show through. Photo 16 When I took this job, the client had given me several pictures of the horse. There was one with this great out of focus background that I decided to use. So, using my Peak C-5 I started to build it up. I first use transparent tropical green and dust the entire background. I then start building up the darker areas. Photo 17 Using transparent brite green, I build more definition into the background. I then use transparent grey to really darken the shadow areas, and finally some transparent dark brown is added to keep everything grounded and natural. Photo 18 Having the background complete, I start unmasking the horse, but something doesn t look right to me in the way the horse is standing. I decide to go back in and add the wither (shoulder) and back on the left side and below the fence. I also go in and darken up shadows and even the tone out throughout the whole piece. Happy with it, I sign and clear coat it using Minwax Satin finish Polycrylic Clear. I roll it on with a foam roller, making sure to get out all the bubbles. I then wait at least three hours and add another coat. If you apply a second coat too soon, you will get little air bubbles that ruin your finish. Twelve hours later the piece is put in a frame and delivered to the client. Erich Fritz is the owner operator of: Erich Fritz Fine art Cambridge, MN erichfritz@erichfritzfineart.com 43

At this stage I want the colors to be a little on the bright side, Later weathering will darken the color significantly.

At this stage I want the colors to be a little on the bright side, Later weathering will darken the color significantly. The kit used is the Tamiya JS II Model 1944 ChKZ, #35289. As you can see quite a bit of aftermarket details were also used including a number of Aber and Voyager photo etched detail sets along with a set