NaMoPaiMo Painting Parties

 This month we are holding four online model horse events (all through Zoom):

Friday 5th February 7pm: Pub Quiz

Saturday 6th February 11am - 16.00 (drop in & out): NaMoPaiMo Painting Party #1 

Saturday 13th February 11am - 16:00 (drop in & out): NaMoPaiMo Painting Party #2

Saturday 26th February 11am-15:00 (drop in & out): Breyer Bootcamp Social & Crafting! 

This post is specifically about the NaMoPaiMo parties but if you want any information about any of the others just use the contact details below!

How To Get Involved

To get involved you will need the Zoom login details.

You can get these by emailing me at: catriona@chestnutridge.co.uk 

You can also join the Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1518363228343127*

*You will still need the login details so just drop me a PM or email me for them!

If you have attended our Pub Quizzes before and have the Zoom login then you are good to go! I will be using the same one for everything.

What will Happen?

During the parties we basically just sit around and paint! We can chat, share tips and tricks or just be together. You can drop in and out at anytime, I will be online all day but might occasionally be away for a few minutes to get a drink or visit the bathroom!

I also recommend that you try and do something to celebrate, such as bake a cake! I was going to bake one but I'm having a no sugar month so I can't :( (every time I try and do sugar free cakes they end up being complete disasters)

Feel free to decorate your room or wear a special t-shirt or anything to celebrate :)

You do not have to work on your NaMo pony to take part, you don't even really have to be doing NaMoPaiMo! It is just a chance to hang out together. I plan to spend the day working on several different horses (I don't have any decent sealant at the moment so may not be able to do my NaMo horse anyway)!

Help! I've Never Used Zoom Before!

Do not fret!

First you will need to go to: https://zoom.us/ 

Then click "join a meeting"

Then enter the meeting code and password (you will need to email me for these)

If you want to speak you will need a microphone (your phone will have this, or a laptop). You may also want to turn on your camera, again your phone should have one, but most computers and laptops have inbuilt web cams as well.

You can use the 'chat' function to talk if you don't have a microphone!

I may occasionally mute people if they are making loads of noise (e.g. kids or pets running in). Please make sure to mute yourself if you are using anything like a compressor for an airbrush or a dremel! 

Is there a cost?

Nope! Totally free and open to anyone :)

If you have any questions just email me at catriona@chestnutridge.co.uk I look forward to seeing you there :D

My 2021 NaMoPaiMo Project

Namopaimo 2021

 I can't believe it is nearly February already and with just over a week to go I have finally started work prepping my 2021 Namopaimo model.

Don't know what Namopaimo is? Check out the Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/234123470349077 

I was feeling really indecisive this year so instead of choosing my own model and colour I let the wise people of Facebook choose. And actually I think they made a pretty good choice!

I presented them with a choice of ten different models. The most popular one was this beautiful Edgar Allen resin:

This model was actually my Namopaimo 'prize' from two years ago. Edgar Allen was the first resin I ever painted and I'm really excited to be painting one again.

He didn't need too much prep work thankfully. As you can see he has a few exposed wires and he also had a hole in his back that I've filled. Once the epoxy putty has dried he will be ready for a prime (which has to be done in a shed at the bottom of the garden *yay*). I'm hoping to take him and a few others out there tomorrow.

I can't find my dremel though so the others (which include some CollectA and Schleich) are taking some time to prep!

Now for the colour. Again I gave a choice of ten different colours. The winning choice was 'rose grey'. That makes me really happy as it is one of my favourite colours to do!

But I also like to give myself a bit of a challenge during Namopaimo so I have deliberately chosen a reference picture with loads of dapples, because I really suck at dapples, so I'm hoping that will be a nice challenge and chance to improve.

I think the colour will really suit him :D

I also think it is fitting as my current Edgar Allen, Patience, is also grey:

I'm hoping there will be a nice contrast between the two which will show improvement (I'd like to think I've improved over 10 years...but who knows)!

Working from home also means I don't have the horrific two hour drive home at the moment, so that gives me more chance to paint in the evenings. I have started to do a bit of work on some customs and trying to get back into it.

The plan is to do mainly pastels, but I'm wondering whether to use thinned down acrylics for the dapples, I feel like that will either work well or be a complete disaster, I guess we'll find out!

Now roll on February :D

Buy What You Love, Not What You Think Will Win

One of the many advantages (or as Brendon would probably say disadvantages) of being a moderator on a sales group is that I get to see sales ads before anyone else.

This means I can buy the thing before anyone else. Which is probably not a good thing. But my latest impulse buy hardly broke the bank so it's all good.

So here's the story. A few weeks back I was happily minding my own business wasting my life on Facebook when I decided to actually contribute something to society and moderate my own Facebook group, you know like a civilised human being. After repeated rule infringements I've had to set the posts on UK Model Horse Sales to approval, which has actually made moderating a LOT easier. But it also means that I see the sales ads before anyone else does as I'm the only person that currently does any moderating.

So I click on the list and I'm going through, approving posts when I see this gorgeous custom. She's just too cute! The post is full of "she's not very good, only really a body etc. etc." and I'm like "no poor baby she's adorable, I love her, I have to have her!". So I approve the post, search Facebook for the group, find the group, find the post and then message the seller because I HAVE to have this horse!

Several messages later and my very extravagant purchase (less than £20) is made and Badger is on her way to me. I'm so excited, she's just adorable and I love her so much!

You see the thing is, the seller is right, this isn't a show model. She could pass for PSQ but she is never going to be part of my live show string (although she will come to some shows), but that DOESN'T MATTER. Because you know what? Winning isn't everything. I know shocking news flash but for some people this is something they need to hear. It makes me sad when I see younger collectors in particular selling things because they don't show well that they've had for years, or only searching for the best of the best, because if all you are looking for in a model horse is show success then you are only ever going to be disappointed. Even if the horse does as well as it possibly can at some point it is going to lose and you are going to feel crappy. If you spend £500 on a top quality custom and it never places (trust me it happens) how will you feel about that model? If you spend £500 on a top quality custom because you love it more than anything you've ever seen and you couldn't care less if it places or not then yes you probably are going to feel a bit bummy when it doesn't place but at the end of the day you love her so it doesn't matter.

Buy a model you love and you have a piece to cherish for eternity.

Buy a model to show and you will have nothing but that aching feeling that maybe you could have just done a little bit better.

And with that I'll leave you with a final picture of CRS A Mushroom (aka Badger), a beautiful custom by Steph Lovely.

Dreaming of a Painting Day

It's that time of year again, where I sit looking through the pictures on the NaMoPaiMo group whilst on my lunch break, or just before bed, or during Silent Witness because those are the only spare five minutes I appear to have and just wish that I could spend a whole day getting on with painting.

Whilst instead it appears that every free day I have is taken up by something else. The cat needs to see the vet, I'm going riding, suddenly I have to come into work and God knows what else is happening that means that my apparent two days off each week are turning into just other days filled with tasks.

The biggest problem right now is very much the rabbits. I love my little bun buns to pieces but there is literally nowhere else to put their cage in this tiny little house apart from the back room. O how I miss having my study with my painting desk right there for me to paint on! I could easily spend a quick five minutes getting something done after work. But now I need to make sure the rabbits are removed, the windows opened, and the whole space ventilated to ensure nothing horrible gets into their tiny little bunny lungs. So to actually get some painting done I do feel like I need a spare day, that way they can come out, I can get on with painting and I can deep clean their cage at the same time.

My NaMo horse isn't the only project I want to get started, I also wanted to get several more of my resins painted ready for Year of the Pig Live. I also wanted to get a couple more sales pieces done and work on some of the new bodies I've acquired, so yes I very much do need a painting day!

And I'm sure I'm not the only one in this boat at this time of year. I long for more time to be able to paint but work, life and other commitments are just constantly in the way. It's a complete irony that on the days I do have time to paint somehow something else happens that means I'm taken away from my work room and have to go and deal with that.

So here is my plan. Sunday. Sunday I am painting. I don't care what else needs doing I am getting up Sunday and I am getting paint on some horses! The plan is to try and finish at least one (maybe not my NaMo horse) but to at least get some paint on some of them. Then going forward each Sunday I can spend some time painting. You never know...I may even get my NaMo horse done before the end of the month! And maybe even some resins painted for Year of the Pig...just how much can I paint in one day I wonder?

Are you also longing for time to paint? Maybe we could start some kind of joint child/partner/pet care scheme where we all pay for someone to take care of all of them and clean our house whilst we finally settle down to get some painting done!

I miss my old study where I could paint away from all the animals...

Ready for NaMoPaiMo?

There are just 3 days to go and then we can all get painting! If you are anything like me you've probably left everything to the last minute...

But in shocking news I have actually prepped my model already! (I know right what has happened to me, I'm becoming prepared and organised). I prepped my Classic model horse just over a week ago and he is all ready to paint. He is currently sat in my spray box staring at me! How likely do you guys think it is that I actually finish him before the end of February? I'm not exactly hopeful, I haven't painted a single horse this year *hides behind sofa*

O I should say, before I share some pics of my project, if you don't know what Namopaimo (National Model Painting Month) is then check out the Facebook group here, you've only got a couple more days to sign up so get planning if you intend to take part!

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/234123470349077/

My Project

So last year you guys may remember I painted the very beautiful Dionysus here: 

Now he was my kind of project, Stablemate scale, a lovely colour, covered in sparkles and generally everything I want from a model horse.

But this year I thought it was about time I did something that actually challenged me. No Stablemates. No minis. Something big. Something very big.

OK so it isn't that big if you are a normal human being and paint normal sized horses, but if your me and a Stablemate is on the large side, then this is basically a GIANT LIFE SIZE HORSE.

So without further ado I give you my project horse, a rather boring Breyer Classic:

Now you're probably thinking, what a random choice? Well yes he is a random choice, that's because I had two Breyer Classic bodies, knew I wanted to paint a Classic and chose him at random. I'm not sure where he came from, I think I won him in a raffle at a live show last year. Anyway poor creature is now going to have my painting skills inflicted upon in.

Now as if painting a Classic wasn't bad enough, in a moment of complete and utter and total insanity I decided (genius that I am) that I am not only going to work in a scale that I hate working it but I am also going to paint my most hated of all the colours...a....PINTO. I hate pintos. Ucky. Horrible colour to paint. YUK YUK YUK. But they look so pretty I hear you cry! Yes that's because you aren't the one painting several million layers of white on the bloody things.

Deep breaths.

So here goes nothing, my reference picture for this month of insanity (because it is not my image here is a link to it):

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/488429522084474159/

O yea did I not also mention that I chose a ridiculously challenging base colour as well? And you know how much I hate dapples? Yep this thing has dapples.

So in conclusion. I wish I could be the person I thought I was when I had drunk a bottle of cider and signed up for Namopaimo. We will find out in a month's time whether I am or not. Maybe you should all send more cider?

SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE!