I'm going to admit this right now. When it comes to pastels or pigments [both of which I will refer to as dust during this post] for model horses, I am not an expert. Take all of my advice with a grain of salt. Using dusts for model horses sort of fell out of favour for me and I switched to oils. The reason I left was because of the graininess. This is also a reason why I send most of my models out for finish work; I don't have the time nor the patience to troubleshoot. However, during this NaMoPaiMo I did vow to return to dusts and leave oils behind, and this led to some interesting discoveries along the way.
So what is grain?
This posting isn't about wheat, barley, or maize by the way.
Grain is a build up of dusts in uneven amounts in your finish work.
It can appear like little snow drifts or like sand got trapped under the sealer and it drives artists crazy. But why does this happen? Thanks to NaMoPaiMo and some messing around of my own, I think I have some answers for you and maybe even some solutions.
Why is this happening to me??
There are a few reasons why this is probably happening, so consider them while you work on your model.
Your prep work wasn't even (you didnt sand your model enough) so the dust is sticking to the rough surface.
Your primer sprayed unevenly so the surface ended up rough (see the first point).
You didn't evenly seal your model.
You touched your model with bare fingers.
Your dusts are not fine enough so larger particles are scraping against your model.
You probably brushes on too much dust and sealed the loose particles.
I'm not going to mention sealing issues in this post only because it's sort of its own topic, and I don't think I'm qualified to talk about it. Just remember to use a quality sealant and do some test sprays before aiming at your model.
How do I fix this??
Fear not. I did some playing around and have come to a few solutions, but it will depend on your problem.
If you get graininess in the layer you are working on, finish that layer, seal it, wait 1 hour, then seal it again and leave it overnight. This will evenly coat your model and smooth over any rough surfaces. Continue dusting, but if it happens again repeat the above steps.
I really hope that suggestion helps because it helped me! Sorry I didn't get a good before picture, but my Hugh was turning into a lost grainy cause. I tried out that technique and voila, a smooth pone waiting for his next layers.
How do I prevent this??
Always, always, always wear gloves when working with dusts. The oils from your hands sticks to the model and leaves behind fingerprints that you will see after sealing.
Dip your brush in your dust, tap ALL the dust out of it and gently brush on the stain of the dust. Too much dust and it leaves behind grain.
Seal right after priming and be sure to get even coverage.
I have not tried this but there must be a grain of truth somewhere since I have seen many suggestions of this; buff your model with a sock after sealing and before moving onto the next layer.
Don't dust on a humid or damp day. The dust tends to clump more because of the moisture.
Like mentioned above, use a quality sealant and spray evenly. (I do like Dullcote personally).
Use a quality dust like higher end pastels, Earth Pigments, or Pan Pastels. Cheaper products have more binding chemicals in them and less pigment so they are considerably harder to work with. It is well worth the investment.
I hope that this little post helps you out. Like I said, take it all with a grain of salt because I'm not exactly an expert on dusts! Good luck and happy painting! Get those pones done before the end of the month!
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