Someone far more experienced and skilled than I, Jennifer Bray Buxton, wrote a brilliant blog entry about how to paint a model horse. She included things that I was going to add to this part of my beginners guide, but she beat me to it! You can find her easy to read breakdown here: https://braymere.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-beginners-guide-to-painting-model.html?fbclid=IwAR1XPppoQt3Eb--Z2WOLT9qt9H8SX9jKMgXSeL1Dw8RVKK8Y-ozXVlGDFvQ
My boyfriend is well underway to customizing his stablemate unicorn but isn't sure what paints to use. Instead of repeating Jennifer, instead I can give the pro's and con's of each medium. Really, the answers aren't as apparent as you may originally think!
Before getting started however, there is the question that every beginner painter asks;
"Do I really need to buy expensive paint?"
Usually, the more expensive the paint, the higher quality it is. Cheap paints are full of filler, like a pizza with more crust than toppings. This filler holds the pigment together to create the paint, but can be difficult to work with. Less pigment (the powdered colour) means the less opaque and the more difficult it will be to work with. These cheaper brands may also be using inferior pigment to keep costs low, so even though you are buying it at a good price it does not mean you are getting a bargain. High quality paint should be durable when dry and be boldly coloured. I'm sorry to say, if you want to buy paint from the dollar store, you will find it very difficult to paint a model horse to stand the test of time.
Saying this however, there are many many professional painters in the model horse hobby who use cheaper products and their work is still coveted by many collectors. The short answer is no, you do not need to use high level paints, but they will likely be easier and more durable in the long run.
Acrylic Paint
Recommended brands: Golden and Liquitex
Acrylic paint is graded by student and artist quality; as one can probably guess, student is on the lower side of the spectrum and artist is higher. This is not to say that everyone should be jumping on the artist bandwagon. Depending on the brand you buy, either or can suit your purpose and bank account. Acrylic paint is an easy, inexpensive, and familiar way of getting starting with any type of painting. Likely, acrylic was the first paint you used in school art classes. It has a rubbery consistency when dry and is quite durable. When wet it is vibrant but changes to a darker/ duller colour when dried, keep this in mind. The fumes are low and anyone can paint without using a mask or opening a window, but it is filled with man-made binders and has questionable ingredients that may irritate skin. It is very fast drying, which is both a blessing and a curse at the same time. With model horses, acrylic can either be friend or foe, it is difficult but not impossible to master a streak-free finish. Some brands like Golden tend to dry shiny and require diligent matte spray to correct it.
If you would like to learn more about acrylic paint, I recommend this link: https://www.art-is-fun.com/acrylic-paint
Oil Paint
Recommended brands: Windsor & Newton, Gamblin, and M.Graham
This blog has talked a lot about oil paint; chemistry, safety, and brands. If you would like a full depth explanation regarding oils and want more resources about them, I encourage you to see my previous blog post, Balancing Health and Oil Paint.
Essentially in a nutshell, oil paint is pigment bound in an oil (usually linseed, safflower, or walnut), sometimes with other chemicals as well to change their composition. Oil paint should feel like butter and stay vibrant when either dry or wet. Compared to acrylic paint, they can be the same price as higher grade acrylics or be in their own price range... oil paint is usually more expensive but for good reason. Oils are not filled with numerous human made binders, but rather more natural and highly sought after resources making them more "pure". Saying this, it is highly volatile to the human system and you should only use it in a well ventilated area or while wearing a mask. Personally, painting with oils is the best and you can easily achieve a streak free finish using a dry brush technique.
Learn how to oil paint for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4BYGrn7ACM
Gouache
Recommended brands: no data.
There will be a further post about this in a few weeks after more tests but this is a basic rundown. Gouache is one of the oldest paints in the world, being used for approximately 1200 years. It is a cousin of watercolours that is highly pigmented and behaves similarily to acrylics. It dries streaky when used out of the tube but can be reactivated with water to smooth it. For the most part it is 50% flatter than acrylics. It's certainly an interesting choice for model horses but it is not durable and requires a lot of sealant (I seriously mean a lot) to spray between layers and multiple when finished. It's prone to chipping and its chalky consistency would not be suitable for performance horses. Use this paint for shelf pieces & details only.
Watercolour and Gouache: What's the Difference? https://blogs.chapman.edu/collections/2016/02/18/watercolor-and-gouache-whats-the-difference/
Watercolours
Recommended brands: no data
Watercolours are not a usual choice of model horse artists. Out of the tube they are similar to gouache but with less pigment, meaning you need to use nearly double the paint. It is not durable, reactivates with water, and requires multiple seals between layers. Sealant can sometimes reactivate your watercolours causing them to streak, but if this is the desired effect that you want, you may be interested in watercolours. They would not be suitable for a full horse and best for flat medallions to discourage gravity drips. A bonus of watercolours is that like gouache, they are non toxic, do not require extensive ventilation, dry quickly and flat. However, watercolour pencils are an experience all on their own. The highly concentrated pigment can be drawn directly from the pencil and sealed, or be lifted off of the pencil with a paintbrush. These work wonderfully on fully sealed surfaces and unlike the paint version, can work on vinyl and plastic. How to watercolour: https://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/how-to/watercolour/439/how-to-watercolour-getting-started-with-watercolours
Coloured Pencil
Recommended brands: Prismacolor
Coloured pencil sometimes gets ignored by beginner model horse painters as its not one of the first things recommended. Personally coloured pencil is one of the most useful tools when detailing a model, especially hair by hair. Unlike watercolour pencils, you cannot pull pigment directly from the pencil with a brush, however this causes them to be less prone to smudging and damage. The major issue with coloured pencils is that they are mostly made of binder with little pigment and sometimes can be waxy. Brands like Crayola are not recommended because they will leave the worst waxy residue with little to show for it. Prismacolor is one of the more expensive brands but are worth the investment for quality coloured pencil.
The History of Coloured Pencils: http://www.historyofpencils.com/writing-instruments-history/history-of-colored-pencils/
Graphite & Charcoal
Recommended brands: no data
Can you use them? Yes you can! There are a few model horse artists that play with graphite and charcoal to create cool effects. Both need to be treated similar to pigments with sealing between layers and wearing gloves to not smudge with oily fingers. Both need to be ground down in order to use effectively, but the larger particles can scrape over your horse and create dark spots. Its a little tough for beginners but they can be quite fun!
Graphite: Greyer, shinier, smoother.
Charcoal: Blacker, matter, a similar consistency to pigments.
Pigment Dust
Recommended Brands: Earth Pigments & Pan Pastels
A personal favourite medium of mine, pigment is the original origin of paint. It is the pure colour that gets mixed into oils or other binders to create the paints you buy in tubes or draw with coloured pencils. Coming in a dust form, you can 'paint' it over your model and seal it in with sealant spray. It takes multiple layers to build up your colours but it is well worth it as its easy to blend and creates a natural horse finish without too much effort or practice. However, it is volatile on the lungs as it is dust so wearing a mask is mandatory. Some colours like umber are filled with heavy metals actually making it toxic and hazardous to paint with (just because it says natural doesn't mean its healthy for you - just look at arsenic). With proper safety equipment and a lot of sealant, pigments are a great way to make a custom model. They are quite expensive and require a large upfront payment to start, but the jars do last a very very long time even with frequent use.
Oil Pastels & Chalk Pastels
Recommended brands: Mungyo Pastels
Oil pastels and chalk pastels are not the same thing. They are both pure pigment filled with binders making them less pigmented than their pure versions, but also not as dusty.
Oil pastels are pigment bound by oil in stick form and are not suitable for model horses - they have a creamy/ buttery texture when applied and do not blend well. Avoid these for model horse customizing because they won't dry enough for you to be able to seal, they will smear everywhere.
Chalk pastels are a good choice to start out with and can be inexpensive alternatives to pure pigment. They can be scraped and ground down to make a powder for easy application. Some brands like Mungyo are more pigmented than others (have more pigment and less binder) making them brighter and more vibrant allowing you to build colour easier. Chalk pastels have actually chalk in them as well, so yes you can also use regular chalk on your models.
Mica Powder
Recommended brands: PearlEx Powder
Beautiful, shimmery, and a little controversial regarding its mining process; mica powder is a staple among the model horse customizing world. From pouring shimmery resin, to adding that final shine to a horses coat, mica is an all round gorgeous medium. Its safe for skin and clumps but is a dust that has very fine particles, so a mask is a must to work with it. In case you weren't really sure what mica is, its that shimmery stuff in your makeup.
Can I only use one medium at a time?
NO! You can layer on as many as you like to achieve the effects you want! That Watercolours medallion above has pigment, acrylics, coloured pencils, oils, mica, and watercolours! So long as you seal between your layers you will be just fine!
It takes artists a long time to practice and get good at what they do. It takes an equal amount of time to get used to and master a new art medium. Acrylics and oils behave very differently, and pigments are a world all of their own. The best thing to do is to sample around and try them all out, see what works the best for you. You might like a few and mix media like I do. Just keep trying and see what fits!
I hope someone has found this run down useful and clears up some things regarding the different mediums you can use. I did not highlight spray paints or enamels because quite honestly they act the same like on everything.
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