Note Keeping

I have been working somewhat regularly on my ponies but have nothing terribly exciting to report- I’m plugging away on the Sculpting Herd, the Pastel Herd (who has a new member, the “Head Up Mare” aka Lilah) and my first ever commission (as trade for the PS Chips TB body that I’ve been torturing).

While juggling all these projects, I’ve found it extremely handy to take some notes about where I am in the project, what it needs, what it has, and what I want to do next. So I’ve got this handy-dandy notebook.

I make a section or page for each horse and that way I can keep track of things. That means less second guessing, less redundancy, and less frustration. It also makes for more accuracy, more efficiency, more focus, and more learning.

My Akhal-Teke drastic resculpt needs a lot of work, and one of the things I used my notebook for was to brainstorm and then record some of the changes I wanted to make. That way when I sit down to work on him I have a clear idea of where I’m headed. Plus, writing out some of the important breed characteristics I’m going for helps solidify the idea in my head and makes for an overall more accurate representation.

I started Typhoid Mary’s note page when she was ready to paint, since her dapple bay-going-grey is a rather complicated color (and the first going-grey I’ve done). In my notebook I can keep track of what parts are already Dull Coted, and thus ready for pastel application. This is good for when you go long stretches of time between work periods, as I sometimes do. And it’s even more important on a horse who, unlike Typhoid Mary, doesn’t have such a nice tail hand hold. On those I might not be able to Dull Cote the whole body at once, and this way I’m not confused when the pastels refuse to stick to his front legs.

I’m also keeping careful track of the colors I’m using on Typhoid Mary. I’m doing a lot of her coat in colored pencil hair detail, and I want to keep track of how I’m doing it so that the sides match up. Plus, if I ever forget how I did it or what colors I used, I’ve got it all written down.

I also use my book to keep track of who needs to be dremeled. I prefer to do my dremeling in batches, but before I started using a list I would often forget someone who needed work, and only remember after I’d put everything away again. When I keep a list, no one gets forgotten- and I only have to sweep the bathroom once.

My little notebook is definitely helping me stay on track better and taking the guesswork out of my pony progress. If only it could give me 36 hours in a day…