More Work in Progress Photos 🖤

I have so many work in progress commissions and customs that I thought they should probably all go together in one big blog post. I have had a full desk of commission work that has been coming and going since early January, but I have been very forgetful when it comes to posting it to my blog and my socials, lol. I am trying to do better about that though! I did just join Instagram, and I have been more active over there recently.

Ok, into the customs!

This blue roan appaloosa Django is about halfway done. He still needs a lot more roaning, and several more layers of whites to build up better opacity. His blanket edges need to be tidied and haired too, of course! Then he’ll be getting his loud appaloosa spots. ✨

This Indian Pony ought to be a familiar face! She was featured in this blog post: Spotted Dreams Studio: WIP Wednesday ~ Roans Everywhere

She’s almost done now! I’ll be doing a few more layers of color on her mane and tail, and re-touching/perfecting her eyes and hooves. After that she’ll be ready for gloss!

This gal needs quite a bit more polishing up, but she’ll be done soon! I thought I had a full body photo of her, but I can’t seem to find it. Sorry! She is a purple roan tobiano. 💜

These foals are a very fun commission for a repeat client. Both of them are really just in their early stages, so their whites are VERY streaky looking! They should be ready for their glamor shots in a couple of weeks.

Here is a fun side project I’ve been working on alongside my commissions. I’m not really sure what I’ll do with her when I’m done with her or what color she’ll end up being. I actually really like her as a solid so far! Her base coat is far from done (look at those streaks and graininess!) but she’s not a rush project. I like having at least one “slow” custom that doesn’t have a deadline.

Sneak Peek of one of the completed customs!

I have two completed customs I’m excited to show you, but they will have to wait for another day. One of them is a sales piece (who just sold, sorry!) and the other was a part of a trade.

Speaking of selling customs though, I wanted to post a quick update on commission availability. Currently I am booked up until the end of May, HOWEVER, I may consider exceptions, so feel free to reach out. I will be opening my books for June/July sometime in May, probably. Until then, keep your eyes open for some fun sales pieces that have not been shown on my pages yet!

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a beautiful weekend. 🖤

PS

My new hobby room carpet has been delayed until mid-April, so I won’t be doing many herd member spotlight posts until then. Sorry!

WIP Wednesday ~ Roans Everywhere

YES. I know it's Thursday. The auto post feature failed me lol.

I thought it might be fun to do a little Wednesday feature on some of my work in progress models! I have a lot of roans in my studio right now, and today's post will put a spotlight on two very special little mares.

This model is a really fun piece that I'm working on for KellieRae Turnmire. She commissioned me to do a mini me of a custom Traditional Indian Pony that she painted. Isn't she cute? 

Here's her reference pic:

I'm having a lot of fun working with this model, as roans are one of my favorites to paint. This little lady needs several more layers of white and some dark shading to go before she can get details!

The other wip for today's post is this pretty paint G4 Quarter Horse, who is for Michele L.!

Right now she looks more like a cloudy bay, but she's on her way to being fully roaned! She has at least 5 more layers before she's truly recognizable. She's to be a pretty purple roan tobiano, inspired by a sort of blending between these two references. 💜

I have four other commissions on the table at the moment, but I'll save them for another post! Hint: Two of them are spotted ✨

NaMoPaiMo 2026 ~ Puzzle

Well, I forgot to post a proper NaMoPaiMo post this February. Oh well, I suppose better late than never!

My namo horse this year is a Lonesome Glory. I lovingly refer to him as "Puzzle".

Puzzle was pretty beat up and had obviously been a child's play pony at one time or another, because he had several added markings in a thick, chalky white paint. Nothing a few hours of prep work and a bath or two wouldn't solve!

My plan for Puzzle was to paint him in hand brushed acrylics and pastels, using predominantly techniques that were new or at the very least, not my go-to methods. (Spoiler alert, this plan was abandoned.) I decided on a unique bay blanket appaloosa for my color. (Pattern references below.)

I started out the month strong, getting two layers in the first day. I experimented with some random color tones that I saw suggested amongst other hobbyists, and I liked what I was seeing.  There is no such thing as a pretty hand brushed base coat lol, but he was smooth to the touch, and the pigments were playing nicely with each other.

I somehow forgot to photograph almost all of the most important part of the process, where his shading and opacity was being built up.

In my defense, nothing was going to plan, and I was especially stressed because the deadline was looming menacingly on the horizon. I tried a new pastel technique, and it FAILED. Miserably. Leaving Puzzle a grainy, smudgy mess.

It took about a week to bring him back to a semi-passable state, and as much as I wanted to keep fixing him, I had to press on if I wanted to get to my appy markings. It was at this point that I abandoned all of my grand ideas of using all new techniques. 🫠

I spent a few very late nights finishing his shading and ever so slowly building up his white layers.

We finished on February 28th, just hours before the deadline.

He's not my favorite pony I've ever painted but he's done, and that's what namo is about. I had fun, even if Puzzle made me want to pull my hair out sometimes. 😂 This community is awesome. Something about hundreds of people all having art breakdowns at the same time makes it all worthwhile. ✨