Still Drawing!

Really!  I did this today while the kids were playing at the Loose Park Spray Park.  The sun came out right after we were done with our other adventures and warmed the day up just enough for them to enjoy the water and me to enjoy drawing without sweating too much!  There was a red tail circling, scribbled him in, too.

 

Over previous weeks, I did a few sketches here and there.  The sketchbook's full and I need to make another, but have other things demanding my attention.  I committed to spending less time on the computer and more time with kids' activities, so we're doing stuff together, more than we used to.  Last week, we enlarged our model horse stable.  I built box stalls out of foam board and the kids each have room for over 100 small models now.  This week, Rianna and I are making leather halters for our larger models.  She's seeing how they are constructed and learning to handle glues, wire, and a craft knife.

 

EDM #019 - Handmade Tack

EDM #019 - Handmade Tack
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

Poor Gisa! This is the worst drawing of a horse I've ever done!! I'm posting her anyway...to remind myself, it can only get better!! She's a wee thing, an inch at the withers, and the tiny Native Show halter I made is extra-tiny! The headstall is a four-strand braid and the throatlatch is three strands, braided into the four at the poll, of cotton embroidery floss. So is the lead rope.

My eyes are normal, middle-aged and not as good as they used to be for close work like this, so, yes, I used a magnifying lamp and reading glasses for the details. The braiding - I have an idea that people think I braid tiny, short lengths of floss. That would be daunting...even to me! No, I use about 14-18 inch lengths, folded in half, and braid about half of it. I tie a knot at the end of the braid, so I can lengthen it if I want, and can make lots of halters out of one four-strand braided piece. I didn't learn to do the four-strand flat braid this small...I started with crochet cotton, just a little meatier and I have gobs of it. I got good with that, nice and even, then went smaller. So, with learning a new braid and scaling it down and trials...this took about 6 months to make, off and on.

Native Arab Show Halter
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

I'm still tweaking it, though. The tiny "jewels" are Balger blending filament French knots and one is pulling out already (I gave it to Rianna on Tuesday last week), so some Super Glue Gel is in order for those and the tassle knots. Halter number two will take about a day, using the pre-braided floss.