What's on your workbench?

Chip .........

Nice job on the cal king reproduction.



Kerby...

 

Thank you Brian! Kerby, thank you for the awesome and accurate replica!

 

Hello everyone

Its been a while since i posted anything or painted anything or that matter. Kinda go through phases and what not. Anyway, i recently finished up an Eastern Spotted Newt Replica that I got through Morgans. I think it turned out pretty good overall. I apologize for the glare on the pics, but it is about as good as I could get. Hope everyone is having a great start to the summer.

Chris

 

I just read the replies since i posted way back in the winter, and i really appreciate the kind words guys. I figured i would go ahead and post a few pics up of a texas horned lizard I am working on. They have alot of variation in colors, but i went with a redder type version. I still have more work left to do on him, but should finish him up in the next couple of days. Have a good one

Chris

 

Those turned out awesome!

 

He's back! Great to see your replicas again chris.i love them. Great job dude.

 

After a ton of trial and error, and some help from the good folks on here, i was able to come up with the colors i was looking for on a bullfrog. I started with a head replica, and soon will do the full frog. It turned out okay overall, and hopefully will look pretty good one its in its final display.

Chris

 

Great job chris

 

Hey everybody and hope your all doing well.

I don't get much time to work on replicas anymore, but i did finish up a few I have been working on. The first is a snapping turtle head and it may not look like it took much time but i put quite a bit of effort into it. Doing a full size snapper replica would be a nightmare, especially if its a really well marked up turtle. I also started using Live Eyes. They make the best reptile eyes around bar none, especially when it comes to these really small reptiles.

 

I also finished a full size bull frog. I attempted one that was really well marked and it came out okay. Im still trying to tweek the brown to get the right look, but will know better on the next one. Luckily they come in all different colors and shades so i could get away with it on this one.

Chris

 

very nice chris

 

Thanks museum man. I appreciate that. Im trying.

 

Hey guys,

Thought i woul post this guy. All in all its a pretty crappy result. But it is what it is. I really don't know what im doing when trying to paint snake replicas. Often the snakes have 3 to 4 pronounced colors per scale. I tried to think of a way to get this look with this snake, but was not successful. Its a brighter coloration of a corn snake that I really liked and tried to achieve. Unfortunately I just had this one picture to go by, which made things even more difficult, as I couldn't see all the markings on the snake. So i basically just had to combine side markings from other snakes to get an overall blueprint. I have had this blank for probably 2 years now, and have completely repainted it at least 8 times. so much so, that alot of the scale mold detail is gone. But it is what it is. Im not painting it anymore. I would love it if someone put out a reptile replica snake painting DVD to help show the tricks of the trade to get minute details on these snakes. I have some articles from Kerby from taxidermy magazines, and am going to try those techniques on a king snake, but on snakes like this, I just draw a blank. In particular the depth and realism were a problem. The black isn't near as natural and soft as it is in the real snake. The yellow haloes around each indiviudal scale showing through the red and orange were also unachievable for me. I tried all kinds of mediums including pastels, watercolors, washes, etc. I just couldn't ever get it to look right. So here is the result. Kinda embarassed to show it, but here it is. Any tips on how to do better would be greatly appreciated. I just suck at doing snakes.

Have a great weekend
Chris

 

You did very well. You can also apply color with a paper towel or cloth or airbrush. Some scales have a hard edge while some have a soft edge. And you are right, there are numerous colors on a scale. Once you get get your pattern and basic colors done you can seal with a matte finish (to protect your work). This way you can apply a color and wipe it off leaving the color between the scales. You can also do a dry wash and apply color (very lightly) to highlight the top of the scales. And then you can always get a magnifying glass and a very small paint brush ........

On your cornsnake you can air brush or dry wash some orange/brown between the saddles. And then take a small paintbrush and paint the scale tips (lighter orange/yellow). And use a matte finish.

I will be giving a seminar at the Western Regional in Albuquerque, NM this April on painting a reproduction rattlesnake.



Kerby...

 

Thanks for the kind words Sonny. Nice to hear from you.

Thanks for your response Kerby. I really appreciate it. You are about the only guy out there that i know of who is putting out instructionals on painting reptile replicas. Is there any chance that you could have your seminar taped? I would gladly pay whatever your asking price would be. Im in WV, so i doubt i will be able to attend, but i would pay whatever the cost to get that recorded. That would be invaluable to a guy like me.

The corn snake is mostly done with airbrush so far, with various layers sealed in with matte finish as you mentioned. I probably should have mixed the black with some dark brown because that real deep black just doesnt' look all that natural. The red is off too, but oh well. I tried to highlight the top of the scales as you mentioned and experimented around with an airbrush, but didnt get great results I tried some pastels and some soft watercolor pencils but they didn't give a great result. I thought about using a paintbrush, I was just worried that it might look "painted on". But i will give it a try and see how it turns out. It can't be worse than it is.

I am not all together clear on the concept of washes though. I have done washes before to get, for example, a black color between scales. Is that what you mainly use wet washes for Kerby? Or do you allow some to actually dry on the top of the scales? And when you say dry wash, what exactly are you referring too? I know thats a stupid question, but still. Are you referring to dry mediums like powdered pigments? I really appreciate the advice. I have your article on molding/painting a kingsnake (i believe) and am going to try it in the future.

Thanks again Sonny and Kerby, and if you can get your seminar recorded Kerby, ill be the first to pick it up.
chris

 

Awesome work everyone! Got a nice western on the work bench for a customer. Hey I can finely post a picture LOL ! Awesome !
Tommy

 

First Gator First turtle.