"Horses colors" Topic

Hi,

I painted a test figure of a french dragoon, i painted the horse in grey with white dots cause i think it looks nice.

But, i was wondering what was the most likely colors for horses back then.

And here's a picture of the test figure if ya want.

Horses have become my favorite painting with I doubt any two painted alike in last 3 or 4 years after making 8 out of 12 brown, 2 black 1 grey and 1 white for years.
A favorite tactic is look for pictures of a horse and try and copy it.
As for colors a few threads here last few years but some traits probably are prevalent like socks, black tips.
Think it looks good.

What colors real horses are:
link

basic guide to painting miniature horses
link

…to link but a few

As for what colors were horses back then, well, the same as they are today! You're probably talking about what color horses a particular unit would use. You would have to research that particular unit to find out.

Looks good – I think most horses were various shades of brown but there were certainly a lot of other colours – as I recall greys were especially favoured for musician's horses

Love your brushwork! Very effective

Info you have; personally I'd say soften those white spots to blurr the edges; real horse hair colouring occurs in 'stages' of pattern, not with hard edges like this.

Apply a wash- medium grey wash and don't be afraid to blend them while wet; what I mean is put down the grey then a dab of white (or cream/ linen) with another soft brush- avoid hard point brushes except when outlining details.

Sorry none of my pics are detailled enough to show,
cheers d

This book has served me pretty well over the years …

link

Something like this:-

link

Grays and whites were usually for trumpeters.

>>Grays and whites were usually for trumpeters.

Something of a misconstruction- 'usually' doesn't mean exclusively.
Habitually yes (except Russians Heavy cav)- but many whites were used by senior officers in all arms; cf N. as well.

With the exception of designated regiments, perfectly acceptable to use them for others.
-d

68% Bay Horses 28% Chestnut Horses 4% everything else

Bays
link

the full monty

link

I gave up with umpteen horse shades years ago when I noticed the three different shades of bay I used looked identical on the table. Now I follow the Britains rule of black, grey, dark brown and light brown. The dark brown horses get black manes and tails and the greys are white with light grey manes and tails. Add white socks etc to taste and you're done.

Cardinal, Your Eminence, what color paint do you use for the light bay horse? I can never find one I like.

Vallejo ,
link

I mostly use these Vallejo premium colour for horses, and by brush…they work fine with brush. very economical the dark green is my base for the chasseuers and the dark blue for dark blie things. I would say that they are excellent paint, if you choose the right colours of course,I use the gold and the gunmetal all the time as well and the carmine red

if I knew how to make a video I would, but I don't

What other colors do you use for horses?

This series (here's the chestnut horse; there are greys, browns, palominos, blacks, whites) converted me from hating painting horses to really enjoying it. I do 15mm so I've simplified the process to suit my needs but I now know what I'm doing. I started by watching them all and creating a table with each type. I've since added brown (that video I only found later), blue roan, and most recently, I've experimented to include the occasional strawberry roan. I felt more confident to do this having become confident with getting the basic horse colours right.

youtu.be/9QH1aDrWLgs

EJ you're right- I picked up a 30 yo model (RAFM) recently and painting instructions included "The painters friend is experimentation".

The better horses will look, with varying degrees, better with a base colour and then lighter washes over it- colour manes, forelegs then forlocks darker down; then white socks, usually only 2 or 3, both one and four are less usual; tail similar to mane but can be darker; and that means simply leaving a dark undercoat more visible so you don't have to reapply layers.

I try and make the strongest COLOUR impression on the haunches and shoulders where they come from under the saddlecloth; and a similar shade on the neck where invariably you will detail or place reins etc.

I try to and usually do leave the underside nearly all base colour or just black; no need detailing under there!
Because its getting toward midnite I'll post something more tomorrow,
regards

i wil not deny it i hate paintng them figs o.k. but they are my worst nightmares

Dapple is best applied with a q-tip (cotton bud) in my experience. They give a naturally feathered edge.

vallejo premium sepia,dark ochre,raw sienna, black. white and there is a grey as well,
all painted over Tamiya Hull Red XF 9 base coat applied with the airbrush washed with Vallejo sepia wash then reset..I mix up the red colours with some life colour red leathers sorts of things light legged hooves graveyard earth, yes I still have some and black hooves with life colour Panzer grey or anthracite grey, all black parts on the horse, including eyeballs are reset with the anthracite grey, then to draw it all together with a coat of Winsor & Newton galleria matt varinsh applied by brush…I do need to make a video, a lot can be seen here if you do FB,if you don'tknow what you are really don't know what you are missing link

Thank you, Your Eminence.

no worries, mate

As explained:-

‌IMG_4795.

The pic is full size at flickr.
This shows three versions of 'browns' from what I consider a pale chestnut to dark brown, none the same or attributes same.
Also an example of not getting the target and matt spray (art quality) at optimal temperatures. Leaving the embarrassing semi-gloss finish.

Other view here:-

‌IMG_4794_sm GBD Thiebault 1805 2e Bd_01 .

by DaveW, on Flickr.

Next pic over is a colour chart that is a useful guide from ?? so I'll not post here.

Invariably the last thing I paint is a thin wash (amost a washed out brush) for the blaze. Less is more here too…

Trust these also help,
d

Bays

Chestnuts

The Full Monty.
28mm Plastics,mostly done with Vallejo Premium Colours. Black highlights Life Color Anthracite Grey

Other way around Cardinal Hawkwood. The bays have the black points – main, tail, legs, tips of ears. The chestnuts have the 'red' across the whole body.

Cheers,
John

Very nice :-)

I have a couple of sources I have used for many years
Including an old Armory pamphlet on painting horses
Both Bays & Chestnuts can be a variety of shaded colors

Bays – which come in light and dark – have black legs (up to the knee), mane & tails.
Chestnuts – also light and dark – never have black mane, legs or tails. Their mane and tails are lighter than the body color.

I paint mine quite easily with an acrlyic basecoat in a light colour and then use artist water colours and take the colours off with a damp brush where I like to have whites, greys are done conventionally but also there I use a highly diluted black wash and then water colours white for the dabble.

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Very nice vW.

Also note that a golden chestnut (a light orangy chestnut colour) in its bay form is sometimes called a wild bay. The black stops just above the ankle.

the appropriate caption is under the photo therefore top one is bays,black tail, mane, lower legs, mouth and ear-tips almost down to the ear tips and the second one down is them chestnuts.I an still re learning posting photos here

Ah, I thought it was just that you clicked them in the wrong order. Clearly I was projecting my own ineptitude :~)

Excellent painting vW. I really like the Minden figures.

A Guide to Horse Color Genetics, Coat Colors & Patterns (with examples)

link

Armand

@ vW

Really nice!

@ the Cardinal

Re semi-gloss finish – my daughters are keen horsewomen so I get to hang around horses quite a lot. I have noticed that their manes and tails are dead flat but their coats are usually semi-gloss. This is the exact reverse of most people's mental picture, and it may not be true of horses on campaign, but it is definitely the case otherwise.

My own problem with bay horses is that they always seem to come out liver coloured or slightly purple.