Hi eamonn,

Thanks, but excuse me for not understanding "mr burns way"
Please shed some light for me. Nelson

The Simpsons character........ its his catch phrase usually said after achieving or agreeing to an evil dead. The horse is epic but I wouldn't have thought in a evil way ; )

Hi Paula,
I found horses to be very mithical, as other animals too.
A TROYAN horse is a design a have in mind, and hope to make it soon. Please, feel free to coment as to some possible changes, etc. I`m not sure about all that yellow color the horse got on it. It`s pigmented cement, but I`d like to dimmer it a bit. What`s your opinion on that, or other regard about OLdie? Thanks. nelson.

Opinions are relative....but here's mine

I like the color, but then i started as a painter...if you want to dim it down, maybe try some black paint over it and wipe it off with thinner so that some of the color shows through....or just use sand paper to get the paint off...i would highly recommend doing this on a scrap piece to see if you like the results..... it would really be a bumber if you did this on your art and then hated it....("THANKS ALOT PAULA!!!!! Cuss Cuss, bad language and all that....")
Paula
Guthrie, MN

Hi Paula,
Well, I`m making sure this one will be shorter and not double posted like the one for Frank, SORRY guys! Yes, the paint and whipe tecnique might be ok, but I`m going straight on the piece with sand like 360, and even get to bare cement. The horse is OLD and looks too spotless and shiny. `With time even starts become dimmer... No cuss, Thanks! Nelson.

Hi Frank,
Indeed, mix media gives you in my opinion, the potential of each material multiplied by the potential of the other materials you wish to incorporate. A light inner structure is recomended for strength. Cement mortars are not as complicated to use and mix as may appear. Observing some basic principles, plus some common sense and some will to learn, shoul suffice. The more water you ad the more pores it`ll leave behind as it evaporates, resulting in weaker concrete. So you want to use the least water, but enough so the mix is workable. Some shapes like this horse, don`t allow you to achieve the complete shape with the first plaster, so I get my basic concrete fill shape, and I may scrape high spots in about 3-4 hrs. Next day you may smear more cement to raise spots and get closer to your final shape. The finish could be rough, or sucessive finer layers may give you a smoother finish. You can use a moist sponge to smoothen before it dries hard, a dry sponge to sort of give it a rougher look. Sand paper next day...anything you try will yield a finish! Very fine finishes are acomplish using no agregates on last layer, and sanding before it dries to hard. I`ve done this with the piece sumerged in water or a hoze running on top as I sand. Remember, the strongest concrete cures (dries so to speak) in a moist environment. Even plastic or moist cloth over helps a lot. The first 24 hrs of curing just to mention a time, are crucial, if you keep the piece moist in the shade preferably from the time starts to get hard (about 4hr) you shall get literally a piece of hard rock. A coarse sand + cement gives you a stronger concrete than using a finer sand, but the resulting texture will be rougher too, unless you employ another last finish layer using finer or no sand in your mix.Probably, it`s too cold where you live, so if there are near or freezing temperatures I wouldn`t do cement work, but you can work indoors in a little space, with a bucket of mortar, and a plastic over the table... up to you. There are www tutorials that help too. Latter you`ll want to ad oxides to color your cement. One tip on this, the particle size on many oxides are even smaller than that of most cements, so one should ad just enough, otherwise the amount of those smaller particles having a larger surface area will end up wrapping and isolating the cement, thus hindering the cementing property in the agregate, so you end up with a crumbly mix once dry. Frank, I`m not expert on this at all, just sharing the bit a know. Cement is harsh on bare hands, but there are times that certain things need to be done bear handed.You could fill a bucket with mortar, pull the bucket off (make sure it`s conic or you`ll have to brake the bucket, the concrete, or both), and start carving with any tool that could possibly come to mind, after three hrs of drying. Be gentle and fast enough so you carve the piece within 2-4 hrs from start of carving. Every minute it`ll get harder... Hope it helps some. Hey, if you can make an eagle, this will be a patty cake after a little while pal. The horse is 59x52x27 cms, and base was a rottening piece of wood, nobody could now recognize after the work done. Frank, before the end of this year, I hope to start a bird with cement and steel, and once you try and if you like it, you`ll be hooked. Cheeres. nelson.

Hi Nelson,
Thank you very much.Your response was quite informative.Life is good.....
Frank

Hi Chuck,
Art is supposed to be expression among other things,but at times we speak different languages right? Well that`s ok. Or we may uderstand it, but don`t ring no bell, LOL, and that`s ok too! The main thing is what you said: liking, enjoying art. I have so much fun with art, but I have to eat, I have to work, and so much more... I`d rather do art.I`ll give oldie some sanding, it looks too nice for an old horse, something ain`t right about his neatnesss. Thanks pal. nelson.

Hi Mele,
Your icon tell us you love horses, well thanks for liking mine too! Nelson