One of the biggest challenges in working with ceramic underglazing is that they have to be applied from light-to-dark.  That's part of what gives them their luminous quality, but it also means that some effects are extremely difficult to duplicate.  One of the hardest is soft, roany coat patterns.  White markings are not added to earthenware pieces; they are created when the bare clay is masked or the underglaze is removed.

One of my greatest challenges has been to find techniques that remove color, and mimic the softer effects traditional painting can achieve with mixed mediums and dark-to-light painting.  So far, Carterhaugh is the closest I have come to that goal.  Using a variety of tools (and a really light touch), I've given his markings very soft edges and created a sense that much of his coat is lightly roaned.  He also has a fair bit of hand painting in his mane, hooves and ear tufts.  He is intended to be a brown or black sabino roan, lightened to a dark grey by his roan hairs, and softened to a warmer tone by a good bit of sunfading.

More pictures of Carterhaugh

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