Studio Sommer

It's been a crazy year, hasn't it?   I was going to post about The Jennifer Show last year, but time got away from me.  Eventually, it got awkward to post about a September show in December, which was how long it took me to finally get these posts mostly done.  I thought maybe I'd revisit it next year?  Maybe publish this for the one year anniversary instead . . . .  Did any of us have any idea what the next year would bring?  Thanks, 2020.   Facebook started dropping TJS reminders a few days ago.  "Hey loser, remember what having fun was like?"  So, I thought - since none of us have probably traveled much since - why not go ahead and post about this adventure now?  That way we could recall the "before times". You know, back when we could still "do things". I had hoped to post here about the first TJS show held in September, 2016.  I had an entire road trip planned around it.  First, Durango, then Denver, then Santa ...

There's a funny saying out there.  It goes, "The best way to make God laugh?  Tell him your plans." We all have ideas on what direction our life is going to take us, and then, things unexpectedly change.  I started this Blog only hoping to share a few fun art tips and info about being a commercial artist.  This was never meant to be a place for me to share personal information, or talk about "deep" subjects.  However, for once, I'm going to share a little bit of personal information, publicly, in hopes it can help someone else out there. 2013 was a pretty miserable year for me.  I lost two friends to cancer.  One was my dear friend Brett.  We had a very unique friendship going on since 1999.  The guy drove me completely crazy sometimes.  Yet he could also be generous, thoughtful, and loyal, and in the end, those were the traits I chose to care about.  It turns out you can accept someone exactly for who they are, as they are, an...

Before any model can be painted, first it must be prepped. Models in various stages of prepping. Prepping is the fine art of readying a resin or plastic model horse for painting.  Seems simple, but a poorly prepped horse could have a bad seam line, distracting from an otherwise good paint job.  Or even worse, a badly prepped model may have issues with paint not sticking to the horse itself! Because of these possible issues, and the time involved in prepping a horse correctly, many painters now ask for models to be prepped for them.  This has resulted in a nice side gig for "preppers" who work exclusively on readying models for custom painting.  The fee for prep of a model horse is usually very reasonable, considering the work involved.  Often, preppers only charge $30-$40 to prep a model.  However, the postage and insurance cost added in, going both ways, can make the total bill daunting, before an artist adds a drop of paint.  And then of cour...

One of the "regular" projects that I do commercially is the annual "Beautiful Breeds" Ornaments.    The Holiday line is one of the often-overlooked areas of Breyer's product line to collectors.  I actually had no idea HOW overlooked until I began to look online for any information about it!  While it is covered wholly in Breyer printed collector's guides, (books) the online articles on Breyer's various holiday items are pretty sparse.  So, it might surprise you to find out that we are coming on to 10 years of my "Beautiful Breeds" ornaments line for Breyer! Breyer started their annual Christmas line in 1999.  As the line was getting established, they asked me if I had any ideas for products?  They already had the Stirrup ornament (features a mini version of their annual Holiday horse) and a lovely Carousel horse line that I believe, early on Kathleen Moody had some part in.  My only idea was pretty basic.  Well, how about just a horse...

A lot of times I'll be working on projects here in the studio, and I'm unable to share what they are because it's "top secret".  Usually, it's just a realistic paint prototype, (read: yet another brown horse) or the annual "Beautiful Breeds" ornament, or some other little thing.  But, every now and then, I get to try  something totally new! Breyer's Web Special, "Luna".  Photo copyright Breyer. I've had the opportunity to work on two unique projects this year that are outside of my norm.  One is still under wraps, but the other was just revealed today!  This is Breyer's latest Web special.  It features artwork of wolves running on the side, and the coolest part is when you turn the lights off, the wolves glow in the dark. Glowing effect on "Luna".  Photo copyright Breyer. This concept was my creation, and I'm so grateful that Breyer was willing to give it a shot when I proposed the idea to them.  I have ...