Baby Zodiacke ~ Manuscript pony

[Griffin]

Some of you may remember Lindisfarne, a manuscript themed pony I made for my MA thesis supervisor as a gift back in 2014. I've been wanting to do another ever since and now I finally decided to put those plans into action. Baby Zodiacke was made for a friend's & colleague's birthday and I chose to base my design on one of the 16th-century manuscripts she studied for her PhD.

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I had to complete this quickly so I decided to go with a baby pony, the bait was a discoloured Baby Blossom. Fully repainted in acrylics, sealed with polyurethane varnish and rehaired in several colours of nylon hair from my stash, not all of them were in their original bags so I can't name all the colours. A couple of different browns and blondes, Black Magick, and a blend of two reds (Candy Apple and Cherry Pie, I think). The pics don't show it very well but the body colour has some intentional blemishes to mimic 500-year-old parchment.
The lettering is a little smudged too and I'm not even sure anymore if that's intentional or not, but it suits the pony so it doesn't really matter.  The original manuscript has some red smudges, too, but I left those out.

Her symbol is a Zodiac diagram and I also included a few lines of the explanatory text following the diagram in the manuscript. I wasn't faithful scribe, due to the small space I had to divide the lines differently and drop some redundant words (the original has "This Figure Aboue", for example). Other than that, I tried to preserve the original spelling and abbreviations and replicate the scripts as well as I could in such a tiny size. Her NDS is blank.

Despite the detailed work this was a quick custom, perhaps 5-6 hours or so spread over four days.

[SunPony]

Yes, I remember Lindisfarne!  Gorgeous!  And little baby Zodiacke is as well.  That is so much detail on such a tiny pony, and it looks so well done, especially the tiny diagram on her back!  And I love how you made the body look like old parchment, such a neat idea and well-executed.  I'm sure your friend loved her!

[Heelys]

That's incredible! I never would have connected late medieval manuscripts to pony customs, and yet it seems so natural here... such a beautiful blending of interests. I love her back especially.

[Ponybookworm]

She's amazing, & the detail!!! WOW!!!

[BlackCurtains]

She's awesome! Is she textured? Or is that the intentional paper look you were talking about, because she totally looks like parchment.

[Griffin]

Thank you, everyone!

She's awesome! Is she textured? Or is that the intentional paper look you were talking about, because she totally looks like parchment.

Thanks! She has some texture simply because of my handpainting process. I could've added a few more coats but decided against it, instead I grabbed a tissue and buffed the paint to make it smoother and shinier, that seemed to be the perfect final touch! (Discovered this accidentally, as I applied too much dark brown "dirt" and needed to wipe it off. ) The sealant dulled the shine and made it look more natural. 

[Blackness]

Griffin, she's beautiful!! Your painting skills ate out of this world, I can't believe she only took you a few hours to complete! I would love to do a trade with you one day but I'm afraid I'd take far too long to finish lol..

Awesome work, I love her!

[Griffin]

Griffin, she's beautiful!! Your painting skills ate out of this world, I can't believe she only took you a few hours to complete! I would love to do a trade with you one day but I'm afraid I'd take far too long to finish lol..

Awesome work, I love her!

Aww thanks!  I'm not usually this quick! Indeed I would've preferred to allow the paint dry for a bit longer. And anyone who has ever traded with me knows I take my time with swaps  Especially if the customs involve sculpting. (I have one trade in progress right now - since several months already - which I would prefer to complete before committing too any new ones... but I'm definitely up for a trade at some point, do remind me!)

[pandabear_chan]

Oh wow look at these handpainting skills - I'm truly impressed by your detailed work!

[pinkkittywinks]

WOW! The details I am really impressed with your freehand skills

Love pkw xxx

[Griffin]

Thank youuu Meticulous work is what I love best!

[Blackness]

Aww thanks!  I'm not usually this quick! Indeed I would've preferred to allow the paint dry for a bit longer. And anyone who has ever traded with me knows I take my time with swaps  Especially if the customs involve sculpting. (I have one trade in progress right now - since several months already - which I would prefer to complete before committing too any new ones... but I'm definitely up for a trade at some point, do remind me!)

Absolutely we will have to organise a trade when we both have the time, I love your ponies! I'm in the process of completing my first paid commission and it's taking me forever lol but I'll hopefully have some time later this year.. It's a relief to hear that you don't usually finish a pony in a matter of hours!

[Pheasant]

This is such a unique and beautiful custom! I hope you continue to revisit this theme in the future, it's amazing. <3

[Griffin]

This is such a unique and beautiful custom! I hope you continue to revisit this theme in the future, it's amazing. <3

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I will

[Leave a Whisper]

What a lovely custom.