Step one- Paint the whole hoof a mix of Yellow Oxide, Burnt Sienna, and White. The mix is thin but still covers fairly well in one coat.
Step two- When that is fully dry, take a damp flat brush and dip on edge of it in my thinned white mix. Then with the white edge of the brush along the top of the hoof I do a thin layer. The result is a lighter top and darker bottom with some translucency to it. (repeat one more time if needed)
Step three- for striped hooves I add in some vertical lines with a medium grey water color pencil. Some stand alone others are in groups.
Step four- with a small wet (but not dripping) round brush I blend the water color pencil lines with vertical strokes. I may use the water color paint that ends up on the brush to add a few more faint lines.
Step five- In the same way as the 2 previous steps I add a few stripes in with the blank water color pencil and blend them in again. You can spray Dull Cote before this if you don't want the black and grey to blend together. Spray liberally with Dull Cote when you are happy with the blending.
Step six- now repeating step 2, with the same damp brush and thinned white mix. This helps set the black and grey stripes into the hoof.
Step seven- now I use a cotton swab and some Burnt Umber pastels to add in some 'dirt' and shading around the lower portion of the hoof. If you decide you have added too much, you can remove it gently with an eraser or a moistened cotton swab.
Step eight- Respray with dull cote and then apply Delta Ceramcoat Gloss Varnish. If you don't want as much gloss you can sue the "Matte" varnish, or respray with dull cote. The brush on varnish is very durable though and helps protect the hooves. All done!
