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Jen's Painting Thread


jen_tr

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All this and a sculptor, too? You are incredibly talented! 

 

I think your sculpting is brilliant!!! One thought, though... when sculpting on top of a fully sculpted model already, will it become to "clunky", adding so many layers of putty to an already proportionate figure...? I am thinking of a child whose mother dresses him in so many layers for the winter weather that the child cannot even put his arms down... Hehe! An exaggeration, but you get the jist. Have you tried using "dollies"? They are wire frameworks for miniatures that sculptors to add flesh to. I know Reaper makes some, but I am sure you could find others or make your own. Might be fun to experiment with, and could be a great learning experience for you. Most of the professional mini sculptors I know use dollies for their work, which is the only reason I know about them. I am a terrible sculptor!  :P

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@Quiche - He's going to be Lucius in the end - saves us having to decide between buying the old metal model and waiting ages for the new plastic!

 

@Monkeyboy - Thank you! You're totally right, adding too many layers would make him look bulky - on the other hand, there is a balance between trying to sculpt lots of little bits that need to look like they are deeper layers (e.g. the sash around his waist, that will eventually be partly covered by coat), while still getting the folds/creases right... I'm hoping I'll turn out to have walked on the right side of that thin line...

 

I hadn't heard of "dollies" before - I just sort of assumed "real" sculptors made them from scratch... and I never get the proportions right when I try! I will definitely be looking into getting some if I do much more sculpting, I think.

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Alongside Lucius, I've been painting up Mei Feng's crew. They seem to have gone pretty well, but for some reason they don't quite feel... finished... Any suggestions?

 

Mei Feng:

DSC_0006_zpsb8bf5da0.jpg

 

Kang:

DSC_0008_zps70a72358.jpg

 

Emberling:

DSC_0012_zps31dffa0c.jpg

 

Rail Workers:

DSC_0013_zps5b71bbf8.jpg

DSC_0010_zpsa3f54920.jpg

DSC_0009_zpsb38c0e3c.jpg

 

And some detail of one of the tatoos:

DSC_0011_zps9769f659.jpg

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For focusing, try setting the camera to Macro, zooming in about 2/3 the total way, then physically moving the camera forward or backward, to find the closest place where you can autofocus on the desired spot. That should help. Everything will probably be soft and out of focus, but your desired spot should come out crisp. Use lots of light, too. Hope that helps!

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You are doing really good, but I would personally add some more different shades of the colours you use. It seems like you are using only two variants of each colours, while I would personally always use 3 shades of each colour as an absolute minimum- one for the darkest creases, one for the mid tones and one for the Highlights. Afterwards you can use a glaze medium to water down some colours so you can get a smooth transition between the three shades. Later on you can experiment with using colours like violet for shadows, and colours like red, green and pink to make the skin tones more natural... but that might be going a bit to far for now ^^

 

- Hope my english is understandable :)

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I hadn't heard of "dollies" before - I just sort of assumed "real" sculptors made them from scratch... and I never get the proportions right when I try! I will definitely be looking into getting some if I do much more sculpting, I think.

 

Depends on the sculptor I think - Kev White of Hasslefree Miniatures sculpts the naked figure first and then dresses them but as far as I'm aware he does that to make it harder on himself. You're miles ahead of me at the sculpting thing though - I don't dare try!

 

The painting looks really good so far too. Pushing the contrast higher will help them look better on the table and might make them feel more finished to you - like Ikvar says try to make sure you shade and highlight each colour and you can work from there.

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My boyfriend teases me for being a "colour coward" and being too careful with my colours... I will try to follow your advice Ikvar and Wings, and push the colours a bit further! Thanks.

 

With glazes, I always seem to have trouble getting them the right consistency and applying the right amount. I often end up either with water-marks where the edge of the glazed bit is, or really deep shadows where I wanted a softer effect. Ah well, practice makes perfect, I guess!

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Make sure you don't have too much paint on your brush when glazing - wipe some/most of it off on kitchen roll and then it shouldn't pool and create tidemarks. I can't say I'm necessarily good at doing it myself, but it does make a lot of difference!

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They look great :) Great rust effect :) Mei's gauntlets look great like that! But if you want to take it further then maybe you could give them an extra, bright highlight on their cheek bones and noses etc. You could also try and paint thin eyebrows on Mei and Kang. i did that and i felt it gave their faces a bit more character.

 

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At this point, after showing mastery like yours, Jen, all the advice we could give is just nit-picking, really!! Ha!  :P

 

One thing I noticed is the eyes on the model. You paint the white and then dot the middle with black, right? Think of it differently... think of it like you would about putting on makeup. What does a woman use to make her eyes "pop" and stand out, even from 50 feet away...? Eyeliner. 

 

Try this... Paint the entire eye black first, then dot white on either side of center. Not only will that technique give you whites and pupils, but will also line the eyes to make them stand out more, even when the model is held at arm's length. 

 

Like I said, this is just nit-picky stuff... your models are stunning!!

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Thanks for the advice monkeyboy!

 

I did at one point try painting eyes like that, but I always felt that the black was too severe, and made my models look like they were wearing make-up... (as an aside, I've only ever agreed to wear make-up when absolutely necessary - e.g. in a show or dance competition where you want to make your eyes visible from a distance) So, I decided that it didn't really work for me on most models. Having said that, I do agree that the eyes on these models don't really "pop", so maybe I could try a similar thing with a dark brown instead - try to have the same overall effect, but without the starkness of the black?

 

I suspect when I get to paint Collette and her crew, however, they will definitely be getting the full make-up treatment!

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Dark brown instead of black! That had never crossed my mind, actually... I would love to see how that works for you! As far as putting makeup on a model, I have tried a few times to add a hint of blush or eyeshadow color to a female model, though it never really works out well for me.

 

(Yeah, I don't wear much makeup, either... :P  Actually, my girlfriend rarely EVER wears makeup, and she is beautiful, regardless.)

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Okay, I've done eyebrows and a little more highlight on the cheeks (thanks Sybarite), and darkened around the eyes (thanks Monkeyboy). I've also added a little reddish colour to the lips. I think they look a lot better now. What do you think?

 

DSC_0015_zps6f7467e4.jpg

 

DSC_0021_zps3a63d949.jpg

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