" And quiet flows the Don "

[Martin Antonenko]

8. Day, October 29, 2018


So - then we want to bring "Grigorij" to life, which means, I have just turned my eyes!
In the movie, our Cossack lead actor seems to have very dark eyes ...:



But that's not true!

The "dark" impression is that the actor Sergei Glebow, who played "Grigirij Melechow" in the movie, has relatively deep eye sockets - and his eyes usually lie in the shadow of the the peaked cap!

A shot of Sergei Glebow in frontal lighting shows his true eye color - and that consists of a pretty light brown ...:



The colored contact lenses, with which one can conjure up any desired eye color with actors today, was not yet invented in the 50's, when Gerasimov turned the famous strip.

I painted the irises with these colors ...:



The "white" of the eyeballs towards the inside (nose) was created with these colors ...:



... and to the outside, to the corners of the eyes, with these oes ...:



The "red" in the corners of the eyes I have hereby made ...:



Remain the pupils themselves ...



...and the tiny reflex points which I painted with this ...:



And here's the result - uff, makro is sooo cruel ...:

 

[Nap]

Hi Martín

Those eyes certainly look very good indeed and very close to the reference you have shown

He's coming to life

Looking forward to more

Thanks for sharing

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

What I just forgot earlier:

Concerning the relation Iris: Eyeball I have kept as close as possible to the film photo above ...:




The white reflex points I'll do a little bit smaller tomorrow ...


Cheers

 

[Oda]

Your attention to detail is legendary and it pays off in the end by giving fantastic results to your work.Well done indeed.

Oda.

 

[Nap]

Your attention to detail is legendary and it pays off in the end by giving fantastic results to your work.Well done indeed.

Oda.

Agree there Oda

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

9. Day, October 30, 2018


Eyes processed or corrected - even the reflex points, which are now much smaller ...:








And then I've donated the Papakha-cap still a veeeery thin wash with pure black (as Nap had suggested!), which increases the plasticity and also blends the transitions a bit...:





I know the photos today are completely , but outside is typical Bremen "weather", with deep gray clouds, storm and rain ...

 

[Martin Antonenko]

I was made aware that when correcting the pupils, I deviated from the size ratios in comparison to the original.

If so, then it should be exactly!

So another correction - and now it fits again!




Cheers

 

[grasshopper]

Brem3n weather here as well. It’s looking like the subject in the film Martin

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

As always great in distance on accuracy ...well reworked on the eyes

The headwear works better now ...just right with the wash

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

10. Day, November 1, 2018


Today I worked on with the face of our "Grigory"!

As far as the skin color is concerned, the template photo that I have chosen ...



The scene with Aksinja, which I want to build, plays in winter - Grigorij wears a coat and a Papakha cap - and the still picture from the film fits in quite well because it shows our hero even in the cold season!

It was not that easy, the whole thing!

I usually think of a skin tone, pick out the primary colors and the phials to lighten and darken and get started.

And I like to let time and paint the face in stages.

That does not work now!

On the one hand, today I had to paint a skin tone with "cold" colors for the first time - for the second, I wanted to stay as close to the original as possible!

So I approached the skin tone in the picture step by step, that means: by mixing!

I can not tell you a real recipe today but just a little bit of all this is in the different tones ...:



And because I was really worried that I would not be able to reproduce this special skintone exactly, especially since "Grigory" would go to the workshop with me in Goslar tomorrow and continue to bepainted there, I have painted the facial skin in one step!

For the first time in my figure "career"!

Hair and beard shadow, neck, back of the head and ears are still missing.

But otherwise...:













How do you like the face so far?

 

[Joe55]

Looks natural Martin

Joe

 

[Oda]

I think that so far you have managed to keep it "cold" and "wintery" so job well done.Looking forward to your next steps.

Oda.

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

Sat here with a scarf on ...he looks cold ....perhaps push the highs a tiny bit more but then once oils have dried a bit more might not need it ...

He is I think going to look great once shadows etc are in place

Then again as usual in your pursuit of accuracy sure we will see adjustments as time goes by !!

Looking forward to more when you can ...particularly the coat textures

Thanks again for sharing

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

11. Day, November 2, 2018 (First workshop day)

I spent the weekend at a workshop in the Historical Tin Figure Museum at Goslar...



and worked intensively on "Grigorij" ...:

The first thing I did was, and I did it with pure ...



... another highlight on the papakha cap of "Grigory".

After that, I took my face colors...

... and the lights and shadows were better modulated and refined - and painted the ears and neck ...:







Finally I made with these colors ...



... a blue-gray mix and painted "Grigorij" a gentle but visible beard shadow, which is clearly visible on the photos from the movie...:



So I liked the boy quite well at the end of the first workshop day...:

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

A very productive day in the workshop there , good highlights on the headwear with the flesh looking eally good as well .

By close to the reference picture of our heron

Thanks for sharing

Nap

 

[Oda]

This is progressing very smoothly.With each and every step it gets closer to the actual movie character.Excellent work.

Oda.

 

[Martin Antonenko]

12. Day, October 4, 2018 (Second Day of the Workshop at Goslar)


Now our "Grigory" became "hairy", so to speak!

A look at the template shows: He has dark brown hair - eyebrows and mustache appear a bit darker ...:




I took these colors...




... and started with the shock of hair!

First, the mane was pre-painted with pure diluted black - the color seeps into the wells and later provides for plasticity.

Then I painted individual strands with brown-black mixtures, several times in succession, each time setting the hue a little brighter.

Finally, put a few lights on - by adding "Dark Flesh" to my brown-black mix.

The impression that arises is good!




Next came the eyebrows, which I painted according to the same principle as the hair - only slightly darker overall ...:





And finally the mustache - again a bit darker than the scalp hair ...:





Is still missing was the mouth!

The template tells us that "Grigory" has - for a man! - a quite unusual bright red appearing lip color, probably make-up!




I have myself - but a little more reserved! - held to the film template ...:






And now the head is ready!


**continued next post**

 

[Martin Antonenko]

And if I compare my "work" now with photos from the movie ...






... then I think that I am pretty close to the original!














What should I say: If the residual shine of oil paints has disappeared, which still bothers me a bit when taking pictures, then "Grigory's" head will look rather presentable ...

 

[Oda]

It looks very,very much like the original.Well done.

Oda.

 

[kagemusha]

If I may....all looks good....apart from his lip....way too dark and red...compared to your ref pics.

Regards

Ron