" And quiet flows the Don "

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30. Day, November 28, 2018


"Aksinja Astakhova" (or Elena Bystrizkaja, who plays her in the movie) has big, expressive and almost black eyes ...:






These "black eyes" (Russian: Очи чёрные / "Otschi Chorniye") used to be a special beauty ideal in ancient Russia - there is even a pretty famous song about them ...:




Pitch black eyes do not exist with "whites" of course, they are then of a very dark brown, but appear "black".

And this way I painted them, with a mix of around 50:50 "Black" and "Chocolate Brown".

Otherwise, my other eye colors were used ...:



And - do you like "Aksinjas" eyes ...?








Cheers

P. S. Tomorrow I can not continue here, because I have a - unfortunately not very enjoyable - appointment in Hamburg...
 
31. Day, November 29, 2018

Since my appointment in Hamburg has burst this morning, I got - in pouring rain outside - a few unexpected hours in the lap.

I used them to turn to the skin color of "Aksinja"!

Let's take a close look:

The skin color of "Aksinja" is a bit brighter than that of "Grigorij" - but does not go rosy! After all, "Aksina" is a Cossack and also a lot in the fresh air ...:



In the next picture, the difference in skin tones seems much more extreme - but that's when she dies, that does not matter!

I have taken these colors for "Aksinjas" skin, but really only mixed traces of the "Carmine Red" into the base color, otherwise it quickly becomes rosy ...:


While painting I noticed quite quickly: women - especially young ones - are to paint much harder than men!
You have to find the middle ground between smooth skin - super soft blended! - and still visible later contoures. If you somehow get away from this "middle ground", then you paint the contours much too hard (works unnatural) or you make them when blending away again (works too smooth and one-dimensional).

I sweated blood and water!

Today I painted the forehead of "Aksinja" until it seemed ready to me...:


And here the skin tone compared to "Grigorij" ...:



So - and now "The whole stop!" - I want to put the skin tone here for discussion.

I am really very interested to hear your honest opinion!

Keep doing what you're doing? Change something? Fire-free!
Thank you - and Cheers
 
Hi Martin

Good that you had a couple of hours ........female flesh ......dread doing this at times

Looking at the film pictures her skin is quite different , my initial thoughts are you could push the colour lighter but as its just the forehead get the whole flesh to this level and then relook at the highs

Just as a matter of interest have you any thoughts on the headscarf colour .......this might affect how the flesh looks

Nap
 
Hi Martín

Look good but IMO you could push the highs slightly more on her nose

This is a very special piece ( as are all to you ) and it shows in the way you approach the project

Reading back a little ....certainly looking forward to the basework as well

Thanks for sharing

Nap
 
33. Day, December 3, 2018

I think (hope!) I'm done with the skin!

I put the lights and shadows asymmetrically, because "Aksija" tends to hug her lover.

Consequently, the light does not come from the top, but rather from the top ...:




Hair, eyebrows and lips you have to think about, because I want to paint with acrylics - and Acryls on wet oil paint is not so good ...:


Oh yes: blended everything is neat, it's just these light reflections that seem to suggest something else!

So - here are the skin tones of "Grigory" and "Aksinja" again in comparison ...:



Of course, the final assembly brings the two closer together - only if I do the NOW for just one photo do I would sprinkle "Grigory" fresh oil over the suit ...
So much for today.
Cheers
 
Hi Martin

Apart it's difficult to see the way of light but together IMO it works

Be good to see once oils have dried back more

Don't touch the cost ...looks good again IMO !!

Thanks for sharing

Nap
 
Hi Martin

You should be satisfied , she looks good

When all is finished will you revisit the flesh for highs ?

Perhaps lips are a little red compared to pictures ?

Thanks for sharing

Nap
 
35. Day, December 5, 2018


With today's fine tuning ends painting the faces!

I put together "Aksinja" and "Grigorij" temporarily ...:




What can we see?

The facial colors fit well together, the "Aksinja" looks much fresher, "Grigory" on the other hand looks grayer, more exhausted - just like a front-line soldier. I like that!

What I do not like is that "Grigory"'s face looks a bit plumper.

Today, I countered this with a fine-tuning by giving "Grigory" some targeted highlights:

On the forehead, under the lock of hair, on the bridge of the nose, nasal tip and nostrils, on the zygomatic bones, the nasolabial fold and on the ear.

So - for me it is now!

A beautiful couple - I like it!








Cheers
 
Hi Martín

A nice looking couple with good work on the flesh on both now compared close .

Personally I prefer the busts on the same level at the lower edge as in picture 1 rather than her lower

Looking forward to more on this couple

Nap
 
35. Day, December 6, 2018

Today I turn to the headscarf!

"Aksinja" wears one of white linen in all attitudes she's wearing it!

From the first scene - when she meets "Grigory" the first time while fetching water from the Don ...



... until her last scene - when she dies ...:




And even if it seems to look different at first glance, when she has wrapped a warm woolen scarf around her head (as they flee from the Bolsheviks, for example), the white cloth is usually clearly visible under the scarf!







And as this picture with her film partner together with the Nobel laureate and author of the book, Michail Scholochow, suggests, the white headscarf was also in breaks ...:





So white. A good "frame" for "Aksinja's" face, I think!

Today I have the headscarf underpainted with four very thin layers of white acrylic paint...:














And now I'm wondering if I should paint a "warm" or a "cold" white tomorrow ...


Cheers
 
Hi Martin

Very nice framing of the head with the scarf ..........

As for warm/ cold ........interesting to see which you go for ...in the pics it looks quite warm IMO

Let us see what follows in the next session

Nap
 
37. Day, December 7, 2018


Today: The headscarf - at least the second step.

I mixed my "white" out of these colors ...




And I'd like to show you how it has become - but only partially!

Outside, a storm low rages around the house - it's so dark that I can only take pictures when the daylight lamp shines directly on the figure.

Unfortunately, the hard light eats away some of the contrasts - in reality they are stronger, but not too strong!

On the following pictures one can only guess ...:











What is still missing are the highlights with pure white - I'll do it next week when the paint has dried ...

So - and then I took...



...and have dampened the red of the lips a little bit.


Unfortunately, the Sh ... light has again contributed its part to the photo! But I think you can recognize that the tipping is now reddish-brown and not red anymore ...




Have a nice weekend!


Cheers
 
Hi Martin

I can see the way the had scarf is going , interesting your mix on his should really "zing" when the highlights are in

Lips look better IMO

Thanks for sharing

Have a good weekend

Nap
 

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