WIP Another Bust

[DaddyO]

Following on from the Roman I finished recently I wanted a nice quick thing to paint whilst waiting for some groundwork bits to arrive for the Chasseur and this was sitting on the shelf and is sooooo beautiful that it had to be done

Thought a few pics might be of interest as I go along. Since the eyes are THE most important thing on this bust (as with others) I decided to start with them and painted the whites first and then the rest of the eyes in two sessions of about 40 minutes. All painted with acrylics using the nifty Redgrass wet pallet (which I officially love)

The bust was first primed with Citadel black and I also tried a 'light source' using a pale grey car primer and left for 24 hours before painting started.

The whites of the eyes are painted and shaded using a mix of basalt grey and light flesh primarily with a touch of burnt red added for the pink bits.
I used a green, who's label is missing (Napoleonic?) , basalt grey, sand, very dark brown and very dark blue (from the Andrea paint sets) to make the 'black' for the pupil and add the surrounds of the eye and finally used a touch of Off white to the original 'white' mix for the highlights and additional bits.

I think there will be some additional detail work to be done once the rest of the face is painted, but I was happy enough to press on at this stage.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Nap]

Hi Not So Leggy

Nce eyes there , and a lovely choice for a bust as well ...I think the image was on the National Geographic Mag

Following on this very closely

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Banjer]

Following with interest. What is the subject, I don't recognize it?

Bill

 

[Nap]

Following with interest. What is the subject, I don't recognize it?

Bill

it's an Afghan girl ..real pretty taken in 1984.I think

Nap

 

[Richard Baxter]

Looking good. The primed piece looks a though it's rendered in stone, like a statue or monument.

 

[NeilW]

God... that first pic looks bloody frightening



Leave it like that and put it in for FOTM

 

[DaddyO]

That's the one Kev

God... that first pic looks bloody frightening
View attachment 373985


Leave it like that and put it in for FOTM

LOL Neil - My wife has insisted I finish the face at least (she said it was scary too!)

Looking good. The primed piece looks a though it's rendered in stone, like a statue or monument.

Serendipity due to crappy spraying Richard

Cheers
Paul

 

[MattMcK.]

A beautiful bust. Those eyes are hard to get right! Not to hi-jack, but here's mine, finished earlier this year.

 

[DaddyO]

Lovely job Matt - You're right about the eyes. They look bright green initially, but a close up of the photo shows they are a mixture of colours with a distinct 'sandy' ring around the pupil. I've also enlarged the pupil very slightly because it looks a bit startled rabbit like otherwise.
Cheers P

 

[KenBoyle]

God... that first pic looks bloody frightening
View attachment 373985


Leave it like that and put it in for FOTM

I agree completely. Haunting to say the least. BUT, beautifully done.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[Viking Bob]

Wow the eye's have it. Lovely work.

 

[Blind Pew]

I love those eyes. I could stare into them all day.

The figure's mate, not yours.....

 

[DaddyO]

I love those eyes. I could stare into them all day.

The figure's mate, not yours.....

I feel like Ka . . . 'Look into my eyes . . .'

 

[Martin Antonenko]

Her name is Shabat Gula, the original picture was taken by photographer Steve McCurry in 1985...:



This is like Shabat Gula looked 2016...



an this in 2017...:




The pictures tell more than many words about the hard living conditions - especially for women! - in Afghanistan ...


Cheers

 

[Dr Bison]

One of my favourite photos of all times! I also have the bust somewhere in my GA, and one fine day ...

Sharbat Gula was about 12 years old, when McCurry took this striking portrait of her - and I agree with Martin: The living conditions for ordinary women are extremely hard in Afghanistan (and Pakistan, where Gula also lived for some years).

 

[DaddyO]

Thanks gents

Up bright and early this morning so I sneaked in a quick session before starting work. I blocked in the face so it's a bit less scary - long way to go, but I was just trying to get a feel of the skin tone and rough areas of shadows and highlights at this stage. I've also added the green which shows through the red shawl and blocked in the hair. Not sure how useful the pallet shots are, but let me know if they are helpful

Toodlepip
Paul

 

[Ferris]

Great work Paul! I did this one some time ago and had a really hard time figuring out the eyes. You have done a terrific job on them.
Pics are on my vBench, if you need another reference.

Following with interest.

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[Dr Bison]

Paul,
I'm following this with interest, and she looks better and better.
The image of your pallette is very interesting at least to me, as I'm still trying to get to grips with acrylics...
Keep up the good work (with lots of updates, please)
Cheers
Karl

 

[DaddyO]

Great work Paul! I did this one some time ago and had a really hard time figuring out the eyes. You have done a terrific job on them.
Pics are on my vBench, if you need another reference.

Following with interest.

Cheers,
Adrian

Thanks Adrian - the eyes look a bit brown on the last picture I notice, but they look greener in real life. They are very compelling though and were a challenge to do compared with the tiny dots on a 54 mm figure. Feel free to post yours if you've got the images, I'd love to see it (I'm not at all precious about threads. I think they are more of an online chat between folks who all chip in with their views or experiences; makes the whole exercise of posting more fun IMO)

Paul,
I'm following this with interest, and she looks better and better.
The image of your pallette is very interesting at least to me, as I'm still trying to get to grips with acrylics...
Keep up the good work (with lots of updates, please)
Cheers
Karl

Thanks Karl (I forgot to add it to my last post)
I used to work using very thin washes. I've found with the wet pallet I'm more precise with the colours I mix (if that makes sense?) and it's easy to go back to the same colour on the pallet and tweak it a bit if it dries too dark or light . . .
The basic skin mix is brown sand and beige red with some green and burnt red added. I lightened it using more beige red and darkened by adding a very dark blue (it looks like a blob of black on the right hand side of the pallet) As I say at this stage I just wanted to get some colour on the face so the final colour will be different.

Cheers for now
Paul

 

[Geoff Charman]

That last pic is stunning Paul, like the others I love the original photograph.

Geoff