WIP Anubis, Omen, 1/10 - 1/12 bust

[franck edet]

hello friends,
here is the start for my Anubis by Omen, superb sculpt full of intricate details, textures, volumes ... so : fun to paint.
for the moment i worked only on the face, but i have to warn you : i'm going for a VERY dark Anubis, darker than any dark knight actually i've worked the eyes but i will finish them in the ultimate process as i want them luminous as on the boxart (which is a computer rendering obviously)
regarding progression, i will work on all "bio" stuff first : skin, fabrics. after this steps i will go for the golds. actually i will paint them true metals, but would you be interested in a SBS about how i approach paintnig with true metals ? just let me know in your comments
as usual it's all acrylics from scale colors.
hope you'll enjoy the dark side

 

[Nap]

Hi Franck

I was hoping your next piece would be this .....great choice

As you rightly say the boxart is computerised

As for the SBS...Absolutely please do share the golds

Look forward to seeing how the eyes will look luminous

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[franck edet]

thank you Nap, i will keep in mind the SBS so i will take pictures since the very firsts steps

 

[tock24]

Have this in the grey army so would love to see any and all renditions! The golds in a SBS would be most useful!
BR
Ian

 

[Hugo Pereira]

Hello Mr. Franck Edet

Thank you so much for believe in OMEN... In the end it will be a fantastic work...

Thank you so much...
With best regards
Hugo Pereira

 

[Nap]

Hello Mr. Franck Edet

Thank you so much for believe in OMEN... In the end it will be a fantastic work...

Thank you so much...
With best regards
Hugo Pereira

This sculpt looks to be a very popular piece ...lots of versions

Looks forward like you to Franck's artwork

Nap

 

[franck edet]

Hello Mr. Franck Edet

Thank you so much for believe in OMEN... In the end it will be a fantastic work...

Thank you so much...
With best regards
Hugo Pereira

many thanks to YOU Hugo, this piece is absolutely a joy to paint

 

[franck edet]

in due time (i'm painting only during my free times on the week-end) i will put the SBS in this thread, i think Nap will be able to move it once finished in the SBS section if he wants

 

[Nap]

in due time (i'm painting only during my free times on the week-end) i will put the SBS in this thread, i think Nap will be able to move it once finished in the SBS section if he wants

When you can of course ..enjoy what ever paint time

If yiur happy I wil copy the SBS and put it in the painting techniques ...so it's showing still on what will be a great thread here

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[franck edet]

first there is no pictures here, it's just my "theory" post about painting true metals.
But : it will be important to understand this to follow the SBS to come

1/ with metals, we're speaking about a material reflecting everything around it (whatever the metal is) and we're speaking of very high contrasts.
this is truly major to understand this.

2/ all the steps to come are done ONLY with acrylics of the best quality, forget about trendy stuff or cheapo acrylics from the dollar store (remember : i'm talking about metals)

3/ NO : Alclad doesn't work correctly in our scales, it's perfect for large surfaces like a plane but nothing else. (trust me : i tried for the last 20 years)

once this understood, it's then a question of scale : in 1:1 you could use pure gold, but in 1/10th or 54mm it won't look right. why ? because the paint will reflect way too much light.

let's take a rough example :

if i want to paint an MG42 on a german AFV in 1/35 scale, i will use first a very dark gun metal, then i will highlight the edges with silver lightly. this way i will have a "in scale" effect
because i've played with contrasts. here we will have just 2 steps : dark and highlights because it's 35 times more little than in real life.

on a 1/10th bust, your metals need to have much more definition so :

we have to apply the very same steps than on fabrics or skins : primer, dark shadows, midtones and finally highlights (you decide of the intensity and numbers of highlights)

so for example, if i want a dark gold, i will mix my darkest gold with any dark hue depending of the final light i want it can be deep blue, dark red ... whatever ... in a mix of 50/50
then i will progressively add lighter golds to this mix and work with my brush exactly the same as when i'm painting a face or a cloak ...

remember here than you want to be going slow and work little by little : as the SEALS say : slow is fast, fast is death.

important : use a satin black primer : it will show you the highlights easily (you can see this on the pictures above), take pictures, and don't hesitate to watch them .. they will guide you

do not stress on a "source light" ... in real life, light is everywhere just stay coherent

that's all for today folks, next post will be loaded with pictures but please : take the time to read this one before as this will be the base of the work !

and as usual : thanks for reading this

 

[Nap]

Hi Franck

Great start in the text ...very interesting to read and have the theory and your thoughts on this

Thanks for sharing

Nap

 

[franck edet]

so here is the "SBS" about painting gold (or any true metallic color ... Technic is the same)

please remember that English is not my native language so i'm sorry in advance for any mistakes i could make in my writings

for this sbs i will use a brand new Winsor and Newton series 7 number 1. a good and steady point is really necessary for the tiny little details.

one point : i use scalecolors paints because i love them, i'm in no way getting any advantage or salary or sponsorship for this.

let'S start :
at first i will work my base color, as with any step of painting, i want it to be a dark shade in order to work from darkest to lightest.
here i will use Negro Gold mixed with a deep blue :

i will mix those 2 colors near than : 2/3 gold - 1/3 deep blue :

now a key point : as i used a satin black as primer, i won't have to dilute my paint so much, just dip the brush into tap water and go ! i won't take a great
care of painting in all the little recesses as i want to keep high contrast. if you "push" the paint everywhere you'll loose the volumes and molded textures.
here it's up to you and your creativity to judge where to stop

first coat applied :

i hear you saying : well, it's like painting usual gold ... at this step : yes. but take note how the gold is dark and not looking shinny.
in fact the non metal color, after giving us a different shade of hue, as tone down the shinny state of the basecoat, that's exactly what i am after.

now let's go for highlights, as i said i want here a "dark" gold because ... Anubis is the Prince of Darkness ... he is not a Parsifal in all his glory !

for highlights i will first use : Dwarves gold

it is like a "midtone" but because we are speaking of metal it is really a first highlight.

I will use it the same way you would play with your midtones on a cloak for example. one point : there is no glaze here, you cannot glaze with true metals, it would separate the metallic pigments and give a weird look
much more like a "disco" make up. keep this in mind : never dilute metallic ! never !

one tip here : go slowly and work from the highest areas going down to lower parts.
another tip : use as much as possible the side of the brush to avoid the paint to flow in the recesses.

once this step done i will go after my final highlights, the so called "points of lights".

for this i will use Elfic gold, mixed with Alchemy citrus

and here i will work only on the most enlighten parts of the figure, this step i find it easy as my "midtones" are yet naturally showing where to put the highest lights.

once again i will rarely use the tip of the brush apart on really small details, so : take your time, do not rush and let each step dry correctly before deciding to add more on a same point !

finally here is the result after a 2 hours session with the brush

as you can see i managed to break the Ankh ... nothing major anyway as it would have been in the way during the whole process, i will put it back in place later and probably paint it
at the very last step, once the bust in place on its final base

that's all folks, i hope you did like this little sbs. If you have any question please feel free to ask here, i will answer with pleasure

 

[franck edet]

and here is the complete batch of final pictures for the SBS session.

regarding pictures : they are from my cell phone : Samsung A5, mode "pro" , Iso 100, light correction : 0 , white balance : cloudy
all pictures here have been taken outside in natural daylight on a cloudy winter day here in Quebec. background is a simple black floor mat coming from my car and that i never use
with our weather

 

[KenBoyle]

Fantastic work and a wealth of great information Franck! Thanks so very much.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[franck edet]

Fantastic work and a wealth of great information Franck! Thanks so very much.

Cheers,
Ken

my pleasure Kent

 

[Alex]

ça s'annonce très bien Franck !

looking really good Franck !

 

[Viking Bob]

As Ken said, great information. Beautiful painting and colour.

 

[Nap]

Hi Franck

Great SBS on using golds , saved this in my references

If possible can you also post the SBS in Painting techniques ( acrylics ) as well

Really like this bust ..definately not my normal thing

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[franck edet]

Alex, Bob, Nap : thank you very much !

Nap, i will do a copy and paste yes

 

[Steve Brodie]

coming along nicely