Completed Black & White

[Taouletta]

Hi,
Thank you Bob.
You're right !

Does anyone know Mike Blank's colour combination for African skin? My French is awful! Is there a copy of this article in English?

Mr Mike BLANK wrote :
"The base colour of the face is a very dark brown, consisting of black, red and leather (HU 62), all paints in the Humbrol range. The highlights are achieved by adding more leather to the base mix (definitely not white!) and the shadows are achieved by adding oil burnt umber to Humbrol black at the base. Don't be afraid to mix oil paint with Humbrol: believe me, it works perfectly!"
Hope I translate good because my English not so good...

The "raquettes" should be vertical...

ENJOY !

 

[Nap]

Hi Eric

Looking good on the base groundwork

Will you change the racquettes , you've certain the skill to do so

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Taouletta]

Hi Nap,
I'm not going to change the position of the rackets because I don't have the part and especially because it could cause damage to the head.
The figurine is well fixed on the base and it's little difficult to work on it now...
ENJOY !

 

[PropBlast]

Hi,

Mr Mike BLANK wrote :
"The base colour of the face is a very dark brown, consisting of black, red and leather (HU 62), all paints in the Humbrol range. The highlights are achieved by adding more leather to the base mix (definitely not white!) and the shadows are achieved by adding oil burnt umber to Humbrol black at the base. Don't be afraid to mix oil paint with Humbrol: believe me, it works perfectly!"
Hope I translate good because my English not so good...

Many thank Taouletta. I'm a big fan of Mike's work and would love to find more articles and sbs guides by him. Can anyone suggest further reading or online sources for more information?

 

[Nap]

Many thank Taouletta. I'm a big fan of Mike's work and would love to find more articles and sbs guides by him. Can anyone suggest further reading or online sources for more information?

Highly recommended


Nap

 

[Mike the Swede]

Dear Friends!
Great work on the figure, can´t wait to see it painted!

My mix for dark skin?
Well, since I switched to acrylics several tears ago my mix these is slightly different... And I also try to create new mixes for most of my painting projects!
Just love to play around with some different paints and see what I might come up with! Sometimes it works and sometime it doesn´t!
But remember that it is the mistakes that we learn from! A mix today by yours truly for painting dark skin, I would aim for a darkish chocolate tone with perhaps a touch of blue, highlighted with a light flesh tone and perhaps some ivory mixed for the strong highlights. And absolutely no white! This would likely kill the color values. For shading I would mix a darker shade of the base mix with some really dark blue, burnt umber and a very dark red tone, To add some warm to the face you could have a really warm dark pinkish/orange tone.
Sounds vague... ? Yeah, maybe it does, but I want you guys to try mixing your own color mixes and to create your own palette!
Experimentation is indeed the key. And it is fun as well!

And I really should do some sbs articles for you guys.... Will try to sort that one out! Soon!

Take care
Mike

 

[PropBlast]

Dear Friends!
Great work on the figure, can´t wait to see it painted!

My mix for dark skin?
Well, since I switched to acrylics several tears ago my mix these is slightly different... And I also try to create new mixes for most of my painting projects!
Just love to play around with some different paints and see what I might come up with! Sometimes it works and sometime it doesn´t!
But remember that it is the mistakes that we learn from! A mix today by yours truly for painting dark skin, I would aim for a darkish chocolate tone with perhaps a touch of blue, highlighted with a light flesh tone and perhaps some ivory mixed for the strong highlights. And absolutely no white! This would likely kill the color values. For shading I would mix a darker shade of the base mix with some really dark blue, burnt umber and a very dark red tone, To add some warm to the face you could have a really warm dark pinkish/orange tone.
Sounds vague... ? Yeah, maybe it does, but I want you guys to try mixing your own color mixes and to create your own palette!
Experimentation is indeed the key. And it is fun as well!

And I really should do some sbs articles for you guys.... Will try to sort that one out! Soon!

Take care
Mike

Thanks for the comprehensive reply Mike. Out of interest why did you switch from enamels/oils to acrylic (other than acrylics being water based and easier to clean up it)? You can get thinner for enamels and oils than is odourless these days.

 

[Mike the Swede]

Well the reason. or reasons were several. I felt I had explored the Humbrols for some 25 years and I felt I needed a change to progress and to improve. There was also the fact that acrylics dried faster and had much better covering, so with all this I slowly "converted" from Humbrols to acrylics. The interesting this is that I keep my color mixes, my palette of colors pretty close to what I have always wanted and aimed for; saturated colors, muted and low key.
Although I switched the type of paint, my feel and sense for color, their mixes and how I personally view colors never changed.

 

[PropBlast]

Well the reason. or reasons were several. I felt I had explored the Humbrols for some 25 years and I felt I needed a change to progress and to improve. There was also the fact that acrylics dried faster and had much better covering, so with all this I slowly "converted" from Humbrols to acrylics. The interesting this is that I keep my color mixes, my palette of colors pretty close to what I have always wanted and aimed for; saturated colors, muted and low key.
Although I switched the type of paint, my feel and sense for color, their mixes and how I personally view colors never changed.

Very interesting reading and your thoughts on colours. I also prefer muted colours unless the subject absolutely calls for brighter colours. How did you adjust to the faster drying time of acrylics compared to Humbrols and oils? Personally I find it very hard to work with acrylics because of the quick drying time even when using retarder medium. I guess I like the feel of enamels and oils with the ability to blend them with time to spare even if they do take longer to dry.
Out of interest do you use Scale 75 acrylics exclusively or do you use other brands as needed?

 

[Mike the Swede]

When I was younger I did a lot of watercolors and I loved the way it felt when painting using these paints, so switching to acrylics was not such a huge step for me... when I paint I use a very light touch, almost letting the brush dance lightly on the figure, building up the many thin layers.

As for paints I use whatever it takes!
Scale 75, Andrea, Vallejo, Reaper, AK and tube acrylics.
Same with brushes, I use whatever works for me. W&N, Scale 75 and several other brands.
Why use only one good brand when you can use several good brand names!

 

[Taouletta]

Hi,
Here is the "bonnet à poils" made.
I will come back to this later to balance it all out.
ENJOY !

 

[Nap]

Hi there Eric

Nice update on this , possibly push the shadows and highs a bit more on the cords and flounders ?

Like the work on the actual headwear

Nice to see a medal added , presumably the Order of Two Sicilies

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Taouletta]

Hi Nap,
You're right.
I will try to contrast more.
Yes this medal would like to be the Order of two Sicilies.
I think the ribbon is blue (?)
ENJOY !

 

[Steve Edwards]

Bravo for the earring! My eyes are aching just thinking about it.

As for painting african skin. As usual, it's best to observe from nature. But, of course, you can't go staring at people so observe from Google images instead. Here's an example:



I've had quite good results (by my standards!) by using oils over an matt acrylic base. Paint the face a beige-brown acrylic and let it dry. Then apply burnt umber oil paint all over. Let it sit for a few hours and then start wiping off. Fancy up your wiping with a small filbert brush and blend it all together.

It's not a bad idea to have a set of heads mounted on sticks so that you can have a practice.

Your figure is going to look great when it's finished. All the best.

 

[Mirofsoft]

Hello Eric,
For the white I usually use the following mix : Vallejo white 950 + a little bit of mat earth 983 + a very few amount of neutral grey 992.
light base + 950.
Shadow base + 983 + burnt umber 941.

For the yellow I have forgotten the mix, sorry...I'm sure someone, here on PF, will answer

I will be happy to see your version then go on Eric !

Mahm d

By distilling, you can try to separate green in blue and yellow, then...

 

[Taouletta]

Hi,

It's not a bad idea to have a set of heads mounted on sticks so that you can have a practice.

Yes, it's what I did because first time I paint a black face.
Thank you Steve.

Mirosoft, happy to see you here.
ENJOY !

 

[Steve Ski]

Eric, great first run, you are tackling this quite nicely.

IMHO, uniform or facial tones in the super dark or super light range are only a matter of subtle variations in tonal application. It can be a mental twister, but for me I just try to keep the shadows and highlights to a minimum. I'll be watching this thread as well, great work, Buddy!



Not to jack this thread any further, but thanks, Mike, great advice, very helpful! I don't ever want to stop learning this "Sport"!

Dear Friends!
Great work on the figure, can´t wait to see it painted!

My mix for dark skin?
Well, since I switched to acrylics several tears ago my mix these is slightly different... And I also try to create new mixes for most of my painting projects!
Just love to play around with some different paints and see what I might come up with! Sometimes it works and sometime it doesn´t!
But remember that it is the mistakes that we learn from! A mix today by yours truly for painting dark skin, I would aim for a darkish chocolate tone with perhaps a touch of blue, highlighted with a light flesh tone and perhaps some ivory mixed for the strong highlights. And absolutely no white! This would likely kill the color values. For shading I would mix a darker shade of the base mix with some really dark blue, burnt umber and a very dark red tone, To add some warm to the face you could have a really warm dark pinkish/orange tone.
Sounds vague... ? Yeah, maybe it does, but I want you guys to try mixing your own color mixes and to create your own palette!
Experimentation is indeed the key. And it is fun as well!

And I really should do some sbs articles for you guys.... Will try to sort that one out! Soon!

Take care
Mike

 

[Taouletta]

Hi,
Today the face.
Maybe I'll come back with oils tomorrow...
ENJOY !

 

[Dr Bison]

Well, that's coming along nicely. Following.

Karl

 

[Taouletta]

Hi,
Wip... continue...
I try to do my best but itsn't easy...
ENJOY !