WIP Critique Celt

[Bailey]

Just the other day I started this 70mm Celt from Art Girona. I'm trying out a new skin mix on this guy. I'm working with Reaper paints and I'm adding some of their Bronzed Skin colors into my normal mix of Rosy Skin and Fair Skin (along with browns for the darker shadows). I think the result is a nice tanned skin, something I've been trying to get a handle on for some time. I will be doing another mix for the skin of the severed head to create a paler, drained of blood sort of look.

Obviously the work is very very early on this piece. I've just given the body and pants a rough base coat. The highlighting and shading has been limited to the face. I've got a lot planned for this piece (tattoos, weathering - mud and blood splatter), so stay tuned!

Here's a close up of the face for anyone who is interested

 

[Nap]

Following this with interest esoecially that skin tone

Go get those brushes Bailey

Nap

 

[Bailey]

Thanks, Nap.

My normal skin mix is Reaper's Chestnut Brown + ~10% Rosy Shadow, Rosy Shadow, Fair Skin, Fair Highlight, and either Linen White or Pure White. It's a pretty light looking skin which is fine for northern Europe. I'll often supplement the Chestnut Brown with Mahogany Brown for the darkest shadows.

For this figure, instead of Rosy Shadow for the base, I used a 50/50 mix of Rosy Shadow and Bronzed Shadow. For the shadows, I used 60/40 Chestnut Brown and Basic Dirt along with ~10% of the base color. Some Walnut Brown was added for the deepest shadows. Highlights were a 50/50 mix of Fair Skin and Bronzed Highlight, then some Pure White for the final shine. Using just the Bronzed Skin colors is a bit too extreme for my tastes, but tempering them with the Rosy and Fair Skin colors produced a result I'm happy with. I'll definitely keep it in mind for future projects.

 

[CBDesign]

Very nice..

 

[Wings5797]

A great start Bailey
Following this with interest
Keith

 

[Tonton]

Looks good. Celts' hair was often limewashed (to make it stick up, I suppose), but I've no idea how that would affect the colour. Presumably, it would look whitish but it may be worth doing some research on that.

Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Jeff

 

[maui]

Good skin, face very intense and dramatic, wait for the rest!

 

[phil_h]

Great face so far - love all the contrast, really makes him look intense!
Phil

 

[arj]

Superb face.
Looking forward to the next step.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[peedee]

By golly that works so well.

Paul.

 

[frank h]

Hi
Really like the look of this

Not tried using Reaper paints ....Is there a UK distributor?

Frank

 

[Bailey]

Thanks, everyone.

Frank, I'm not sure... though they're reasonably popular miniature paints, so I would think someone over there would carry them. The company is based in TX, USA and I usually just order direct from them. So unfortunately I'm not much help on that front. Reaper paints are pretty similar to Vallejo, though I find them a bit easier to do layering with. Most colors you can find with other brands, but the place where they stand out are their skin tones. Most ranges have a couple, Reaper has 20+ skin tone colors (tanned skin, tanned highlight, tanned shadow, fair skin, fair highlight, etc). They're okay as is, but I think the results can be improved by mixing and matching between the sets (hence the mishmash mix I'm using here between the bronzed, rosy, and fair sets). Still, they are nice colors to start with.

I did a bit more work on the Celt. I'm still focused on the skin, but working out from the face. This time it's the neck and front of his torso.

From this side view you can see the back is just partially done. Not exactly ideal to break it up this way, but trying to paint and take care of a baby means you've got to pick you battles. Easier to paint in small sections and deal with correcting the overlaps. Plus the sculpt on his back is a bit plain. I might consult an anatomy book and see about adding some minor muscle features though the shading.

You might have noticed I've been adding some reflections on him. I did a few on his face, but the ones on his body (shoulders for example) may be easier to see. This is something I did recently on a fantasy project and now I'm trying it out here. Sort of a satin effect without using satin finish.

 

[Bailey]

Happy New Years, everyone! I haven't been able to get much painting in this past month, but I did a little in the last day or so. I'm working on the Celt again. Here's the progression on the face. The first image is from a while ago. The middle image shows the recent work done on the hair along with details like the lips. After that I went in with some glazes, which is shown in the final image on the right. Not a huge change, but glazes are meant to be subtle. Just some red in the cheeks, tip of the nose, and bottom of the ears. I also did a tiny bit of blue along the jaw and chin to hint at some stubble. The color changes don't stand out as much on the darker skin, plus I didn't want to overdo it. but you can see the different as you compare the middle image with the one on the right.

 

[evl hmr]

I just love following your WIPs, they always inspire me, but also intimidate. Another great choice of mini

 

[Oda]

Excellent treatment on the skin areas.It should turn out fantastic.

Oda.

 

[Bailey]

Thanks, Oda and evl hmr.

Evl hmr, you might recognize the person who sculpted this piece. It's amazing how many times I see a figure I like only to realize yup, it was sculpted by Latorre.

 

[Guy Van Ginneken]

This Celt is coming together nicely sir. I'll follow this one with interest.

 

[Bailey]

Thanks, Guy!

On the last post I was a bit rushed, so I didn't include a look at the rest of the figure. Obviously the bulk of the work was on the face, but I did take care of the left arm too. You'll notice I'm adding more of the spot highlights on the muscles and wrist. I still need to do the right arm, his back, and then touch up some blends which I'm not quite happy with. Not to mention the other effects I'll be layering on top as well (tattoos, glazes on the body, and then dirt/blood for weathering). But my immediate plan is to take a break from doing skin and start on the pants. My references show a variety of patterns for Celts (plaid, checkered, striped), so it will be something more complicated than a single color.

 

[Ybrossculpts]

Fantastic skintones, any sbs I can find of your works?
Regards
Chris.

 

[Bailey]

Fantastic skintones, any sbs I can find of your works?
Regards
Chris.

Thanks, Chris. Yes, I've put together some tutorials. You can find the bulk of them here: http://powellminipainting.blogspot.com/p/tutorials.html

More recently I've been working figure http://figurementors.com/ and have some tutorials up there too.