Dutch Guard officer

[amherbert]

Hi
I've put paint to figure too!

I have an officer of the Dutch Imperial Guard Regiment in progress. It's a 54mm figure. I'm attempting oils again. The face looks a little clown-like to me. Suggestions, comments etc. are welcomed and needed! I have to get a better picture...

On the figure in real life (rather than jpeg) I think the trousers are OK, but a little too off white. The trousers were done in titanium white mixed with sepia. I have highlights of plain white and sepia in the shadows. The picture shows little contrast, and I guess I need to bump that up.

With so many white areas I'm trying to mix things up. The waistcoat and gaiters are white with a tiny bit of blue and Payne's grey. He's in walking out dress, so I figured fine quality material would be used.

I've blocked in the facings and turnbacks in acrylic. I hope the rather garish pink base will work. And the jacket has had a coat of off-white acrylic and a layer of flake white oil over that. With all this white, I'm looking for help in the shading, highlighting etc.

Thanks
Andy

 

[KeithP]

Andy-

I am glad that you posted your work.

Some input for you :
Face - Not clown like at all. IMHO, you could benefit from toning down your wet on wet highlight. If you are wet on wet highlighting with pure Tit white, you may want to add some of your oil flesh base to the tit white. Also, for this stage you might want to add a bit of cad yellow, Jaune Brilliant, or naples yellow. For me, this helps tone down the "white-ness" Wet on dry high with a touch of pure tit white. Less is better.

You may also want to add a "hotter" blush on cheeks and touches at the base of the nostrils and earlobes. Create a warm zone in the middle of the face.

A recent addition to my oils stable is unbleached titanium for creating more of a very light brown for whites.

Keep going. Look forward to seeing more!

 

[Roc]

Hey Andy, good start, you are on your way.
Keith has given you very good advice and there isn't much I can add to that, but to keep on practicing and to ask questions, you will find the inhabitants of the Planet able and willing to help you.


Cheers

Roc

 

[amherbert]

I have finished the officer aside for a few touches. I need to do some work on the Bearskin and the various gold colored parts of the headgear.

The photos were taken soon after I'd added some Payne's Grey highlights to the bearskin.

The shininess has toned down a bit.

All feedback welcomed!
I hope to get better pics taken once he's really done!

Andy

 

[amherbert]

And from farther away...

And from behind.

so much white...

 

[garyjd]

Andy, I started off painting in oils long ago (then got bit by the sculpting bug). For what it's worth the most important thing is to NOT load your brush with color, and speading it over the portion being painted as thin as you possibly can. These things are a plus in avoiding paint build up and those much dreaded brush strokes.~Gary

 

[amherbert]

Hi Gary

Yeah, the breeches are a mess. In part the casting isn't that smooth, but I used too much paint there.

The coat is better. The good thing is that I painted the breeches before the jacket, so I got better at it...

The only thing not in oils is the black part of his scabbard. And I see in the photos that needs some tidying. It's amazing what you pick up with the camera's 'eye'.

Andy

 

[thegoodsgt]

Your off to a great start, Andy. I like the way you've added some variation to the white tones. I think that's a challenging task for even the most experienced painters.

When you're painting wet-on-wet, I've found it crucial that you not allow the colors of your highlights and shadows to "intermingle." Some colors (such as burnt umber) are so strong that they'll muddy your highlights in a heartbeat. Better to use two brushes (one to blend base/highlights and the other to blend base/shadows) than risk contaminating your colors.

 

[Joe Hudson]

Andy,

Like they said you are off to a good start and I like the different shades of white. One thing that I would do is to use something to seperate the leggings from the pants. A very thin line just to break it up.

Joe

 

[amherbert]

Thanks guys.

There is a faint demarcation between the leggings and breeches, but it needs popping up. I'm not much for outlining usually, but I think white screams for it. I used sepia along the line of buttons, and it looks pretty good.

The straps around the leggings are a different shade of white from the leggings, and that doesn't show up. I think the sunlight is too much (no problem with that today, nothing but snow here, more than a foot I gather!). Anyway, the belt on the waistcoat is a different white, and that's not too clear either.

So, more outlining to be done gets added to the list!

The scary part is I'm contemplating a winter WW2 dio, so I can really get to work on white...

Andy

 

[rej]

Hi Andy,

You've been given some sound advice, so there's nothing much to add

I concur with everything said, especially that you're off to a good start

Keep it rolling mate,

Ray