WIP Gaius Julius Caesar bust

[Lucas Ferron]

I have recently purchased my first airbrush and so I started priming and basecoating everything I could get my hands on.
I tried using a zenithal undercoat with a dark primer and white FW ink:


I sprayed the face with an orangeish tone, followed by an off-white from the top to create a slight highlight and a slightly desaturated kimera magenta from below, creating a hint of a shadow:

The cloth was airbrushed with kimera magenta:



I did the eyes on my 2nd try, but i might need to go back and darken the iris, right now it's way too similar to the sclera:


I worked a bit on the armor with S75 metallics, following their copper guide. The golden details were also done using s75 metallics, following their gold guide. I still need to add 2 lights to them, though.




I still need to finish the golden bits, work on the skin to give it more life, definition and contrast, the cloth, the leather bits and the hair. So, around 70% to go!

 

[Redcap]

Cracking start.
Gary

 

[Nap]

Hi Lucas

Your first airbrush ! ......wouldn't have thought so .....lookng good to me

Never used one myself I woukd overspray the walls !

I do like the cloak colour and the way you've worked the highs

Good choice of bust as well

Following with interest

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[MCPWilk]

First class work.

Mike

 

[Stephan]

Good start there, he is waiting too on my bench

 

[Viking Bob]

That's a great start, I will be following your progress.

 

[KenBoyle]

Very nice!

Cheers,
Ken

 

[Lucas Ferron]

Hi Lucas

Your first airbrush ! ......wouldn't have thought so .....lookng good to me

Never used one myself I woukd overspray the walls !

I do like the cloak colour and the way you've worked the highs

Good choice of bust as well

Following with interest

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Nap

You should really try using an airbrush, nap! It's amazing how useful it is for those big pieces!


Thanks Bob, Ken, Gary, Mike and Stephan!

Today I managed to paint a bit more, no more is Caesar a detached head !
I finished the metallics (for now) and started working on the cape. I also added a but more contrast to the face, but there's still a good deal to go there. Hair, mouth, eyebrows, leather bits and belt are all simply basecoated.

Here's a gif showing the mini so far
https://i.imgur.com/mAEWn2t.gifv
And some pics

 

[Nap]

Hi Lucas

Great update ..he looks better with a head ...lol

Cloak is looking good as is the face now you've worked it a bit more

Are you just using airbrush on this or will you use a brush for anything ?

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Lucas Ferron]

Hi Lucas

Great update ..he looks better with a head ...lol

Cloak is looking good as is the face now you've worked it a bit more

Are you just using airbrush on this or will you use a brush for anything ?

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Nap

Thanks Nap!
I just used the airbrush for the zenithal priming, the first coat of magenta on the cape and the 3 thin skin tones (base + off white from the top + desaturated magenta from the bottom).
Everything else is done with a brush! I don't have enough control to use the airbrush on the mini as it is and not destroy what's done!
But I'll say that even by only using in this way, the airbrush was a game changer.

 

[samson]

Looking great I will be looking forward to your progress

 

[Larsen E. Whipsnade]

Your first attempt at airbrushing? I wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't said so. Great job!

 

[Lucas Ferron]

Your first attempt at airbrushing? I wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't said so. Great job!

Thanks, Larsen and Samson! I did practice priming some stuff and basecoating a single bust, with some nice and... Questionable results. This one ended up way better than I expected, thankfully.

Today I managed to paint a bit more, worked some on the face, trying to add shadows and darkening the left side of the face.
I also kept working on the magenta/purple cloth, adding more texture where it was missing. I'll have to smooth it out a bit later.
Here's a video and some pics
https://i.imgur.com/zWXJlc3.gifv

 

[Steve Ski]

Looking really good, love the contrast, tones are beautiful.

 

[Lucas Ferron]

I haven't had much time to paint this last few days, but I did transfer the bust to a plinth and started working on the leathers.
I started by sketching some rough lights and shadows, one cold and warm, the other warm and cold.

I then applied different types of glazes a few times,
starting with a warm tone on the bottom ones and a colder color on the smaller leather bits:


After a few applications of inks I didn't really like how dark some areas were and how the leather wasn't really reacting to my light source, so I used some skin tones to brighten it a bit before going back with more inks:


Now that's how it's looking, ultra shiny because of the amount of inks in there, but it'll look better by the time I varnish it:



Cheers!

 

[Nap]

Hi Lucas

Indo like the way this is going

The armour looking really good as does the leather , I presume yiu will use a varnish or washes to tone down

Look forward to more on this

Don't forget FOTM entry and of course we have a new version from January

We will still continue to run a Vignettes & Diorama comp as well twice yearly

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Nap]

Hi Lucas

I have moved your completed pics here : https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/gaius-julius-caesar-bust.293146/

Happy benchtime

Nap