Marcomannic warrior (first attempt in eons)

[jknaus]

Oaky I am getting close to finished here. Dont laugh too hard this is more difficult than it seems.

Some of my shadows seem too light and some of the highlights seem off also. I have a long way to go although I dis pare of reaching the caliber of you folks. But what really counts is I am enjoying the change of pace.
James

edit: looking at his shoes on screen here I cant help but think he walked somewhere he shouldnt. I think I'll have to rethink the shoe colouring.

 

[megroot]

James,
It's hard to tell from this pictures. It looks like you have done the shading with a darker blue. Because i'm a follower of shading with the complomentaire color.
Is it possible to take some new picture's. Are you painting with acrylic or oils.

Marc

 

[jknaus]

James,
It's hard to tell from this pictures. It looks like you have done the shading with a darker blue. Because i'm a follower of shading with the complomentaire color.
Is it possible to take some new picture's. Are you painting with acrylic or oils.

Marc

I'm using oils. I'll try again tonight to take more pics but my camera is horrible for close in work. Either you see every brush mark or you see too far away. I used darker and lighter mixtures for the shadows etc. If I did the complimentary colour for the blue what would I use? Thanks.
James

 

[Guy]

You're off to a good start James. Too much light floods the figure and its hard to see the blending and shading.

 

[megroot]

James,
The complementary color for blue is orange. If you see brushmarks you paint to thick.
When painting with oils the trick is as follows (it's not the only way to Rome).
Take some paint of the tube on a card. Let sook out the oil. Bring the paint back to your palette and pick up some white turpentine (just a very, very small amount is enough) to let the paint be better workable.
Paint the figure. Don't try to cover it in one stroke because some colors are translucent and others aren't.
When you finished your painting session, put your figure in a crockpot or something similar to it (i use a woodenbox with a 60 W lightbulb) and set the figure to dry overnight.
The other day you paint again and if it covers i start highlighting and shading for the first time. Then let it dry, and do the shading and hightlighting again.
After dry i do thin wash of the basecolor to tie all the colors together. When this is absutely dry i do a high-highlight and if it looks better some deeper shade in the deepest recess.
Maybe you know all these and then it is timeconsuming for you to read. But i surely hope that you have something with this advice.
Painting very thin....is the case.

Marc

 

[ghamilt1]

Well done James, keep going because you're off to a great start. I think you should leave the shoe colour. Try adding some Sepia, Burnt Umber and/or maybe a little lamp black on the bottom of the shoes and shade it up from there. You'll be left with a weathered leather effect that might please you.

By the way, nice to see someone else from Northern Alberta getting into the more sophisticated aspect of modelling, namely figures. There are a couple of us here on the planet (calling on Brent F. and any others to chime in here!). If we can get a few more Albertans interested, perhaps my dream of a figure club in my hemisphere of the world will be a step closer!

 

[jknaus]

Well a little bit more done. I have some other pics for you. I know there are brush marks and I hesitate at showing everyone considering the high standards of art I have seen. But oh well I'm having fun so lets share anyway.

Comments welcome.
James

 

[megroot]

Well,
Nobody is born with the art of painting figures. It's a learning process. If you read the comments you can learn alot. That's how we all learn'd.
As long as you have fun it is great. That's what's count on a hobby. HAVING FUNN.

Marc

 

[Jamie Stokes]

James,
a good start, and always useful to check in somewhere and get feedback and advice.

Glad to see you are trying something other then black & white for shading colours.

Complementary colours are a great way of controlling a wider and more subtle range of shades & highlights.

Your next painting effort will be better the this one, and the 10th will be better then the 5th......

Good stuff so far

Cheers