WIP Critique Men at Arms

[brian]

I've been experimenting with different ways of painting a face to try and get more realism.This is a WIP of a face i'm working on just now.
Brian

 

[Theodoros]

nice bust from la Meridiana ... Nice flesh, Brian go on !

 

[Einion]

Looks pretty good so far Brian. How close are the colours in the photo to what it's like in the flesh (unavoidable pun sorry!)?

One thing that did jump out at me is the highlighting of the lower lip, lips are often a bit darker than we imagine.

...

If it's painted on, I'd ditch the catchlight personally.

/broken record

Einion

 

[DEL]

Boy does he look p**sed off.
Very convincing, looking forward to a blow by blow account of the techniques.
See you next week.
Cheers
Derek

 

[user 5827]

a great start....

 

[Robert Laclavik]

great flesh tones, Brian. I like the dark atmosphere coming out of it

 

[Colin_Fraser]

If you after realism I think you are there. I'm interested in your technique and colours if you are up for sharing.

Colin

 

[davidmitchell]

You have really nailed it with this Brian, cant wait to get a closer look.


Cheers David

 

[housecarl]

Stunning Brian, like the bags under the eyes.
Carl.

 

[custer760]

Hello Brian,
this is top notch mate...Truly excellent,please tell us how you did it,if you would mate,then Id be interested in your colour mix,if you could write it down for me Ill get you a pint at Euro !!!
All the best buddy cant wait to see you at Euro-Militaire.
Regards
Pete

 

[meizi]

Looks very excellent so far, love the face.

 

[Magnus]

Excellent face, really like the cold hue of colors you have used. Agree with the lower lip being very light but the eyes and cheek bones are excellent. As stated above, please share your color mix and technique, always good with new input and you always learn something new.

 

[megroot]

Very nice, very nice :lol:
Always a great fan of your painting, this one is no exception. You pushed the skincolor a giant leap forward. Very realistic.
Agree with Einion about the highlight on the lower lip. Some downtoning will do.
Hope we can have a little talk on the 18 th


Marc

 

[brian]

Looks pretty good so far Brian. How close are the colours in the photo to what it's like in the flesh (unavoidable pun sorry!)?

One thing that did jump out at me is the highlighting of the lower lip, lips are often a bit darker than we imagine.

...

If it's painted on, I'd ditch the catchlight personally.

/broken record

Einion

I agree Einion.I'll tone it down now that i'm aware of it.Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees.The photo is close to the actual colour of the actual face.
Brian

 

[brian]

Thanks to all for your comments.I started with a base mix of Madder brown Titanium white and just a touch of Yellow ochre over an undercoat of Humbrol 250.The Rowney Madder Brown i use is no longer available(not to be confused with W&N Brown Madder) so you could substitute Warm Sepia and add a some red to get the same flesh mix.I highlight with more Tit white and shade with Madder brown.Once i've established the basic face i allow to dry.Then i apply stains of various tones e.g.Paynes Grey,Brown Madder and reinforce the highlights with Tit white with a touch of the basic flesh mix all done wet on dry.Unfortunately i don't work to an actual formula and just add highlights and shading until it looks o.k.
Hope this helps but i don't usually paint the same way twice when it comes to faces but i always use the basic mix in varying ways.I usually don't know what the face is going to look like until i'm finished which is good fun.
Brian

 

[amomfaretos]

Very nice painting !!!

Babis

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

High Brian

Skin tones look great,probably in keeping with the period.

 

[sam b]

Very nice Brian

 

[sarouman]

Excellent skintone Brian!!!

Alexandros

 

[tonydawe]

Realism...mission accomplished mate. Looks very real to me.