WIP Critique Samurai Archer

[Bailey]

Thanks!

This is just a minor update (especially compared to the last one!). I wasn't happy with the green on the sleeve, so I repainted it. I think the highlights work much better now and I'm happier with the blending too. Of course now that the green is done I'm going to go back over it and do more design work. But even though parts will be covered up, what's there now will serve as a helpful guide in picking the colors (light, dark, or somewhere in between) for the design. You'll notice I also did the purples and metallic going up over his shoulders. I pushed the contrast a bit more on the small purple sections. I like how it looks so I'll be doing the same for the rest of the purple.

These are just some quick cell phone pictures. I'll put together the whole photo setup for the next ones.

 

[Huw63]

Now that is what I call perfectionism - that's the way to do it!!

 

[Edorta]

Excellent work so far, Bailey. I love it.

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

 

[DaddyO]

Just Wow!

Re: arrow on bow it should be on the side with the fingers with the 'cock' feather away from the bow.

If you think of the three feathers/fletchings around the shaft of the arrow two are close to the handle of the bow and one is at 90 degrees to the bow handle - the reason for this arrangement is called the archers paradox. When the string is released the arrow bends into an arc shape as it accelerates forward (This occilation contines until the stiffness of the arrow shaft dampens it out once it's well clear of the bow). Having the cock feather pointing away from the bow means it's less likely to slap against the hand or bow and cause the arrow to fly wildly off target. Here ends the archery lesson

(Actually I suppose only and ex archer or serious anorak would spot this - being both is a real problem)

Lovin' the figure
Paul

 

[Bailey]

Thanks for the info, Paul!

I've done a little more work on the arm. I wanted to do a new pattern over the green and, after a lot of searching online and through reference books, found this:

I spent some time analyzing the picture and another image of the same person to determine what the design would look like on a flat piece of cloth. I drew this up as a template for the design on the figure.

As before the plan was to start with some guide marks and lay out the major pieces of the design. What's going on the figure is the above design rotated 45 degrees. I began with the main lines and dots where the circles will go. From there I drew on the circles and started to fill them in and shade/highlight. There's still a lot more detail to add including the designs inside the circles and several more families of diagonal lines. However, I plan to shade, highlight and just generally clean up what I've got so far before moving on to the rest of the design. There's a lot going on and I don't want to get overwhelmed. So I figure this is a good place to pause and get what I've done so far to a more finished state before layering on more detail.

 

[Marco22]

beautiful !
I love the freehand, as it looks very close to my samourai bust I finished recently

excellent painting !

 

[samson]

Wow killer work I couldn't get patterns done like that if I had something to trace .great stuff

 

[Reddo]

Looks great; the freehand detail is superb.

However, as a kyudojin myself, it is considered quite poor form to close one eye when aiming - you need your depth percetion.

 

[Bailey]

Thanks, Marco, Samson, and Reddo.

Marco, yes, I had looked at your figure while I was working on mine. I used the same reference for the chest design, although I made some simplifications for the scale.

Reddo, I didn't know that. Thanks for the info. Of course it's beyond my ability to re-sculpt it, so hopefully it won't hamper is aim too much!

I haven't had a lot of time to paint in the past week or so, but I did manage to do some work on the sleeve design yesterday. There's still more work to do, details to add, but I feel like it's starting to come together.

 

[Marco22]

looks great anyway !
I will be following this great fig !

 

[Perseas]

I admire your freehand skills with the accuracy of the lines and patterns, the sleeve design is superb!
I also never forget that this is a 90mm figure as you informed me.
Waiting for your next post....

 

[Aveleira]

Great work Bailey! I'm an admirer of your painting, but this one really brings your skills to shine.

Regards
Pedro

 

[Bailey]

I decided to take a break from the pattern on the sleeve and spend some time on another part of the figure. With the chest done, I could add on the next few pieces. So I painted the armor flaps that hang down over his chest and then started on the sleeve. The orange is still a work in progress, I've finished the shadows but only just begun the highlights.



Once I finish the orange, I'll have to come up with another pattern for that part of his clothing. I think I'm going to opt for something simpler. There's so much going on with just the sculpt, I worry that another complex pattern on the orange will make the figure look too busy.

 

[housecarl]

Don't know what to say really, stunning will have to suffice.

 

[Edward]

Amazing work so far!

 

[Jeff T]

Superb Bailey!!

Stunning work so far.


Cheer's,
Jeff.

 

[Christos]

Great work so far!!!

 

[Bailey]

Well, I got stuck on the sleeve designs, so I took a break from this project. It's been about a month, but I finally got back to it. For the right sleeve, I decided to go with the mon (clan emblem) for Minamoto since I'm more or less painting this figure up as Minamoto no Yoshitsune. I wanted something a little less busy/complex for the orange cloth since it would be not only on the right arm, but also on the legs. Spacing the symbols farther apart creates the sort of look I wanted.

With the sleeves complete, I started working on his back

Once that is done, I'll add the armor plates on his shoulders. They've got detail on the underside as well which will be just barely visible from certain angles. You'll probably never see it in the final full photos, so here's a look at the work in progress. It's got a couple sections where I'm repeating the design from the figure's chest.

 

[Marco22]

very nice painting !

 

[arj]

Wow!!
Your detailing and precision is quite astounding.

Cheers,
Andrew