Hello Everybody...

My next project is the 3rd in a series of busts I'm doing consisting of subjects from the Greek War for Independence. (All coming from YS Masterpieces.) My goal is to finish a total of 5 busts from this series before the end of the year. (We'll see how far I get...)

As with the last two I've done in the series, this is a beautiful sculpt but it does have it's fair share of casting issues - the left cheek, and in particular, the eyes (this seems to be a chronic issues with these particular busts). Here is the bust cleaned, prepped and ready for assembly:




Here is the figured primed and ready for painting. As is usual for me, the parts are not actually glued together (they'd get in the way of painting them), but are just held together with blue-tac for priming them:





I always start with the face, here are the colors used for creating the base coat/mid-tone:


As always, (at least for me ), they're Golden Acrylics. The base tone consists of some Pyrrole Red, more Yellow Ochre, a little bit of Titanium White, and a very, very little bit of Chromium Oxide Green. Even with just a tiny speck, the green makes all the difference in the world . Not pictured is Phthalo Blue which is used for the eyes.

Here is the face base coated with the eyes painted:




With that done, the next step was to block in where I wanted the high lights using pure Titanium White:



Next using a combination of Burnt Umber and Red Oxide (again from Golden), I blocked in the shadows:




Looks pretty rough For the next steps, we'll use intermediate tones of various dilutions consisting of the base tone, Red Oxide, Pyrrole Red, Burnt Umber, and Naples Yellow (and combinations thereof) to blend everything together and make it look a little less rough (we'll also block in the beard and hair with Carbon Black while we're at it).





That's it so far! There are still some tweaks needed for the face itself, and then the beard, hair, ears, and neck need to be finished up before moving on to the turban.

Regards,
Phil

One of the greatest heroes of the revolution.His last name (not his real one) was given to him by his contemporaries because he was a tall man.Makriyiannis means "long John i.e tall John.He is loved by all in Greece.He learned to read and write in his later days just to be able to write down his memoirs which constitute even today a basic read for all Greeks.Parts of it are taught in school.Famous for his bravery, he excelled in all things military especially in defending castles and forts where he was at his best.A staunch republican,he tried to avoid taking part in the civil wars that errupted in the midst of the revolution,maintaining a cool head approach which is one of the many reasons why he enjoys such popularity in Greece throughout the years and among all political parties.Before the war he was a merchant and during the war he spent all his fortune for the cause.He was instrumental in bringing about institutional change after the war firstly in the coming of King Otto I of the bavarian house of Vittelsbach( the same house that the Winter Queen was married into-a piece of information for my English friends) and when he became disenchanted with the monarchy he participated in the movement for the creation of constitutional monarchy in Greece.Although not a native of Athens he became closely associated with that city after having served as its administrator and commander of the citadel fort of Acropolis,having helped the populace in many occasions to avoid Ottoman turkish retribution or the extremities and excesses of the civil warring factions.The Athenians called him their father.He received many severe injuries during the war (he probably survived cholera which lead to fits of high fever reoccuring until the end of his life) and a part of his scull had been surgically removed as treatment to a blunt force trauma he received defending Acropolis.All this lead to him suffering from severe bouts of epilepsy during his later years and gradually showing signs of dementia.To this we owe his second literary attempt,a collection of passages known today as Makriyannis' "miracles and visions" a heavily mystical work inspired and influenced by the general's deep religious sentiment and his love for the Greek orthodox doctrine which he considered the second constituent part of the newly emerged Greek state (the first being democracy).His third gift to posterity is his collaboration with an empirical,self taught painter of the day in order to produce a series of birds eye view folk paintings of some of the major conflicts of the war.Today a district of Athens is named after him (the place where he maintained a garden and a cave converted into a monastic cell where much of his "visions" took place and where he did most of his writing) and he is honoured by all ( both the left and the conservative political factions) as a true democrat,an unblemished patriot and a "father"of modern Greeks.
Needless to say (after such a lenghty posting) that I will be following this with the utmost interest.

Oda.

This won't be as lengthy as Oda's post but you're off to a good start and I'll be following too.

a great very informative start phil.

tony

Lovely work phil,I love these ys miniatures

Very good start Phil
I have a vested interest on how you tackle this fine casting.
Keith

Oda man, thanks so much for the historical information and insights - it is much appreciated! I hope I can do this bust the justice it obviously deserves...

Regards,
Phil

Thanks Roger, hopefully I won't disappoint!

Regards,
Phil

Thank you Tony!

Regards,
Phil

Thank you so much Brian! (And yes, these sculpts from YS are just fantastic ).

Regards,
Phil

Thanks Keith - much appreciated!

Regards,
Phil

Hello Everybody...

A quick update, finished the face/beard/neck/etc... Unlike the last two guys (Pappaflessas and Ali Pasha) I wanted to give Ioannis a much more softer look. Here's where were at:






That rather large hat he's wearing is up next, and to be honest, I'm trying to put off the embroidery on the jacket as long as possible - something tells me it's going to be quite tedious to do

Regards,
Phil

Love it so far!!

Oda.

Me too!

I like flesh tones you have achieved on him Phil.
For me they will be the challenge more than the jacket decorations.......ah should not have said that, always the kiss of death.
Great work press on

This is a beautiful bust really, and you are doing a great job so far. Keep it up

Cheers Borek

Great. Really amazing historical background, thanks

Cheers Borek

Looks good Phil...I painted the Georgios Drakos bust a few years ago and always liked the whole group but I must admit the box art fooled me into thinking Georgios was easier then anticipated. In particular the braids are not sculpted in ( maybe I was asking to much) so it wasn't just a matter of paint and wash. Other than a hint of a line to let you know what's there you have to paint the buggers in. Don't ask for an SBS because I know from your previous work you're up to the task. Other than that I thought it to be an excellent sculpt and casting. Not so sure about the other ones and to be honest your close ups aren't tempting me. But keep up the good work and I look forward to your progress.

Wayne

Really glad you liked it Borek.Tried to keep it as short and "dense" as possible.Cheers.

Oda.

Thanks again buddy!