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WIP Oda Nobunaga - 200mm Bust

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by phil_h, Dec 26, 2017.

  1. phil_h A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Hello Everybody...

    First off, I hope everybody had a good holiday :)

    For my next project I'll be doing DG Artwork's 200mm bust of Oda Nobunaga, the brutal warlord of 16th century Japan. From its HUGE shoulder armor, to the insane amount of detail just all over this thing, it's one very, very striking bust. It's incredibly sculpted. I should also mention, that it's also one of the nicest cast sculpts I've seen. After working on many busts with many casting issues (some quite serious), its been very refreshing to work on something that has been casted flawlessly.

    Let's take a look at the kit before it's assembed:
    20171218_190855.jpg



    After it was cleaned and prepped, I assembled some of the parts, and then blue tacked the rest together so I could prime it:
    2017-12-24 10.23.56.jpg



    Of course, after the priming we need to get on with the painting... I should mention, that for many who have read my posts (and have outright asked), I've often sung the praises of Golden Artist Acrylics. In early November, I wound up getting most of my Goldens confiscated - compliments of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport TSA (part of a longer story). So, for this project I decided to buy all new paints. Since I live extremely close to what could only be described as a ludicrously huge art supply store, I went and bought a ton of new paints. I decided that since I'm painting a Japanese subject, why not buy some Japanese paints? Makes sense, right? So this project will be entirely painted using Holbein Heavy Body Fine Artist Acrylics - here are some of the colors (among others) I'll be using:
    2017-12-26 19.01.35.jpg



    Now that the paint situation was squared away, I was able to make some progress. So here, is where we're at now:
    2017-12-26 18.18.35_s.png


    2017-12-26 18.18.46_s.png


    2017-12-26 18.18.24_s.png


    Suffice to say, all the small details and whatnot that cover every square inch of this thing are going to make this one a fairly slow going process. (And, I'm guessing tedious too at times.) This bust is a monster, and hopefully I'll do it justice. Next up are the shoulder straps, chest and back armor...


    Thanks for taking a look :)

    Regards,
    Phil
  2. kilsh Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Nice review and start Phil, I have this one waiting in the wings so will be interested how you go with it!

    Cheers

    Neil
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  3. misfit151 A Fixture

    Great start Phil......looks a smashing bust....;). Mike
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  4. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    That is a monster Phil. Great review of parts. Looking forward to your journey on this mammoth painting task.
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  5. frank h Well-Known Member

    Country:
    England
    Hi
    I have this bust....made a start on assembly..........It is a biggie....and as you say will take ages to paint
    I have opted for the bare head too

    Frank
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  6. megroot A Fixture

    Country:
    Netherlands
    looks a great start from something really good.

    Marc
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  7. Roland Meng Active Member

    Country:
    Hungary
    Nice Start, and lovely Color choice!

    Roland
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  8. Perseas Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Greece
    A highly detailed and very demanding bust!
    I know that it will be another project i will watch it with great pleasure as always!
    Excellent start Phil , it will be an inspiration and maybe i'll be tempted to buy it!!
    anstontyke, Oda and phil_h like this.
  9. badger Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Scotland
    love it/badger
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  10. phil_h A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks so much for the very nice comments guys. They're very much appreciated.


    I was able to make some more progress. Having painted a bit more of this, I can say the following:
    • I knew there was a lot of detail, but holy sh*t - there is a lot of detail! Much, much more than I originally thought...
    • I haven't even finished painting the chest armor, and already this bust will definitely fit into the "incredibly tedious to paint, but the final result will hopefully be so worth it" category.
    (I will also add a couple more selected high lights to the face but that won't be until later on when I get to the hands and have the skin colors out again.)
    Here we are
    2017-12-28 18.19.44_s.png
    2017-12-28 18.20.05_s.png

    (I should add, that despite being subtly highlighted, the armor is a little darker than in the pictures)

    Regards,
    Phil
  11. loosehead Active Member

    Country:
    Australia
    This bust looks like a painters dream have been thinking of the purchase will keep watching and let the temptation grow
    Cheers
    ChrisW
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  12. MarquisMini A Fixture

    Country:
    Argentina
    Wow Phil, i am just speechless at the amount of detail on this chap.
    Thanks for the review and sbs on this bust.
    You are a skilled artist :)
    Oda, anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  13. Osebor PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    Spain
    But, at same time, an authentic nigthmare, with such detail llevel... Great work, and a Happy New Year.
    anstontyke and phil_h like this.
  14. Oda A Fixture

    Phil mate,what can I say?I do not like or own busts.The minute I saw this one on PF a few months back I ordered it immediatelly.It is an incredible work.It is remarkably sculpted and cast with an amazing amount of detail.What made it irresistable to me is the fact that it is probably the most historically accurate samurai in terms of armour I have ever seen (and yes I consider myself a rivet counter on that department and proud of it too) as well as the fact that it portrays my absolutely most favorite personality in Japanese history (as my alias clearly denotes).You have done a fantastic work so far mate and I intend to use it as reference material whenever I will manage to gather my courage and have a go at it (as I have said I've never done any busts and do not intend to do another after that).I will follow this with great interest and admiration for your work my friend.I wish you a happy new year full of artistic inspiration and creativity.

    Oda.
  15. phil_h A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States

    Thanks Chris - yes it is a painter's dream, but it is also an exercise in repetition. As incredible as the armor is sculpted, it's starting to get very tedious to paint...
    anstontyke likes this.
  16. phil_h A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks for the kind words Daniel (y)
    anstontyke likes this.
  17. phil_h A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks - and Happy New Year to you as well Osebor. And yes, definitely nightmarish, but I think it'll be well worth it in the end!
    Phil
    anstontyke likes this.
  18. phil_h A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States

    Thanks so much for the kind words my friend! I hope you had a good New Years as well :). I'm glad you're happy with the progress so far - especially knowing how knowledgeable you are with this particular subject! I'll try not to let you down ;)
    Phil
    Perseas, Oda and anstontyke like this.
  19. anstontyke A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    wow, yet another stunning start and sbs. i love your freehand work and skintones. i will be following with great interest as usual.
    happy new year and happy painting.

    tony
    phil_h, Perseas and Oda like this.
  20. phil_h A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Hey guys...

    I had time to make some progress this weekend - enough where I though it might warrant another posting. Also, because some have expressed an interest, I'll give a little bit more detail on both the skin tones and the armor.

    Here are the colors used for all the skin tones
    2018-01-07 19.44.01.jpg

    They are from left to right
    • Mars Violet
    • Anthraquinone Red
    • Phthalo Turquoise
    • Raw Sienna
    • Marigold
    • Naples Yellow
    • Titanium White
    • Burnt Umber
    The base and primary tone consists of a mix of Raw Sienna, Naples Yellow, and very, very small amounts of Marigold and Anthraquinone Red. The highlights were made by adding more Naples Yellow and Titanium White into the base mix. The the base shadow tone was a mix of Mars Violet and Burnt Umber, and this was then mixed into the primary tone to create shadows of various depth. The Anth Red, Mars Violet, and Phthalo Turquoise where all used as glazes at various points to add some additional color to certain areas (under the eyes, cheeks, 5 o'clock shadow areas, etc...). Here are some of these tones laid out onto the palette.
    20180107_184220.jpg
    And here are the colors used for the armor
    2017-12-31 16.07.40.jpg
    From left to right they are
    • Primary Black
    • Phthalo Turquoise
    • Aqua Blue
    • Grey V-8 (a warm grey - it's white with a little bit of black and yellow ochre mixed into it)
    • Titanium White
    Not pictured is Dioxazine Purple ink from Liquitex.
    The "black" used as the primary color for the armor, is actually Dioxazine Purple ink with some of the Primary Black mixed into it. All the small black laminate bands were painted with this. The edges of these plates where highlighted with the Grey V-8 and a little bit of the black base mix added into it. This results in a very light grey/purple color that I liked a lot. For the blue ropes and banding, the base mix was a mix of the Phthalo Turquoise and Aqua Blue in roughly 50/50 proportions. This was then highlighted using pure Aqua Blue, then Aqua Blue and Titanium White, and then in some cases pure Titanium White.
    With all that said, here is the progress made this weekend
    2018-01-07 19.44.59.jpg
    2018-01-07 19.45.07.jpg
    I'm glad to say now that I'm finally heading into what I think are the final stages. There is the one arm left, the sword, and finally of course, the rather large shoulder armor.
    Regards,
    Phil
    Oda, Perseas, billyturnip and 4 others like this.

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