Hi all,
needed to have some time out from working on my dissertation, recharge batteries and all that, but my ain Ironfoot would not do, as it is a stage of very detailed work, which would take too much time away from where I need to put my efforts (dissertation). So I needed another choice, and this one I got some time ago from a fellow planeteer which was already assembled in a sufficient manneer to just start slapping on some paint.

Casting is good, comes in 6 parts and only needed some extra work on some areas, as the separation between certain bits was a bit too obvious - particularly between the torso and the back of the head.

I want to play a bit with skin tones and get the hair reflecting similar to some of the beauty products advertisements you get on TV and in the cinema (hence the title of this thread), perhaps some tatoos - never done those before, so should be fun. I also want to try out a new technique I have been reading about here.

Step 1:


Using oils, I painted the skin in the darkest tone I will be using, then with a dry brush removed the paint as much as possible. The lightest areas on the skin is where the undercoat of grey Halfords primer is clearly showing through. Pictures were taken after letting it dry for 2 days (as I said, needed a break from Uni work, so this is a slow relief valve kinda thing), making sure the paint is thouroughly dry before moving onto step 2.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts along the way.

That's all for now, folks.

Ok. Step 2:
Had another 30 minutes or so to clear me head so I took the brushes out. The new technique (for me at least) is working dry on wet - I usually do basic flesh, dark & medium shadows & highlights in a single session, i.e. wet on wet.

For those that are interested, I will mention the paints I have used. Cannot give any proportions of thos, as I mix paint until I find a colour I (think I) like.
The first mix was a combination of Titanium White, Mars Orange and Raw Umber.

This time, I mixed Titanium White, Mars Orange, Ultramarine Blue (Green Shade) and Cadmium Red. I placed the paint where the 2nd darkest shadows should be, then carfully blended them into the surroundings, with an emphasis on directing my brushes towards the lighter areas.
Here is the result. The difference is small, but somehow appears to 'warm' up the skin tone (in my opinion, please feel free to comment).



I also took the opportunity to paint the veins on his shoulder, neck and head.For this I mixed Titanium White with my current skin tone, and added some more Ultramarine Blue (Green Shade).



That's all for now. See you at my next session.

Step 3: been able to get another bit of paint slapped on. I decided to block in the hair - research in Dwarf Slayers showed a lot of ginger-haired angry dwarves, which makes me feel this was a bit of a generalisation so I decided to give him a dark hair colour - black for now, may alter this once I get working on the hair.


I also blocked in the eyes and finished his lower lip. For the lip I used the same colour pallet as for the previous layer, but added some more Cadmium Red. The eyes were Titanium white with a touch of the previous flesh mix and Ultramarine Blue (Green Shade).


Was a bit surprised as to how the skin such as it was appeared to change, just by having this hair blocked in.
before after
These pictures give a bit of a false impression, as the light in the first one was taken during the day while the lates one was taken at daw. Do not quit understand how this can have such a massive effect, as I took the pictures in the same room (north facing) and near the wall opposite the window.

Hopw you guys like it, and feel free to comment.

Step 4: Managed to get the third layer of shadow onto the figure. It can also be seen as a very dark shade for the mid-tones.



Even though I allowed some of this new skin tone to cover the veins, the layer is sufficiently thin to have some transparency, thus allowing for the blueish tone to shine through. Another point of interest is tht I started putting some colour zones into the face: the cheeks are a bit more red, while the forehead and upper half of the scull has a more yellowish tinge. Hope it comes out in the pitures.

I also made the effort of desaturating all colours from some of the previous pictures - I use this to assess if my tonality is still within the ballpark. doing this shows that having 3 different shades of fleshtone does give some volume to the shadows, as can be seen in the pictures below.


The next layer will be the 'official' mid-tone for the skin pigment.

See you guys later, and as usual I welcome any comments.

Last update before I go offline for 2 weeks - 1 exam and my dissertation left, then it is an anxious wait for results.

Step 5:
made up another batch of my basic mix of Titanium white and Mars Orange. This layer had a lot more colour to it for some reason, but the tone was lighter than my previous ayre, so I am happy so far. I consider this my lighter tone of medium flesh.



When looking at it in black&white, I can start seeing some volume come into the muscles (particularly in the torso / belly area), so progress in the right direction. The first picture is the very beginning, the second one is the previous step, while the third one is the current stage (sorry for the slight blurr on this one, but you can see the difference nonetheless).



I did take another step in working with colour tones in the face. The upper head and ears were made to look a lot more yellow by adding some Golden Ochre to my basic mix. In these pictures you can clearly see how this turns out so far.


I feel the skin tone is starting to have a hint of Northern African tone, but a lot more pink in it. As no two skin tones are exactly the same in real life ths does not bother me too much - as long as it looks natural.

As usual I welcome any comments / constructive criticism.

Never thought of converting photos to B&W as a check for the shadow volume.
Good idea!

Right,
Dissertation work submitted in the morning, rushed back home to get the brushes out.
Step 6, continuing with the highlights.

Comparison with the previous step - looks like my camera settings were not the same, but you can see a small difference (I think)


And the black and white version makes thing a bit clearer. Now the light parts of the flesh tones are getting some volume.


And a close-up on the face. Satisfied how thing turn out so far.

It has been a while, so here is another update for this project. Added the lightest of highlights so far and feeling ather good about the skin tone now. I also blocked in the colour for his trousers (dark green) and belt (orange now, but will be turned much more yellow with highlighting) and the ornamentations in his beard. I decided to give them some variety by using the following materials: copper, silver and gold).


Here some pictures to show the difference it makes when you desaturate the colours. The pictures on the left were taken with just the basecolour of the skin painted and on the right as it stands now.



I am not sure if you can see it in the pictures, but the upper skul realy pops after painting the mid-tones more yellowish

I also completed the eyes.
The whites of the eye are a mix of titanium white with some of the lightest skin mix and a tiny, tiny hint of ultramarine (green shade). The underside of the upper eyelid was painted with natural umber - as thin a line as possible. For the bottom I added some red to my basic skin tone and painted the line as thin as possible.

I chose to give him green eyes. The outer iris is natural umber, the green is a mix of ultramarine (green shade) and cadmium yellow pale with some titanium white.
I highlighted the green as if the light was coming from below (i.e. lighter shades at the bottom, darker shades at the top).

To finish off I covered the eyeball with Synthaglass, a liquid synthetic glass manufactured by Toffano in Italy.

Next step will be the hair and beard.