Hi all,

Straight after the last post, I fiddled around the beard and it got from bad to worse. Eventually an overshot of airbrush did it, so I simply stripped off all paint and started fresh.

So here is take 2. Fans of dramatic shadows will probably favour the first take, if they have seen the previous post. Well I am like the director of Ocean's 11. One for you, one for me...

I have deliberately weakened the visibility of beard. Also there are now a red nose, red cheeks and red ears. The whole face is simply more pink. Really want to say something about the weather

Eyes and teeth (yes, teeth!) will have to wait til weekend when I restock some quality brushes.

Finally, I felt the need to present the white smock better than I did earlier on.

Comments on both face and smock are welcome! A member has asked about my approach to fleshtones, which is very humbling. I answered that, but probably too late. I am happy to explain again.

Thanks!
Michael

beard is looking good, I think some higher highlites will really help to make the face alive. i always make the same mistake and have to force myself to make those highlites almost white.

I agree, Mike. Could benefit from a bit of glitter around the edges. Very relieved to hear that beard is passable! The last thing I need is revisting that...

White highlights... Love and hate them. But some of the works on display here are just way over the top in that regard, if you would pardon my frankness.

Good decision, the beard shadow was much too prominent previously. As far as the contrast goes, I think it's fine now. At this scale I don't think lots of contrast is the way to go... there is a lot of overpainted stuff out there in 1/6th and larger, with highlights and shadowing more appropriate to 1/35 scale!

One thing I think is worth bearing in mind when painting a face like this with the headdress not glued in place is where, and by how much, it will overshadow the face. So the highlights on the cheekbones for example would probably look better if they didn't run up so high... and anatomically the ridge runs straight back to the ears anyway

On the photographs, judging the paintwork properly is difficult with the pronounced colour cast on all of them from the lightsource. It's best to try to fix this in the camera with a custom white point if you can do that but you can adjust for it in Photoshop or similar pretty well. I can tweak one if you like, see if it's closer to how things looks in the flesh.

I would also recommend using a tripod, it will greatly help the sharpness of the photos in two ways - the steadiness of the camera obviously but it allows for a smaller aperture, so wider depth of field. But you'd probably need better lighting for this.

Einion

Hi Michael,

the beard looks nice
Keep rolling...

Hi Einion,

Thanks a lot for your valuable comments. These are just what I need to bear in mind in the future. I am really tempted to "light it up" at the edges though... If there is one thing I enjoy doing, it is this. I will try to restrain myself.

My flatmate has state-of-the-art camera equipments and some of my earlier posts showed pictures by him. But those lens created almost an unhealthy degree of contrast. I will further adjust the highlight with paint, then ask for his help, and post again (if the forum isn't tired of me posting the same unfinished piece over and over again)

And may I say just how relieved I really am now that three experienced figure painters have approved of my beard effect... Not that I have actually got anywhere with this. Just kinda got away with it is the feeling I have.

Michael,

I think the beard looks much better now than it did previously, however may I suggest you re-examine the area you've shaded. There doesn't appear to be any beard shading on the lower cheeks or in front of the ears. The beard should connect with the hair line in front of the ears.

I'd still like to see you increase the contrast a bit more on the face, but it comes down to a personal choice and I respect the fact that you favour a low contrast (and more natural) look. Keep up the good work.

Hi Tony,

I will almost certainly increase the contrast. And it will be easy. The existing flesh mix, add the Vallejo light flesh, then fine, dry strokes. My favourite thing.

On the beard, may I ask if there exists such beard shade that it does not extend to the hair line? I myself have a beard shade confined below the nose and around the chin, but it doesn't go backwards that far.

Pls let me know. Cheers!

Hi Michael,

I guess the extent of the beard is largely a matter of ethnicity and genetics.

Some people with light coloured hair have very faint beards and even when unshaven for several days can struggle to show any beard shadow at all.

Other people, who have darker hair and a thicker growth of hair can have a heavy 5 o'clock shadow all over their face within hours of shaving.

The important thing to remember is that in most cases the beard colour will be a reflection of the colour of the hair on his head. If he has a dark coloured beard, his hair and eyebrows should be roughly the same colour.

Your figure looks to be northern European, rather than southern European in origin, so it's possible he could have much lighter hair and beard colour. In that case, you may want to tone down the 5 o'clock shadow even more and add a touch of light brown to your beard colour.

Thanks a lot Tony!

I have reworked the beard and added highlight in fleshtone this morning. Tony's advice on beard shade joining hair is taken with an open mind, and I have to say now I am better off with the joining than otherwise. So thanks a lot Tony!

Hi Michael

Can I make a small suggestion for your next piece, try a little touch of satin varnish and glazing medium from Vallejo in you flesh mix, this will give a little more flow with the colours also give a slight satin finish to the final flesh. If you want to just try and do a touch of the satin in a wash over the face as a final step, this will give just as good finish.

I am wondering as you have an airbrush, why not try, base coating the flesh with the mid tone flesh, then with the shadow colours airbrush from the bottom to give the shadows, under the chin, nose and eyebrows, then using the light flesh colours airbrush from the top to to give highlights on the forehead top of the nose tops of the cheeks and chin, you will see the face pop out on front of you. Obviously this is not the final finish, but takes you closer to the final look a lot quicker and leaves small amounts of detail to be added with a brush.... eyes hair and other bits, it also makes the 5 o’clock shadow easier as you can add that as preshading before you air brush the shadows and highlights.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the suggestions!
I am relatively new with my double action Badger airbrush and those actions you described take quite a bit of expertise (the reason why this is take 2 is that I airbrushed beard but overshot onto upper half of face, ruining the character lines).

That said, I did try it before, and intend to intensely train myself in the future when I am less busy with my university assignments.

Satin Varnish is a good idea. I think I will airbrush it all over just before painting the hair.

Thanks a lot!
Michael

Welcome.

That might also be a camera setting (lots of people like sharp, contrasty photos in their snapshots).

Just to show what can be done with less-good photos, using a few simple tweaks in Photoshop or similar:

It's looking pretty good as it stands - many people would be more than happy with it just as it is

Honestly, it's much easier than it sounds! Just use the airbrush like a spraygun; there's no need for finesse with this method. I used to do this with a $20 single-action Aztek and the effect is indistinguishable from the one that costs $100.

This is sometimes called zenithal spraying for anyone that wants to look up more.

Something to bear in mind is that skin is only slightly glossy overall, barring someone sweating profusely. Look at people on the street and you'll see commonly the nose and the forehead are the most glossy spots so the effect should be concentrated there. It can be remarkable how much this can add to a lifelike appearance.

Vallejos are not naturally good paints for painting skin because of their very consistent matt finish, valuable though that is for when you do want it.

Einion

Thanks again Einion! I am very grateful for your insights!