Hi guys,

I've started painting the face on this wonderful Young Miniatures bust of Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, as played by Russell Crowe in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

I've used Lee Sang Eon's box art as a guide, but I'm not in his league when it comes to painting, and just tried to do the best I can. I've watched the movie a few times lately just to refresh my memory and get inspired.

As usual, I've primed with Tamiya White from a spray can and then base coated in Vallejo acrylics and applied very thin glazes of dilute acrylics to build up the shadow and highlight colours.

I have only base coated the hair at this stage.

I've attached a few pics to show you my progress from base coating, through to where I am up to now.

I hope you like it so far.

He is looking good so far Tony. My copy is crying out from the shelf....."paint me......paint me". I hope to start him soon. I look forward to seeing yours develop.

Great work so far, looking forward to seeing this one come together. Hardy

Hello Tony

Beautiful work on the face, the bust is amazing

Regards
Pedro

Looking good so far Tony , just received my copy in the post yesterday cant wait to get it started. This has to be one of best busts around.Think there will be lots of these showing up in the coming months.

David

Great start mate, looks good.

Great start Tony,
I like what you have done so far.

Marc

Excellent start!
I like the fleshtone...
great work...and great Bust!

regards
Andrea

Tony,
Great looking so far.
Cheers
John

Thank you to everyone who posted comments on my first pics of this awesome bust.

Nap, the base colour is Vallejo Basic Flesh with a drop of Vermillion and Sunny Skin Tone added. I apply two rather thick coats of base coat over the primer at a water to paint ratio of 1:1.

I do the eyes first and try to get them looking in the same direction, before I proceed to the skin tones. In considering where to apply my shadows and highlights, I study the face carefully in a number of different light sources and apply the trusty old Sheppard Paine "Stop Sign Rule".

Once the base coat is thoroughly dry, I lay in the shadows by adding multiple layers of a very dilute mix (paint to water ratio 10:1) of shadow tone (Base colour mix + Dark Flesh + Vermillion + Prussian Blue) over almost all the face (except the areas where the highlights will go).

As I apply each layer, I progressively build up the darker shadow areas until I am only painting the deepest shadow areas. In this way, I try to create a smooth and gradual transition between the base colour and the shadow tones. It also means there are several different shadow tones, not just one, as the areas that have only received a few light applications will be quite transparent, and the base colour will show through.

It can take up to 10 applications to build up enough colour to really create a good shadow. Thankfully acrylics dry very quickly, so I don't have to wait long before I can reapply.

I then lay in the deepest shadow tone (Shadow mix + Burnt Umber + Black) using the same technique, and try to feather the edges where the deepest shadow and the shadow mix meet.

It's basically the same process in reverse with the highlights.

This technique was taught to me several years ago by Franco Andreone, who learnt it from Pietro Balloni at Pegaso. Both Franco and Pietro are much better at it than me, but I keep trying and learning from my mistakes.

I hope this helps a bit.

Hello Tony

I liked the flash tones and the face is very expresive .
Great work

Warm regards

Mario

HiNap,

It's the same process for the rest of the figure, as with the face, only the colours are obviously different.

With blue colours, I usually start with a dark blue mix of Prussian Blue, Oxford Blue and Black, and then progressively lighten the colours. I leave the Blue/Black in the darkest shadow areas and then do a series of very thin glazes of dilute Prussian Blue over the rest of the areas. The highlighting is generally done by mixing Prussian Blue with a tiny drop of Ivory.

this is a great bust ! I'm going to follow this one up

Excellent start on this beautifully sculpted face, Tony.
And well done on a clear and concise explanation of your technique.
I'll be looking forward to the rest of your work of this one,gold trim or otherwise.~I'd probably go the gold trim on the hat at least.
It doesn't seem to have been sculpted on the lapels.

Great start Tony, what can go wrong now with such a beautiful sculpt!

Marcel.

Hi Patrick, Mark and Marcel,

Thank you very much for your comments guys.

Mark, I've decided to go with the gold trim on the hat. I don't know if I'll do the same on the collar and lapels yet.

Here are the latest pics, showing the face finished, the hat base coated with a few light coats of grey/black.

I hope you like.

Looks good so far Tony. Now I have an idea what the gold looks like on the hat.

Tony, as this kit is on my x-mas list and I am also an acrylics painter, I am following your sbs very closely