Hello, this is my first post over here.

I recently started this beauty sculpted by Pedro Fernandez. It is my first female bust so far. Never tried something like this.



I started with the face. I tried a lot of things first. I wanted to paint a very destinctive light situation, where only one half of the face would be iluminated by white light. But ... I failed. So I basecoated everything again with Tuskor Fur (Citadel) and used Cadmium Skin (VGC) to sketch the volumes.




I added a lot of colors to achieve this look. I can't remember them all.
I used a Mahogany Brown, Black Red and Dark Sea Blue for the shadows (all VMC).
I used Light Brown, Brown Rose and Light Orange (all VMC) for the midtones. I also used glazes of Mahogany Brown and Tuskur Fur for some areas near shadows.
I used Sunny Skin Tone (VMC) and Ivory (VGC) for some highlights.




I added some details and blocked the hair. The idea was to add some tourquise strands of hair. So I blocked the insides of the hair with Dark Sea Blue (VMC). I also added some glazes to the left side of the face.
I painted the lips with a mix of Mahogany Brown, Vermillion (both VMC) and Tuskor Fur (Citadel). I added Ivory and Brown Rose for the highlights. Her lower eyelids are basecoated with Turskor Fur and highlighted with Light Orange. I changed some highlights and painted the eyes. Here nose got some glazes of Vermillion.

I hope you find this interessting. Cheers

P.S. I'll post more progress once I have some more interesting pictures.

I did some more work. I added some highlights on the hair and tried to block the turquoise parts. I used Dark Sea Blue, Emerald (both VMC) and Ivory (VGC) in different mixed ratios.
It's more like a sketch.



I used Black, Dark Sea Blue and Ivory for the helmet. I added glazes with Black Red, Emerald, Royal Purple. I need to add more contrast.
I used Black and German Dark Camo Green (both VMC) for a routh sketch of the highlights of the scarf. I used Green Grey (VMC (have to try the one by Abteilung 502)) for the highlights and added Ivory in the mix.
I tried to paint a texture here.

Lovely character & colouring coming through in your work here.
Thanks for sharing the paint details here as we can learn from your mixes. Who are your painting influences?
MikeTheKiwi

I mostly post the paints for myself (coming back, reading this, will help me to remember ). Glad you like it.
I couldn't point out one influence. I watch a lot of tutorials by David Arroba, Banshee, Trovarion a.s.o.. I really like Marc Masclans, Arnau Lazaro, Jero Carmona, Sergio Calvo, to name a few of dozens. But the people that influence me the most are a bunch of people I hang out with. We talk a lot about painting, giving feedback to each other. Also my girlfriend is a great source of tips, feedback.

Know what you mean about a personal paints list mate.
I do the same.

Good list of contemporary artists & can see their influence.
Especially nice hearing that your girlfriend & friends are most important. They have best interests at heart plus benefits you can personally gain from your art. I envy this connection with close contacts, something to not underestimate importance of.
We learn so much quicker from those are around us than those in a virtual world. Although the latter do inspire, the community we link into will always drive our creativity further.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
MikeTheKiwi

Having the opportunity to directly talk to someone about your miniature, your thoughts and your struggles is really helpful.
This is my first female bust ever and all the feedback really helped a lot.

First ever!!
You gotta do more Ralf.
She has real personality & life.
Would it be helpful to offer an observation based on your photos?
MikeTheKiwi

Sure. Next will be a rework of the hairs. With the hairs done I can judge on the lower part of the scarf and the main reflection on the helmet (which is not strong enough right now).

Great stuff. Thanks for posting!

Adrian

Absolutely sensational!

Oda.

She should be finished this months ... Will be a close race.
@Mike I have some female busts in my collection. But never tried to paint them. This one wasn't my choice. I didn't feel confident enough to try painting female faces and skin in general. But it worked out better and faster than I thought it would.

So, I tried to paint the hair today. I repainted everything I've done before.
I used the following colors in the following steps.



Next I used Agrax Earthshade (Citadel) and Drakenhof Nightshade (Citadel) as Washes. Agrax for the parts that will stay natural and Drakenhof for the parts that will be colored later.

After everything dried a bit I mixed Drakenhof Nightshade with Emerald (VMC) and added it to the colored strands of hair while the wash was still moist.
I did the same with a mix of Agrax Earthshade and Light Brown (VMC).

Next I eliminated some colors. And did this.



I mixed Burnt Umber and Japanese Uniform first, added Light Brown and Off White later. I tried to paint lines where needed.
I used Light Brown, Japanese Uniform and a mix of Light Brown and Off White for some more details. I need to fix some more things. I have to check all the angles that will be used for the photos and make sure it looks good.

P.S. This is the reference I used so far and will use for the colored strands of hair.

I thought about an OSL effect from her left side. I'll probably skip it. Need to get this finished.

This is the last progress. I added a different perspective.

So I painted the blueish strands of hair. I like how the blue pops out of the other rather desaturated colors. I have to tone down some parts and add more blond strands again.

I mixed Burnt Umber with Emerald (VMC) and started to block out the strands. I added more Emerald for the highlights. I added Sunny Skin Tone (VMC) to the mix and added more highlights. Sunny Skin Tone mixes perfectly with the blue and adds much more vibrancy than white would do.