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Pili-Pili 'Belle of the Nile (WIP)

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by Jamie Stokes, Apr 9, 2014.

  1. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    Ok,
    finished moving house....check.
    Got married......check.

    Set up man cave, check.

    Rediscover the brushes........

    So I've returned to the bench after a life detour, and I've picked Pili Pili Belle of the Nile bust to start with.
    Excellent sculpting, quite clean cast, only a little bit of tidying up to be done.

    Primed, and using Jo Sonja airbrushed on. Very nice paints!!

    I've gone for a Nubian skin tone, rather then an olive shade of caucasian. Bit of a stretch for me. Plus it's a bit of real world variety in the display cabinet!!

    P1070743.JPG P1070744.JPG
    P1070746.JPG

    (apologies of these come out rotated oddly, I'll get it worked out)

    C&C welcome.
    Captain Lol and gforceman like this.
  2. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    And after sleeping on the first part, I did the linen/ cotton robe. Went for a semi sheer effect, didn't go too badly.

    I've kept the shading and highlights to a minimum so far, I'd rather be understated at this point.

    C& C welcome, it's nice to be back at the bench though!

    Cheers

    Attached Files:

    Wings5797, Osebor, gforceman and 3 others like this.
  3. Joe55 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    At ta boy Jamie! A belated congratulations on your recent marriage, and for not wasting time on getting your man cave set up :D! Your progress so far on this beauty is looking great and I look forward to seeing her all dolled up (y)!

    Joe
    Jamie Stokes likes this.
  4. FigureLover A Fixture

    Country:
    Australia
    Nice work Jamie, the darker skin tones are excellent. What did you use for her irridesent eye shadow?
    Ben
    Jamie Stokes likes this.
  5. arxo Active Member

    Country:
    Greece
    Very smooth! ;) (from the marriage to the man cave to the bust)...great work...
    Jamie Stokes likes this.
  6. Mark S Guest

    This is looking very nice Jamie...love the skin tone.
    If there's any advice you need on any other specific areas of this bust please don't hesitate to ask......cheers :rolleyes::whistle:
    Jamie Stokes likes this.
  7. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Hi Jamie,
    I wondered where you had gone, Congratulations Mate.
    As always a brilliant start, the white lining is beautifully subtle.
    All the very best,
    Keith
    Jamie Stokes likes this.
  8. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    Joe,
    thanks for the congratulations and your encouragement!!

    Ben
    too kind! As for the eye shadow it's a mix of Jo Sonja paints. I think the light is adding more to the mix than might really be there. Or perhaps it's the contrast between skin tones and colour?
    I'll shoot some more pictures under different light conditions.

    Arxo,
    thanks mate, the old fiddler is my wifes favourite, and your input on that was so helpful!

    Mark,
    gosh, so many areas need checking for colour...... (.)/ if we were to go all diagrammatic!!
    Happy to hear you like the skin tone, particularly in light of your efforts with the PNG bust.

    Keith,
    thanks for the warm welcome back, the white lining was a bit of a challenge,

    it's nice to be back everybody,

    cheers

    Jamie

    (y)
    Wings5797 likes this.
  9. megroot A Fixture

    Country:
    Netherlands
    Very good work Jamie.
    Like what you have done.

    Marc
    tonydawe and Jamie Stokes like this.
  10. tonydawe A Fixture

    Country:
    Australia
    Great work Jamie. Lovely smooth skin tones and the nipple colour is spot on.
    Jamie Stokes likes this.
  11. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    Marc,
    thanks for your kind words, you've always been one to both inspire me and encourage me,

    Tony,
    always good to hear from you, you are one of the big hearted types here, offering encouragement, advice and friendship to all.


    And now for the inspiration for my scheme, a wall painting from the tomb of a pharaoh (Nebamun). According to the archaeologists, usually dancers performed in single gender sets, and in various states of light weight clothing. My skin tones are closer to the musician depicted here, although it may be a limitation of early pigment options, rather than a true to life depiction. Still, I've got some historical evidence to back it up, lest the rivet counters wade in ;)


    Musicians_and_dancers_on_fresco_at_Tomb_of_Nebamun.jpg

    My next challenge will be the necklace. Again, more research reveals that the stones, colours, and patterns were related to an aspect of a particular god. Gem stones were made from turquoise, lapis lazuli, coloured glass and carnelian, so I have a variety of coloyrs that will be historically relevant.

    Examples of jewellry follow......

    Ancient Egyptian Jewelry3.jpg Ancient Egyptian Jewelry4.jpg

    Back to the bench!!

    Cheers
    Jamie

  12. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    More work on the Dancer,
    (photos still rotated odd, arrrrggghhhh!)

    P1070755.JPG P1070753.JPG P1070756 - Copy.JPG

    Ok, breathing normally again.....

    Lips need more definition, eye make up needs better definition, and the hair piece needs a bit of tonal variety......plus, need to work on blending of the shadow areas of the cloth tunic......
  13. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    There is also a ap I'll have to fill on the 2nd part of the hair, just to the left of the white vertical head band tails. Couldn't help myself wit a moment of whimsy, painted in the Pili-Pili logo!!

    P1070758.JPG P1070759.JPG
  14. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    The right arm, asking for help.....
    do the nails in a lighter skin tone? and should the palm and fingers (palm side) be paler too?

    (Although my quite ordinary photos aren't helping, sigh....)

    P1070760.JPG P1070761.JPG P1070762.JPG P1070763.JPG

    Any help or observations welcomed!

    Cheers
    Jamie
  15. mil-mart A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Jamie excellent skin tones on this classic bust and looking forward to following. Can't really help about the palms being lighter, I would guess that they would be. Also regarding the finger nails, pale would be nice but then so would black IMHO, why not see if you can find any previous versions to compare.

    Cheers Ken
    Jamie Stokes likes this.
  16. tonydawe A Fixture

    Country:
    Australia
    Hi Jamie,

    I'm really enjoying seeing the progress pics; she's coming together nicely mate.

    I'm wondering if you've considered doing some henna tattoos on her hands? I understand this practice was popular among high status Egyptian woman.

    I'm wondering if the blue eye shadow (reminds me of ABBA circa 1975) could be augmented by some gold leaf??
    Jamie Stokes likes this.
  17. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    Thank you Tony and Ken,
    did the fingernails, and then glued the arm on. Had to carefully fill the gap left, I'll be touching that up. Frosting from the super glue didnt help....

    She also has a flower ( a lotus, I think) that I'll be adding.

    Yes, I can see the gap in the necklace, that's where the flower is going to go, bit discrete, yet hint of cheeky.

    Cheers for the input, I've looked at the options for henna and /or black nails, can't find any references, alas. I think those are both superb for an Indian dancer for Kai, however!! :)



    P1070822.JPG P1070824.JPG P1070828.JPG P1070830.JPG P1070832.JPG
    mil-mart likes this.
  18. Mark S Guest

    It's looking very nice, Jamie.....great work on the jewellery and skin.
    I'm sure this will be a very a beautiful piece when finished.
  19. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Great progress Jamie.
    It all looks perfect; flesh, drapery the whole shooting match.
    Good work Mate.
    Keith
  20. Jamie Stokes Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    Thanks Mark, getting there steadily.

    Keith, thanks for your comments, your'e too kind!

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