What we're seeing here is the transformation of, what to me at least, was always a rather weak and decidedly
boring figure into something much more interesting and even exciting.........Bravo Kimmo this is terrific stuff.

Mike

Cheers Mike! No added pressure...


I got a very rough basing done the other day and then have been trying to avoid melting in a mini heatwave. I don't do well in this kind of weather, and paint doesn't like 30C+ much either.









Still a long way to go, but you need to start somewhere.

Kimmo

I managed to get a good proper session in, just had to wait until it was cool enough. Who needs sleep at night anyway..











I'm rather pleased with my efforts so far. The overall tones are a lot darker in real life, but the camera has done a nice job of capturing the subtleties for a change. I needed to get the shadows set before I roughed in the lantern light, I'm still going to have to darken things up a bit before I can get the moonlight effect to go on, but, a good start.

Kimmo

Beautiful lighting!

Cheers Nap and Matt! No sign of cooling off any time soon so more night work.


Today's session was all about trying to set the tones and values for the doctor. There's a lot going on lighting wise so a rather tricky exercise. Everything is still rather rough, and the colours aren't quite where I want them either. The gold on the gondola is still very much in progress, but looking good, if not exactly neat. The camera managed to give us a better representation of the darkness of the shadows this go around.

















Next up I'll have to define the lantern glow and clean up the good doctor's clothing. Time to break out the good brushes.


Kimmo

That's a fantastic base you've created there, Kimmo. The water effects look great, the stonework is well painted & weathered, & the inlay on the gondola hull is just the icing on the cake.

Really amazing work on this vignette, amazing idea and great composition. Excellent processing of the gondola and water. Just amazing work so far. Keep it up, looking forward to finishing.

Cheers Borek

Superbly displayed base, gondola prow and figure. If you wanted to add anything, perhaps a mooring ring in the face of the dock wouldn't go amiss (e.g. https://www.canstockphoto.com/mooring-ring-48076504.html).

Mike

Cheers all!

Mike, I was supposed to add a ring and then forgot, I'll have to remember to do one up, more things for the light to bounce off.

Nap, the good brushes are Artis Opus Series S 0 and 00, absolutely fantastic. I was using a Vallejo regular sable for most of the work up to now, they're surprisingly good and excellent value for what I paid, but, for sheer painting joy, Artis Opus. With the price tag, they come out only when absolutely needed and worth every penny. I wish I had a lot more pennies because I know what they'd be spent on.

Getting on to our update, I got the lantern lighting sorted out, almost. I got the lighting on the doctor looking good, if not exaggerated at the moment, but realised my lighting on the bollard and jetty were off a bit. I had glued the lantern to the sleeve so it would point downward a bit more to lend credence to the light bouncing off the stonework, I then had a closer look at the angles and saw there should be a split down the centre of my light on the bollard because of how the lantern is oriented. That also meant my rearmost pool of light shouldn't be there and will have to get fixed. Tricky stuff this light. I did a bit more work here and there and this is what we have now:
















And here you can see what I mean with the split light. The doctor shifted a bit so it's not aligned dead on, but you should be able to see what's going on. The frame of the lantern is acting as a divider and you have two distinct cones of light. So I'm imagining that you should have a band of shadow in between the two, which is reinforced by the two pools on the stonework. I think the shadow may have to be even wider, need to do some careful measuring...




Apart from it appearing as if the doctor is on fire and the lantern is a raging inferno, I think it's progressing nicely. The light will get toned down when I add a glaze of the fabric and stone/bollard, the lantern needs a think. Next I'll have to work on the stones to darken them up a bit and get some serious shadow going in the cracks and chips, then a moonlight filter to better see the whole scene and put it up against a dark background.

Kimmo

Cheers Nap! It's a learning experience, I've never pushed things this far or been this loose with my painting. Quite liberating. As to the brushes, I'm going to do a bit of a write up on the subject when I've gotten a chance to really test out the others I recently bought.

Kimmo

Almost there now. I got the doctor more or less done, just a bit of moon dust needed and maybe a tweak or two. I fixed the rearmost light blob, touched up the gondola and got a bit more shadow and contrast going with the stonework. The only major thing left is the bollard and the light around it.




















I wanted to see what this looked like against a dark background, it really helps frame things better and your eye will immediately pick up on what looks off. Taking photos is tricky without getting a proper setup, the shadows aren't as strong as they should be so the overall scene looks to be much lighter. So far so good, hope to get things wrapped up in the next day or so.

Kimmo

Cheers Nap!


And we're calling this one done. Spent a bit of time getting the lighting tweaked (that bollard was a right pain in the backside to figure out) and darkening some of the shadows. It's tough to say whether the paving stones should have more contrast or not. There is a subtle yellowy-green-gray sheen that looks good in natural light, but isn't quite as effective in the photos.























For a first go at OSL and more of an artistic style with some NMM, I'm happy enough, and so is the client. I'll probably do a proper shoot with the light tent to see if I can get the lighting to soften a little more. Otherwise, thanks to everyone who followed along and commented.

Kimmo

Very clever stuff, Kimmo - this really looks the business. I even forgive the black background (my pet hate!)
because for once it's essential to the composition. Your client and Scientific Models have every reason to be
pleased. Brilliant !!

Mike

This turned out beautiful!

Cheers Mike, Henkm and Nap!

Kimmo