Hi guys,

My latest figure is Gerard Butler as Leonidas in "300", in 54mm white metal by Yedharo. Despte the many historical inaccuracies and Hollywood moments, I love this movie and get a buzz every time I watch it on DVD.

Still a lot of work to do but it's starting to come together. I haven't added the scabbard yet.

Painted in Vallejo acrylics, but I will accent the flesh areas with a wash of oils mixed with white spirits.

Sorry for the poor pics but my camera can't focus very well and I'm not much of a photographer

Your comments are always welcome.

Nice start Tony and an interesting figure. I would suggest a bit more blending at the shadows cause he looks as if his muscles were cut with a knife and i know that this is in part due to the deep carving of the sculpture itself.

Nice work for starters. As Dimitris said try to soften the sharp sculpted muscle structure and u will be better. Also add some highlights on the top of the cloack as the distance from neck to feet justifies this !

Best regards


Costas

Tony,
looking great allready. You can give him a nice sixpack instead a four pack.
As suggested above some feathering on the shadowlines on the muscles will look more natural.

Marc

Beautiful Tony, the flesh and the cloak are superb
Try to take another pictures please!

Thanks for your helpful feedback guys.

I agree with your comments about blending the shadows better on the flesh, and yes Costas, I will also add some highlights to the cloak. Thanks mate.

That's why I will be applying dilute glazes of oil paint over the flesh areas and building up the flesh shadow colours in very thin layers. I find that Vallejo acrylics don't look particularly realistic on their own and the oils help give more depth to skin tones.

Marc, I'll make sure he has a six pack, not a four pack.

My youngest son just said that I don't have a six pack, I have a keg.

He's now in his room contemplating the meaning of life. Cheeky bugger. I wonder who he gets that from???

Good start Tony, I am sure it will look a lot better after you get to work with the oils.



Cheers David

Nice work indeed Tony! I think you've handled the flesh tones very well, and it will look even better with the suggestions people here have offered. Have you considered some shadows and highlights on the shield? It might be hard for me to tell because of the angle of the photos and lighting. In any case, should be a great addition to the collection.

Hi Tony
Yes I think oil paint should give the skin the oiled sheen of the figures in the film.
Pete

Tony,
Nice start to this figure.
Cheers
John

That is SPARTA!!!!!!

(couldn't resist)

My goodness, is that a token bit of beefcake for Mrs Dawe to admire?

Always good to see your work,

cheers

Hi David, Glenn, Pete, John and Jamie,

Thanks for your comments guys. I always appreciate getting feedback and suggestions from you, and do my best to act upon your advice. Glenn, I haven't started on the shield yet, this is just a base coat.

Tonight I started the proces of layering my oil glazes over the flesh areas; mixing equal amounts of Burnt Sienna and Spectrum Vermillion with white spirits to make a very dilute wash/ glaze. In addition to smoothly blending the shaded areas of the skin, the oil glaze also adds a sun burnt colour and sheen to the skin that is deeper and more natural than I can achieve with acrylics alone.

I started by concentrating on the areas I'd already shaded with acrylics and then gradually extended the washes over the flesh areas. Most of the glaze goes over the shaded areas with the highlighted areas given a very light glaze coat to help ensure the skin colour looks uniform.

If you compare these latest pics with the ones I started this thread with, you can see the difference the oil glazes make.

I'll repeat this process of the next few nights until I'm satisfied that the blending is smooth and the skin tones look right.

Tony, great painting and will follow with interest.

Cheers Ken

Hi! Tony.
Excellent progress!
I think branding of oil paints is effective in the skin tone.
It's very beautiful about a cloack!
I'm looking forward to completion of your work very much.

Mitsutaka

Almost finished

Hi Carl, Ken and Mitsutaka,

Thank you for your comments and for following my progress.

I've been concentrating on getting the blending of the oils and acrylics on the flesh looking right.

After several viewings of "300", I also did more work on the red cape.

I hope you like my progress.

Great work Tony

Thanks Carl and Pedro,

A few more days and this figure will be finished. I don't like the shine so I'll dust with pastels before spraying with Dull coat.

Tony he already looks much much better. As for the shine i think its spot on for the fleshtones considering the movie!