bgcdazzler's first ever mini WIP (a confusion of cockups and learnings)

[bgcdazzler]

Ugh...

massively hungover, and only had a black biro to hand, and slightly later than planned, but here is the drawing to celebrate 300 posts.

And the lucky(?) recipient is... Zab. For post 300 I was going to do a pic of some Spartans facing an ork horde, but Zab is a fan of beakies (I guess someone has to be...) and in post 300 he talks about painting with a hammer. So here's the pic instead:

thank you all (and Zab) for visiting my weird little corner of the Internet, and do continue to post advice, criticisms, support, and jokes of varying wit and taste.

On to 400!

 

[Zab]

Hung over and you had to draw a beakie? that's pretty harsh. Love the drawing! I'm gonna keep it foreverah!

 

[ArchArad]

Awesome skills.

 

[Digganob]

Lol a beaky painting with a hammer. Straight out of Zab head...oh hey look were half way to 400 already. Ark and me should spam your forum in a race to get there...

 

[bgcdazzler]

@Zab. No worries. It was either that or work; even beakies aren't that bad...

@Arch (blush) thank you.

@Digga I thought that was what you were doing anyway? :rotfl:

 

[SaintToad]

Awesome job on the casting. Way to jump into the thick of things!
I can't wait to see how your new project pans out. Keep up the good work and good luck on the hangover...

 

[Teronus]

You'r drawing is jaw dropping.

 

[Digganob]

Oh so you DO know....great now I don't have to worry about getting caught lol

 

[bgcdazzler]

Thanks Tero, much appreciated.

Digga: I'm watching you!

I had to share this, I'm stupidly excited. A hand!

no pics of the process, but I was basically putting my barbarian on a tin to bake his armoured arm, belt, strap and his eyes and teeth (which I'm really, really surprised and pleased with) and trying to balance him in such a way that nothing got smushed... And he sort of fell into the below position. So I though 'hmm, maybe I could make a hand and rest it on the tin to bake', so I did.

A hand!

it's silly I know, but I'm so happy because I was worried about how to do it, and now it's done. Fingers crossed it bakes fine...

 

[bgcdazzler]

He's out of the oven... All well. I'll need to carve a bit off his hand ( though not much as this will be palm down against the base), but I'm pleased with him.

Here's a few pics of the detailing: teeth, eyes, belt etc.

 

[ArchArad]

*feigns indignation* Some of us are just enthusiastic forum participants. And now our honour is besmirched with the "spam" label. *swoons dramatically*

 

[Digganob]

*feigns indignation* Some of us are just enthusiastic forum participants. And now our honour is besmirched with the "spam" label. *swoons dramatically*

LOL to funny.

That hand came out pretty dam good. How long or how many tries it take you to get it right? I was ready to kill stuff when I tried sculpting such small hands.

 

[bgcdazzler]

First time lucky! I know, I know, I can almost hear you swearing from here.

If it helps the shoulder strap took seven (SEVEN!) blasted tries before it would work.

 

[Maenas]

LUCKY you!! xD xD

It looks pretty good (the hand) I really thought a shoulder strap would be a lot easier to do than a hand.... but it looks like it is as well a hard thing to do. I suppose due to size, position and "roundness" of it.

Also... I repeat myself but.. you are a talented illustrator. Thumbs up for your skills ^^

 

[bgcdazzler]

The strap - yeesh. It just wouldn't stick to the baked model. I'd press it down and it would lose its shape; try to reshape it and it would peel off. Nightmare.

Glad you like the drawing - and judging by your samurai, I guess my bossy freehand Orc worked!

 

[bgcdazzler]

Right then.

A few more sculpty bits on what has been a mammoth and ridiculous basing exercise. I only have myself to blame... But if I can find someone else I will blame them instead.

The little barbarian fella (anyone want to name him? Currently I think of him as 'Pig') is done. I had to greenstuff the sword (and I hate greenstuff) so it's quite plain.

Then trees. Ugh, trees. I made a rotten hollow log by wrapping some Fimo around my scalpel handle and smushing it about.

Bake it, pull it off the scalpel, and voila! A hollow log type thing. I then tore the top off my old tree, placed everything, and barring a few little bits I think the overall base structure is done. Finally!

I'm too close to it to know if it is any good, so comments welcome as always folks...

 

[bgcdazzler]

The sprint

I've said the last couple of days that I've been missing painting, and decided to take Bam and Bailey's excellent advice of having two projects on the go; one a marathon (see Maulgy hell, above) and one 'sprint' - a fun easy paint mini to unwind the frustration and keep your painting eye in.

So, after my sculpt session earlier I decided to start my sprint model: Hambo the dangerous hamster. Here's where I am so far.

First I decided he had to be ginger. So I started with a middling brown:

then darkened with a richer brown as a wash:

then a nice dark red as a wash to get that russet tone:

then it's into a bit of orange on the hairs, picking out each stroke. Doing it nice and quickly gives it that furry consistency. Then I took the highlights almost to a cream, especially on top of the head and shoulders, and on the face along with an off white for whiskers and lips:

then I base coated a nice pink on the nose, ears and hands, and blacked the eyes:

A very enjoyable hour's painting, and now I feel so much more relaxed. I'm going to call it a night and maybe finish him tomorrow.

If you're struggling with a 'marathon' figure, I heartily recommend taking a lethal hamster for a spin. Thanks Bam and Bailey.

 

[ArchArad]

Barbarian is looking good where you've placed him. The position of the dead log and the tree doesn't work for me. They're too on top of each other, but different sizes. I'd go with your dead log only - it's a good size for the scale and should still balance that side of the base.

Hambo is looking great so far - colour choice and technique are both approved.

 

[SaintToad]

The trees look good (love the hollow log trick!), but I'm not sure how the fallen tree got there. The size difference doesn't bother me, though I see what Arch is saying. The position seems implausible, I guess, given the rock face just below. I think the fact that it's still leaning against the other tree makes me think it has neither been there long nor traveled far since it fell. That said, I do think your efforts to balance the composition with some sizable structure are smart.
This is a really ambitious project that is shaping up to be very special! Keep up the good work!

 

[bgcdazzler]

Thanks guys. You're right, as ever - By trying to keep the existing tree (because I like its snaky roots) I'm overloading it. I'll stick with the hollow log. I still need some stuff to 'ground' it - maybe mushrooms or some moss or lichen or something.

I I realise I didn't really show the finished Pig. Here he is - the last look before painting him. I've never painted anything I've sculpted before. Or flesh tones. What on earth am I doing?!