Yedharo\'s Gaul Bust

Darkmessiah

New member
Hiya guys,

Just working on this guy at the moment, just thought id lob him up and see wot type of feedback i get, i think i know wot needs improving and wot id like to add but, am not hugely experienced when it comes to skin tones so your advice/critique will be really appreciated!

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Dark
 

Monkeysplitters

New member
I love Roman history, I can almost imagine his mustache dripping with grease and wine.

The skin looks good, but I have a question: are you going to keep it that tone? or brighten it up a bit more. When ever Ive read about Gauls I guess i always imagine them being fair skinned, but maybe thats just a stereotype.
 

Darkmessiah

New member
@big its 1:10th like all of yedharo\'s busts

@splitters am planning on lightning the face up with a few washes so i can put some more highlights in their, but the chest will stay relatively the same, its goin to be more of a stylized paint job rather than a realistic one
 

Monkeysplitters

New member
yeah the nerd in me sometimes gets the better part. but with that said I am gonna keep checkin this thread for updates so dont keep the history nerd in me hangin.

As far as the skin, imo you should wash the shadows with some purples. I finally started doing that and it works great. It just gives that fleshy tone to the shadows that browns cant do. Plus i think it would really help with the transitions between the darkest parts (like the collar bone) and the highlights on the face and chest.
 

Darkmessiah

New member
Bit of an update, am quite happy with the skin, theirs more contrast irl, i think my lights washed out the paint job a little.

iv added greens and yellows to the highlights, red and blue (to make purple splitters ;)) for the shadows, some places need some smoothing out but am happy overall. Thinking about finishing the cloth off in green tartan

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@Splitters - Hopefully this will keep the nerdy side of u happy :beer:
 

Starks333

New member
the shadows are too intense for where they are located, and its affecting his overal skintone making it feel more dead(lack of colour)

the skin as a whole is far too even as well


so soften contrast(by glazing if you wish)...add more tonal variance, and ease up on the dark greens and blues for soft shadows...try for softer tones like darker skins, light browns and softer greens...


if the neck is that heavily in shadow then the \"raised\" areas should also reflect this, by being blued and not redened

also more variance between the highlights, and also between the shadows...right now your range in value is quite stagnant and has minimal transitions
 

Monkeysplitters

New member
well what starks said is a bit technical for me, but I have to admit (and because its a wip forgive me if im jumping the gun) that I do notice a difference in the skin between the face and chest. that is to say that the face imo looks great, especially around the eyes (and including the eyes). the cuts I think really give the face a gritty quality id expect of a chief (warlord). so when i see the work done to the face the chest seems incomplete, but again i know its a wip so u might have just not gotten to it yet.

But overall Im really digging the bust (sorry I snicked after i wrote that) and i looks great. keep it going

Im interested to see how you do the metals, and on his necklace is that metal? or stone and/or bone?
 

Darkmessiah

New member
following starks advice i tried to push some warm greens into the mid tones and some more yellows into the highlights to get some tonal variation, iv also lightened the shadows around his chest and neck, i know some areas need some smoothin out, ill go back over the mini later on after work

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@Splitters - am goin to do all the metals in bronze, the gold colour on the mini at the mo will be deeply washed to darken it alot.
 

uberdark

New member
those eyes are brilliant. the skin on the face feels a bit muddy. i would reccomend lightening it up a bit. but not tons though.

cheers
uber
 

Darkmessiah

New member
small update, am really strugglin to photograph the highlights, iv gone back and lightened the face up alot, and change the colour of the shadows a little, i think am at a point where am just going to call it a day and just put it down as a learning experience, am at the point were am just going to ruin the paint job if i keep going


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Starks333

New member
plenty of room to improve still as we all know...but that is a very very big improvement from the initial images

while the purple colour in the shadows is still a bit too strong

try putting some soft blues in the \"highlights\" on the neck, or greens, instead of the noticeable fleshy tone...and bring it a bit closer to the purpley blues of the dark shadows, this will help soften the transition a bit(so the shadows arent so intense), and also create a break between the chest and face, which should bring the face out more

if you would like an idea i can PS edit the pic to show you...or we can as you said call it a day ;)



Alex
 

Darkmessiah

New member
@Starks - so bring bring some soft green in off the face to the neck/collar bone, how about some soft blues in the shadows to close the contast gap?
as for the PS idea if it will help me improve then i welcome any advice from top painters like urself, i know i said id call it a day but am sure ill find some patients to tweak a few things before i finish ;)

*edit*

big update, metallics are finished, his hair is next!

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Bigdennis52

New member
I think it is going nicely

For some reason the skin does not feel right to me, maybe it is just the contrast between the shadows and the skin area.
 

Starks333

New member
first somehting i have learned about skins and colour that may help in the future:

if the skin is yellowish, avoid using blues, because a yellow blue creates a more greyed result, which makes skin feel muddy

yellow with blue light(shadow) hitting it turns greenish, this is why yellow skins often have greenish shadows...there are circumstances where it might appear more greyed, but for the basics i would avoid it

you can also use warm browns to help define/shadow the face

when the skin gets a bit more pinkish or preferably pale, then you can begin to use blues as you will find they keep their colour more and dont muddy up colours

also for the main skin tone, try to keep the colour more saturated...as skin dies it loses its colour(deaturates) and thus dead skin is more greyed, live skin is more colourful...leave the heavily desaturated colours to the shadows

the next key is the most beutiful colour appears in the highlights, so use rich colour in the highlights, yellows, oranges, and so forth(if in sunlight) instead of greyed tones or whites(unless the very brightest points)

while far from perfect heres an edit, basically what i did was soften the contrast, and avoid using strong blues, instead i used the greens, a dark warm brown, and around the eyes reds and purples in combo with the existing blues

i also tried to bring the highlights up from a greyed tone to a more elf flesh type tone...i took a lot of shadow out of the face because when looking at faces, even heavily defined ones they dont have dark shadows on the cheeks...so i softened up with reds and colours like bestial brown and snakebite....i then essentially shadowed the lower areas with a green tone, and then glazed over with the duller skin tone you have...this took the noticeable GREEN out and made it more of a \"lightly greened skin tone\"...however you could use the purples or darker browns like i used around the eyes or neck instead if you desire, instead of the greens, just avoid making it too much of a contrast

you will also notice the neck area is very much in shadow, but still has definition(it could be better but i lost my stylus so was using the mouse to colour so a bit wonky), and this helps bring the face out as long as the highlights or contrast on the chest is less than that of the face

when people say to use purples and blues, or reds, it means to add those tones, but not necessarily leave them looking red, or blue...but instead redened or blued fleshy colour...you can achieve this through mixes, or by various layers of glazes as what is underneath affects what is going on top


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Darkmessiah

New member
cheers for that starks! thats defo being saved for later reference!


Righteo upate time chaps and chappets

Got some more work done on the gaul, hair is mostly done, iv used green/red/brown washes to add some depth, although i need to put a few more washes on his brows and tash to add definition, iv given the helmet a few more washes to stop it lookin gold and more bronze, hopefully thats worked, leather is done-ish (am really not happy with the straps, any advice?) and iv painted his necklace in stone although i may go back over and smooth the blending and add some green washes.

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TAB Studio

New member
Starks333 You have a great eye for flesh. The amount of time you took to help is darn nice of you.
Have you tried one of these larger scale models? I feel you would be very good at it if you could find one you like!

Darkmessiah: Gaul is looking good the metal is very nice indeed. I do tend to lean toward less contrast on the skin but also know its a pain to redo when you just want to move forward. Yet a few washes on the skin would really help even things a bit.
Is the lower chest is much different than the rest of the skin or is that a photo lighting thing going on there? Maybe there is a way you think to bring that flesh more into balance with the rest of the model.

The eyes are darn wonderful, very haunting balanced and you have done a great job on the whites .
For such close shots your paint is real smooth and looks really well applied, the bigger models are a challenge and your doing a great job. It will be fun to watch you finish.
Cheers
Tracy
 

mickc22

Granddad!
Hey DM, not looking too bad, if you want a look at different techniques
here\'s an excellent article by Jaume Ortiz
click the \"painting faces....\" link and it should take you to the PDF

-mick
 

Darkmessiah

New member
@splitters - the green is scaly green, iv tried to use it more in the dings and dents whilst the red is vmc black red ;)

alright guys, update time, i shelved this for a while just so i could concentrate on other projects, am back on it now and its almost finished! i think just a bit of tweaking for the cloaks highlights and prob some black pigments for the damaged parts to add texture and maybe some work on the hair and am done!

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all the best

Dark
 
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