EMI Roman Marine - Tunic and Groundwork

I have been working on our little EMI Roman Marine this past week or so and wanted to show my progress on the groundwork and figure. First I began work on the white tunic by applying a mixture of Raw Umber and Titanium White to the cloth tunic and adding rough shadows of pure Raw Umber which were blended wet-on-wet. Pure Titanium White was then used to pull out the broader highlights, again wet-on-wet. You can also see the first color that was applied to the sand, a Yellow Ochre, Titanium White mix. Please note in the photo how I carried the sand color partially out into the areas that were obviously sculpted as water waves. This will show through the painted "water" giving the hint of the thinning depth.

Next I mixed Prussian Green and Prussian Blue together to create my Mediterranean sea water. These two colors are fairly transparent and when applied thinly over the sand and white base coat create a very nice water color with a hint of the sand coming through at the beach. Now I am aware that this color is in all reality a bit unrealistic for so near the shore taken on it's own, however once completed the color in combination with the blue shield and the other colors will be less brilliant taken as a whole. My intention artistically here was to create a sunny, warm feeling and the end results will tell whether I have succeeded. Lastly, Titanium White was blended into the foaming edges of the waves and a thin line of deeper color added under the lip of the wave.

Once dry I began softening the sand color. I created a thinned mix of Raw Sienna and Titanium White, applying this to the area of sand that would be fairly dry. By adding a touch of Burnt Umber to the mix I was able to replicate the darker sand found closer to the water line. In addition Burnt Umber was blended around the shoes for softened shadows as well as around the edges of the sand/base join line to blur that stark divide. This was also stippled onto the back and sides. Lastly, Titanium White was softly blended in spots to break up the uniformity of the sand (mottling).

This last photo shows how I have completed the water with touches of pure Titanium White on the waves, foam and in spots on the sand nearest the water. Once fully dry I will dull coat the dry sand and apply bit of semigloss to the wet sand and gloss to the water but not the white tops of the small waves.

During this time I also continued work on the tunic building successively lighter layers of white. Once dry I will work a few more shadows in and line the edges in pure white to bring out some crisper edges. In addition I suddenly realized the error of my ways at the helmet as it should be bronze and so I base coated by hand with some Floquil lacquer and applied my usual mix of Yellow Ochre and Mars Black.