Andreas Hofer - Update #2

Further work on the jacket, with some early shadows added with glazes of Greenish Umber and Greenish Umber mixed with Mars Black. The beard has begun as well with various shades of Burnt Umber, Van Dyke Brown and Mars Black. An initial coat of Burnt Umber on the belt and gunstock, and the whole was set aside to dry.

 

 

 

 

After drying, more work was done on the face and hand as well as the beard. A long way to go at this point. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Andreas Hofer - Update #1

In the photos below you can see the initial phases of painting this piece. As always, work began with the flesh and at this stage it was awaiting further highlights and shadows. The red shirt has been started with graded shades of Medium and Deep Cadmium Red. The jacket as shown in two portrait paintings is somewhere between a deep green and a more yellowish green. I started with a varied mix of Chromium Green Deep and Mars Yellow to get the golden-olive effect I desired. This will be toned down as the jacket proceeds through the various stages of shading. I decided to make the lapels and cuffs a bit lighter to add some variety to the jacket.

 

 

 

 

 

Andreas Hofer - Ulrich Puchala bust

My second Ulrich Puchala project is the box art for this wonderful portrait of Andreas Hofer the Napoleonic era hero of the Tyrol region and an Austrian Historical Legend. Andreas was a Tirolean inn-keeper and politician who fought for Austria against the French in the "War of the Third Coalition". In 1809, he became the leader of a rebellion against Franco-Bavarian forces that sparked the War of the Fifth Coalition. He was subsequently captured and executed. For my painting research I am using primarily the three pictures you see below as they give a very good indication of skin tone and clothing colors. The dress is very distinctive, being representational of the region. This is going to be a fun project.

 

My apologies to Ulrich for the slow speed on this. Over the next few days you will see how far I have progressed and that this bust is nearly completed.

 

 

 

 

The kit consists of five resin components, well cast, easily cleaned, prepped and assembled. The primed piece is seen below. The hat has been left unattached to ease painting, and the whole has been attached a Ken Thomas Black textured base, wrapped with paper to protect from extensive handling during the painting process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alfred von Tirpitz - Update #1

So here we are at the end of January and I have been remiss in my postings on the blog. I am surprised anybody is still reading! Over the next day or so I will pay that attention off with an update of all the projects I have been working on as well as introducing a few new items to the mix. I have been busy with life but have made some progress, not nearly as much as I would have liked.

 

The first item in the queue is this bust of Tirpitz that Mr. Puchala has been more than patient in his waiting for the box art. I started the face during an evening of educational workshop painting at my local hobby shop Section 8 Hobbies here in Buffalo, NY. The evening was great fun and I always enjoy sharing my techniques with others.

 

As always, my usual mix was applied and highlighted, allowing this to dry before work on final highlights and shadows began. The first two photos show the head and hand in their half finished state.

 

 

 

Once dry I began adding shadows with Burnt Umber, Alizarin Crimson and Van Dyke Brown/Mars Black around the hairline/beard. The last mix was mixed variably with Titanium White to create the various tones of the early stages of his hair and beard. The black cap bill and band are a simple undercoat to define the space and help visualize the proper shading on his face.

 

 

 

EVD 60mm Ludus Doctore - Completed

This wonderful little figure is completed now, although I may well dirty up his pants a bit more. I have some subtle yellowing tone shifts around the leg hems but I'm not sure this is enough. Next up from EVD is the "Charon" gladiator grouping. I am also pretty excited about the new grouping from EVD as well, three Romans and an Egyptian "hottie".

 

 

 

 

EVD 60mm Ludus Doctore - Update #2

Although I still had some tweaking to do on the flesh, I started work on the rest of the figure as well. The leather jerkin that is worn would have most likely be tanned leather so my color choice here for a base coat was Burnt Sienna with some Orange added. This was stippled to indicate a tiny amount of texture and allowed to dry.

 

 

Afterwards a wash of Burnt Umber was applied to the fur, wrist protection and the jerkin. A wash of Van Dyke Brown with a tiny amount of Mars Black was applied to the shoes. Deep Cadmium Red mixed with Titanium White was applied to the trousers and highlights worked with Titanium White. A little Yellow Ochre was added to the red in the lowest quarter inch or so of the legs to show a dirty color shift. This will be worked later using some crisp over-painting and glazing.

 

 

 

A second wash of Burnt Umber has been applied in the photos below. Additionally I have done a bit more work on the flesh highlights with touches of white. A few shadows have been worked on the jerkin using Burnt Umber.

 

 

 

 

Another wash, Van Dyke Brown, as well as some deep shadow glazing on the leather jerkin. Further highlighting of the trousers was done using a lighter version of the initial color mix.

 

 

 

 

Mars Brown was applied to the belting and a mix of Burnt Umber and Mars Black to the fur. The whip was painted with the Umber/Black mixture as well. Mars Black was applied to the blade of the figure's Gladius and wiped off to darken the kit metal to a more realistic color and finish. Raw Umber and Yellow Ochre dots were mixed with Titanium White to get a very light ivory/bone color for the sword hilt. Light dry-brushing of the post using Titanium White with Van Dyke Brown added gives the aged look more realism in the wood, while Yellow Ochre and White were used to make the cuts look more recently exposed to the elements. From this point on it will all be about crisp detailing on the fur, belts leather, edging etc.

 

 

 

 

EVD 60mm Ludus Doctore - Update #1

As with all of my figures, everything begins with the flesh and this figure is no exception. It has been 15 years since the last time I had to paint African flesh tones so a bit of a refresher was required before starting. In those fifteen years my painting style and technique have changed as well so this has been quite a new and challenging project to this point.

 

I began with a basic mix of Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, a bit of Yellow Ochre and Prussian Blue added to darken the mix and cool the tones a bit. This was applied overall and the excess removed with a soft brush. Prussian Blue and Burnt Umber were mixed and applied to shadow areas and blended. Titanium White with a bit of Yellow Ochre added was used to start lifting the highlights. This produced the initial work that you see in the next two photos.

 

 

 

Once dry, further shadows were worked with a mixture of Burnt Umber and Prussian Blue used as a thin glaze. Layering thin glazes tend to begin to dull the finish as they dry. This contributes greatly to a more realistic finish for flesh with the use of oils. Not to flat and not to shiny, just right. Again after drying, further highlights were picked up using Titanium White glazes.

 

 

 

 

 

A touch of Alizarin Crimson and Burnt Umber in the lips and a few hot spots of white on the lips, nose, chin and neck muscles set the final tones.

 

 

Additional work was done on the post with light washes of Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Van Dyke Brown, Mars Black (in that order) to draw out the graining of the wood and aging the post. Additionally some initial tonal work was done on the figure's shoes and the sand.