Monday 21 April 2014

Kingdom Death White Speaker [WIP - Skin tones, so far]

For some time now I have been pretty unhappy with the skin tones of miniatures I have painted. I am aware that, on occasion, they lack contrast that make skin pop. To get over this mental block that seems to be hindering my progress as a miniature painter, I decided to paint up a miniature with the main objective of achieving deeper shadows and brighter highlights for the skin tone. 

Kingdom Death White Speaker [WIP - skin tones]

To try and make further progress on the painting realistic skin tones, I had a look at some miniatures in my collection to find one that showed a lot of skin. What I found was a 35-mm scale Kingdom Death resin miniature namely the White Speaker, which I thought would be suitable for my purpose. I had primed this miniature way back when I was still fairly new to the hobby and kinda botched up the prepping stage in my impatience thus resulting in rough looking skin on her arms.  

She was a perfect specimen for more painting time on skin tones, for obvious reasons

For a white Caucasian skin tone, I used mainly Reaper Master Series Paints (MSP) and it was based on a paint recipe formulated by one of my favourite miniature painters i.e. Jennifer Haley (the other favourite being Marike Reimer). I find that my style of painting is rather similar to both painters. But of course, on a scale of 1 to 10 with the latter being the best, both are a perfect 10 while I am at 1, that is I feel about nine whole levels away from these two wonderful painters on a scale of 10.   

Kingdom Death White Speaker - [WIP skin tones, side view from left]

At this stage, I don't necessarily feel that I have completed the skin tones of the Kingdom Death White Speaker. I am still contemplating a further increase in the contrast of her skin tone. Other possible touch ups might include trying to clear up an unfortunate wash ring and perhaps smoothening out the transitions between shadows and mid-tones in certain parts of the skin. As for chalkiness in the highlights, I am afraid that is most likely beyond my skills at the moment.

With armour like that, no male warrior stood a chance against the White Speaker

Light skin tones continues to be a challenge to me as chalkiness is still apparent at very up close - especially the highlights. Lighter colours are often more susceptible to chalky results than darker colours. Based on what I understand, the light skin tones can become chalkier for a number of reasons such as being thinned too much or having paint dry slightly on the brush before application. But on the bright side, the level of chalkiness I get is reducing although I have yet to hit the sweet spot of a perfect smooth porcelain-like skin tone without the benefit of a wash. 

"Is my butt too big?" ... a question many warriors dare not reply

Missing from the photos are the White Speaker's spear and her cloak. Personally, I don't really think the cloak goes well with the miniature. However, I will paint it up later and stick it to the miniature using blue tack to see how it looks before making the final decision on whether to keep the cloak.

Her hair is also nicely sculpted ... question is, will she be a blonde or red head?

Other than painting the Kingdom Death White Speaker's skin tone, I also blocked in the leather (or is it cloth) straps that serve as armour with a Reaper MSP Brown Liner diluted with water. Officially her armour ... and I used that term lightly ... is white in colour though I am toying with the idea of using light blue. Specifically, sky blue would look good if I make her a blonde.

Kingdom Death White Speaker - [WIP skin tones, side view from right]
A very dynamic pose ... and in high heels too

This Kingdom Death miniature saw me taking a short break from a much bigger miniature I am also currently working on, namely Nocturna Models's Le Petit Chaperon. To give you an idea how small the White Speaker is, I took a shot of her next to a paper clip and a Malaysian five sen (cent) coin.

In the grand scheme of things, she does look rather petite

To get myself out of a rut (I have not been improving as well as I hoped), I needed to remind myself of the level to which I aspire to - for example the miniatures that placed first and second in the Best of Show Crystal Brush 2014. To paraphrase a recent battle cry by the captain of a football team I have supported since before my teens - the completion of every miniature I paint is followed by an attitude that it's done and finished. Then it's time to move on to the next miniature and start again. There is a lot of improving I need to do but the fun lies in the journey which I hope will be a long one.

http://shireworks.blogspot.com/

15 comments:

  1. very good start and very challenging mini!
    i think you are well beyond step 1 on a 1 to 10 scale, but i find inspiring your constant strain toward perfection!
    waiting to see more.
    bye

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    1. Hello luca,
      Thank you for the encouraging words. I appreciate them very much. =)
      Perhaps using a scale of 1-to-10 wasn't very accurate and did not convey the meaning I wanted which was to show that I sincerely believe I am about nine levels away from accomplished painters such as Jen Haley and Marike Reimer, in a scale of 10. Perhaps in general when not comparing to these two fantastic painters I might come in at around level 3 or 4 (hopefully) in a scale of 10. ^_^ Again, thanks for your kind comments.

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    2. Just edited the blog post above to better convey my meaning of the 1-10 scale. :) Oh yes before I forget, being a perfectionist can be irritating to the spouse who sometimes wishes I would just let it go ... lol ^^

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  2. oh god skin tones are soo hard. i am worried about when i get to my pinups - all that skin o_O

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    Replies
    1. I take it you are soon-to-be proud owner of the Kingdom Death kickstarter pinups ... something that I missed to my eternal sadness. :' (

      As for you painting skin, from what I have seen so far, you should be just fine and your pinups will definitely be in very good hands. :)

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    2. Thanks ;) I recently go the hard plastic pinup collection. I'm going to wait on those for a bit until i master my new .02 tip air brush a bit better.

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  3. That's a very nice mini and you did a fine job on her skin. Keep it up.

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  4. So little and so beautiful! An excellent work, with a inspiring model...
    Best,
    Phil.

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  5. It looks like a very interesting job: the statue is super and so far I like very much the skin tone, I think you're very good at create the right colour, or at least that's what I can see from laptop. ;)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your kind words although I cannot take credit for the skin tones because I am following a recipe created by another miniature painter. :)

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    2. well, since it's a good recipe, you can go on using it and you have credit for a good choice ;)

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  6. Very interesting figurine ,i follow this Wip .
    Greetings .

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    Replies
    1. Not the usual size you usually work in Vincent but for me it's equally fun working with both 30+ mm miniatures and the bigger ones. ^_^

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