Le Petit Chaperon [WIP - Hair, eyes, lips and corset]

Taking it slow just about sums up my approach to painting Le Petit Chaperon. I have lost count of the actual hours put into the 80-mm Nocturna Models resin miniature but if I had to guess, I believe at least 60 hours have been spent working on Le Petit so far. Latest work done on her includes giving her blonde hair, green eyes, pinkish lips and a blue corset. At first glance she seems to be in the colours of the French flag ... she is, and there is a reason why I chose to give her a French theme.  

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon, work-in-progress

In its original telling, Little Red Riding Hood is a gruesome tale where both granny and her sweet grandchild end up in the tummy of the big bad wolf. It is in France that the earliest printed version of this fairly tale is known to exist. Back in the 17th century, this tale was known as Le Petit Chaperon Rogue. So as an acknowledgement of her origins, I decided to drape her in the colours of France.

Painted in the colours of France as befitting Le Petit Chaperon's fairy tale origin

As I see it, blonde hair was the best option to go with in view of the red, white and blue clothing Le Petit Chaperon was wearing. Historically, Red Riding Hood has been portrayed in black, auburn and blonde locks so it was just a matter of choosing one I felt best suited to the colour scheme at hand. 

Le Petit Chaperon seems to be staring wistfully into the distance

For a miniature this large - Le Petit Chaperon is roughly 9 cm in height from head to toe - her eyes were large enough to work on without having to use any form of magnification. Although I am sure it would have helped me paint better eyes if I had used a magnifying lamp, I decided to do without. Moreover, her fairly large sized eyes meant I could attempt to paint eyes as how they would look in a traditional 2D painting. Normally miniatures are too small for such an attempt. 

One way to paint eyes on larger scale miniatures e.g. 80-mm

Having blonde hair and fair skin meant her eyes should also be of a lighter shade. Four colours came to mind namely blue, green, grey and hazel. In the end, green was chosen purely because I always had a soft spot for green eyes. It also meant I got to introduce a new colour to the existing scheme.   

Spaces between the joints should be covered up by the cloak which will be added later on

Addition of the cloak should also hide all the imperfections on her back

Vive la France!

Painting Le Petit in the colours of the French flag also put me in the mood for some French music to paint by. Admittedly (and shamefully ignorant I might add) I didn't know of any French singers until roughly 15 years ago when I heard a tune being belted out from an old gramophone in the movie Saving Private Ryan. Later on, I found out that the tune was Tu Es Partout by Edith Piaf. Being an old soul when it comes to music, I loved that tune instantly. It led me to arguably her most famous song La Vie en Rose which in my humble opinion is the most romantic song I have ever heard.

Édith Piaf, a great French singer of old

So it was under the music of old France that my latest progress on the Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon was made ... interspersed with some Foo Fighters and my current favourite album i.e. Guardians of Galaxy Awesome Mix Volume One ... good music is good music regardless of the time period involved. Thanks for following my updates on Red Riding Hood so far. She is close to completion now so I might need to take a step back and paint some other miniature for awhile. I find that this helps me spot mistakes I would have otherwise missed if I had continued on without a break. Speaking of breaks, the weekend is upon us yet again so have a good one doing something you love!