Time apart from my Nocturna Models
Le Petit Chaperon project is giving me some valuable insight on how to proceed with painting her colour scheme. For one, I experimented with a more earthy red hue when painting a hooded cloak (on the Super Dungeon Explore
Ember Mage) to see if it suited Le Petit's purposes. Well it doesn't, as I feel Le Petit needs a brighter red to bring her Red Riding Hood persona to life. I have also fought off the temptation to quickly start painting Le Petit's skin because I first want to experiment with two skin tone recipes using Vallejo Model Color (VMC) acrylic paints.
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| Not one but two Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddesses in avatar form |
Guinea pigs were needed for this VMC skin tone experiment and none, I feel, were more suitable than Dark Sword Miniatures's Wood Elf Goddesses in avatar form. In fact, I loved how well this metal figurine was sculpted (by Jeff Grace) that I had gotten two of her for this little experiment. One is for painting a light and rosy Caucasian-like skin tone while the other is for a more dark skin tone ala Fanny Neguesha, the wife-to-be of a particularly famous Italian footballer. It's the World Cup 2014 after all and I just had to have a footballing theme to my miniature project somehow. Don't hate!
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| Wood Elf Goddess primed (left) and straight out of the box (right) |
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| Back view of Wood Elf Goddess that is primed (left) and in its original metal state (right) |
Paints I plan to use for this experiment comprise almost entirely of those from the VMC line as some Reaper Master Series acrylic paints were also used on the darker skin. Adapted slightly from the two skin tone recipes created by one of my favourite miniature painters - Marike Reimer on her own
how-to-paint DVD - the paints I will use are Basic Skin Tone, Beige Red, Mahogany Brown, German Camouflage Pale Brown, Pale Sand, Green Ochre and Oxford Blue (and also some Reaper Master Series Clear Brights which were not shown in the photo below). Some will be used solely for light skin, some solely for dark skin and some for both. Of both skin types, I have yet to get the correct paint mixture/ratio for the dark skin so I guess that leaves me with painting the light skin first.
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| A mixture of Vallejo Model Colors for a light and dark skin tone experiment |
Finishing the light skin tone experiment will at least give me some idea on whether I would want to proceed painting Le Petit's skin using VMC paints. Since I won't be able to work on Le Petit's skin tone for now, I will most likely paint up the red portions in the figurine since I have made a final decision on the type of red I want to see on her. Getting the reds right will be crucial for Le Petit.
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| Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon all set for a splash of red paints |
That's it for this simple little update on what I have been up to in this insanely hot and dry weather. Thanks for checking up on my hobby shenanigans and do have yourself a good weekend!
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Interesting. I've used some of those colors but not all.
ReplyDeleteOxford Blue? Shading on the darker skintone perhaps?
Will be watching to see how all the pieces fit together.
On her painting DVD, Marike Reimer mixed in some Oxford Blue into the shadows, for both skin types but especially for the darker variety. In her DVDs, the recipe for the light skin was pretty clear but not so much for the darker skin so I am trying my best to recreate her dark skin recipe based on repeated viewings of her excellent DVDs and my own understanding of paint mixture.
Deleteinteresting experiment, i'll follow it with much attention!
ReplyDeletewaiting for more.
bye
I hope I won't disappoint too much as I cannot hope to completely replicate the excellent work done by the original painter who created the paint recipes. :)
DeleteYeah! I'm all for the experiments. Lady skin is tough to get right so good call!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Male skin tones are easier because they require high contrasts anyway so the end results will look fairly ok. For the ladies, we can't put in too much contrast as they will look old and haggard. But then if we don't put in enough contrast ... the usual complain would be it looks too one dimensional. A tough balancing act when in comes to female skin tones for sure.
DeleteInteresting. I look forward the progression .
ReplyDeleteCheers .
Looking forward to using more Vallejo paints myself.
DeleteLooking forward to this, but that is an awful lot of colours!
ReplyDeleteSeems so doesn't it. I am learning so much by watching how advanced level painters make use of a variety of colours when painting skin tones.
DeleteOuch the Wood Elf Goddess looks very difficult to me! I really am interested in the final result!
ReplyDeleteShe is a very beautiful figurine ... I knew I wanted to paint her the moment I saw her. :)
Delete