Friday 20 February 2015

Princess Merida [WIP - Rosy Skin and Red Hair]

With this being the second day of the Lunar New Year holidays, I guess it's appropriate to showcase my progress on Princess Merida so far as she is predominantly swathed in orange hues. After all, this colour has plenty of symbolism and meaning during the new year celebrations. For Merida's repaint project, I am adopting a top-down approach hence the completion of her red hair and rosy skin to date. Irises and pupils on her eyes will be left for last once everything else have been painted up.

Red hair and rosy skin, a fiery combination that reflects Merida's character
Princess Merida, repaint work-in-progress on her hair and skin
Pupils and rises are being left for last as it's the most critical part of the entire repaint process

It's still early stages yet but I feel very good about the start I have made to Princess Merida. Though not perfect, things are still turning out much better than I had anticipated. For one, I am getting much smoother skin tones using the Reaper Master Series paint triads than I had in the past. Add to that much better contrasts in the painting of red hair and I am suitably chuffed to bits with myself. 

Merida's dress offers me a chance to finally attempt painting free-hand dress patterns
A light teal/sky blue and gold/yellow combination will likely be the dress's colour scheme
Side view (left), Princess Merida work-in-progress on skin and hair

One key future milestone in this project would be my first attempt at painting freehand repetitive clothing patterns on Princess Merida's dress. But before doing so I have a lot of research to do on how to effectively paint such patterns. I have always wanted to try my hand at this and I was finally 'pushed over the edge' to do so after being inspired by simple yet cool freehand patterns by Suber. 

Lots of creases on Merida's dress could complicate matters when I attempt the freehand patterns
Back view, Princess Merida work-in-progress on skin and hair
Brightest highlights on Merida's red hair bordered on yellow

This is turning out to be a really fun project, all the more so when considering the miniature was a freebie from the local hypermarket. Despite being a fairly simple sculpt, I feel that this miniature has a lot of potential which can be realised provided I can do it justice with the appropriate paint job.

Side view (right), Princess Merida work-in-progress on skin and hair
A freebie this miniature might be but it has a lot of potential that makes it worthwhile as a repainting project

My apologies if my blog posts have been a bit haphazard with me flitting between projects. Hopefully you will bear with me as I slowly but surely bring all my various projects to completion. Anyway, I would like to belatedly wish health, happiness and prosperity to all of you who are celebrating the Year of the Goat. May the new lunar year see all your dreams and wishes come true!   

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22 comments:

  1. Thank you for your wishes, cannot but wish the same to you :)
    Very interesting work, you can jump from a piece to another and still get it right, though the styles are so different. Amazing!

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    1. Thank you Suber. ^_^ Like you, I delight in working on a variety of pieces and getting to try different styles and techniques is really fun. Interestingly enough, miniature painting has led me to rekindling my interest in drawing and I'm starting to get interested in traditional 2D painting too. Art is so cool and fun!

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  2. Where did you get the merida mini? I have two young painters at home that would love one each!

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    1. This Merida figurine is actually a freebie from my local Tesco store. It's a buy stuff-get stickers-redeem them for a random figurine kinda promotion. I feel that miniature painting has so much to offer the general public of all ages but the 'industry' is currently stuck in the board game mindset which limits the hobby as a curios oddity as opposed to a proper genre in art.

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  3. That hair! That hair is so awesome!

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    1. -Takes a humble bow - Thanks Zab, now let's hope I can get a good job done on the dress. :)

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  4. A promising start indeed! She looks a little spooky without her pupils though ;-)
    All the best for the new lunar year!

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    1. Thank you for the lunar new year wishes Moiterei. :)
      Yep, she looks downright creepy without her pupils. A candidate for a Disney Poltergeist remake if they ever did one. ;)

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  5. wonderful hair!
    i'm sure you'll do a great job on this mini!
    happy new year to you!
    bye

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    1. Thank you for the vote of confidence luca. Happy lunar new year to you too.

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Michael ... contrasts could have darker shadows and lighter highlights BUT I am still happy with the results this time as it's the best I have achieved so far after quite a number of tries.

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  7. I've loved that character and I'm loving how you painted her hair!

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    1. Me too, I think it's a great character ... and thanks for the compliments!

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  8. A great start! And, of course, beautiful hair...

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  9. That hair is amazing! Great job. Without her eyes painted she looks like a scary zombie, just add blood. Ha ha !

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    1. Ha ha. Nope no blood for Princess Merida. It would be too cruel a thing for the many littles ones out there to take. :)

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