Saturday 26 September 2015

Ork Painboy [WIP - Torso and legs]

Seeing the sun shine brightly in the sky for long periods has been a pleasant surprise in the face of gloomy forecasts of haze. Favourable wind conditions and intermittent rain this past week meant less pollution choked air to breathe in and more quality time to paint. (Jinx! Even as I revel in some sinus relief, a sheen of haze has chosen today morning to mark a return to unhealthier air levels. Nooooo .....) In the corresponding period of healthy air, I worked on the Ork Painboy's highly detailed torso (medical tools, loin cloth, shirt, pants, belly armour, symbolic plaque, straps) and legs (boot, wooden leg stump, bloodied bandages, pant stitching, alternative patch of pant colour, etc).

Ork Painboy, work-in-progress on the torso and legs (or leg and a stump)
Back view of the Ork Painboy's current progress

Like a climber who has to climb a mountain just because it's there, I'm a painter who just has to paint every single excruciating detail just because it exists. Unhealthy I know. But the obsessive compulsiveness in me refuses to back down. Little wonder my projects take an eternity to complete.

Old black leather boot look with rusted armour bits
Wooden leg stump with the upper portion wrapped in bloodied bandages
Closeup view of medical tools adorning the Ork Painboy's lower torso

Kept to a minimum, blood effects were painted to simulated coagulated blood. To recreated this gory look, I mixed Tamiya Clear Red X-27 acrylic paint with Citadel Chaos Black (Abaddon Black) and a little bit of Scorched Brown (Rhinox Hide). Consistency wise, the Tamiya X-27 closely mimics real blood. I was wiping some excess away with tissue and it looked like I had had a horrible accident with the hobby knife. Without the addition of black and brown hues, the X-27 resembles fresh blood.

Status of Ork Painboy - headless and weaponless
Colour scheme seems to be gelling, for the time being at least

I'm one of those people who needs a 'wall of sound' whenever I'm working on something complicated or in this case painting something highly detailed. For the Ork Painboy, this comes in the form of music from the rock band Oasis. Their debut and sophomore album - Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - got me through my final year at uni. And this time, I had their whole collection on iPod to get me through my obsession with the details on the Painboy's torso and legs.


In the time it took me to start and finish this post, the haze has worsened considerably. The smell of smoke is now heavy in the air. A simple face mask is proving fairly effective to allow me to continue working but for how long I don't know. Add to that a lousy economic environment, the ringgit depreciating without an end in sight, investors viewing Malaysian bonds as 'junk' status, violent posturing by racist groups/politicians against minorities, terrorist threat to a local tourist hotspot ... the only way things can get worse if a Godzilla-like monster suddenly appears in the country. Why? Because Ultraman wouldn't stand a chance in a haze. On that note, have a good weekend.    

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26 comments:

  1. Great job as usual!
    hang on, bad time will finish!

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  2. Fantastic details and colors, ove this job...hope the smell of smoke will disappear soon...

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    1. Merci beaucoup Phil. The haze and smell of smoke have gotten much worse but rain is helping a bit.

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  3. Stunning work. Kudos as always. :)

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  4. Absolutely stunning, it's good stuff that Tamiya clear red.

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  5. Looking fabulous dude. I hope the air clears for you my friend.

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    1. Thank you Simon. It hasn't cleared yet but intermittent rain is helping mitigate the effects of the haze.

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  6. Simply stunning! I love the way you pay attention to every tiny detail.

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    1. Much appreciated Moiterei. Sometimes I wish I can ignore a detail because I want to finish painting quickly. Unfortunately, I never can.

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  7. Looks fantastic, Kuan. Great color choice on the orange pants.

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    1. Thanks Finch. It's surprising how one starts to think of colours in a different way once freed from the rigid constraints of 'canon' colours.

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  8. Excellent colour choices in my view and I can just relate to your need for a wall of sound when in need of focus, music does have that power to turn your brains into a state that enables many things.

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    1. Thank you very much! I've read somewhere that this 'wall of sound' preoccupies our conscious state of mind thus freeing our unconscious or creative part to work on whatever it is we are working on.

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  9. Nice work, things will get better - because clearly, they can't get worse!

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    1. Thanks Zab. Things can always get worse (that's the pessimist in me) but then again I could suddenly find out I'm the chosen heir to the George Lucas estate. (that's the dreamer in me).

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  10. Glad to see you are better, good thing. You forgot one more thing, if Godzilla actually appeared, you couldn't even take some decent pics in the haze!!
    Apart from that, I love your work on this piece, seriously. Looking forward to seeing it finished!

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    1. LoL. ^_^ But then again I would just shout Godzilllllaaaaaa and run the other way. Thanks Suber, I hope the final Ork result will be a good one.

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  11. Ye gods, what scale is that model?! If it's a 28mm(-ish) figure then that's unbelievably good painting. On the other hand, if it's a larger model then it's merely excellent instead :-) .

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    1. Thank you Colgar6. I think it's 28-mm heroic scale. I could be wrong so if anyone knows better please correct me. I should put the finished piece next to a paper clip to show a size comparison. Hope I remember.

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  12. Amazing work on that painboy...I have one of these models, and the detail you are painting at this scale is just awe inspiring.

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    1. Much appreciated Greg. Thank you. Honestly speaking, the details actually make the painter (i.e. me) look better than I really am. It's much harder to make a plain sculpture/figurine/miniature look good.

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  13. Wow, that's a damn sweet paintjob. I've got to ask, how id you do the pants? Is that a sepia or red wash on the yellow?

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    1. Thanks :)
      If memory serves me right, the pants was painted a using a few shades of orange from dark to light and finished off with a sepia wash.

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