Girl's Rider [Work-in-Progress: Denim Jeans Part 2/2, plus Initial Leather Work] - 1/12 scale miniature figurine

 After a brief divergence into the world of car scale model kits, it's back to the miniature female figurine. (That is, at least until I can get my hands on some auto paints and primers to test out on plastic.) As eluded to in a previous post, the Girl's Rider miniature female figurine's denim jeans required more work especially in terms of texture and contrast. So I set about doing just that, in addition to starting initial work on the figurine's leather accessories such as her gloves (not shown in this post), belt and boots. Results of both can be seen in the photos shown below.

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim and leather (front view, black background)

In general, the second phase of the denim jeans painting process involved ...

... adding more texture to the jeans (in order to increase realism) without dulling the contrast ...

... as well as increasing contrast by brightening up highlights especially on the jeans wrinkles.  

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim and leather (back view, black background)

A secondary aim of doing further work on the denim jeans was ...

... to reduce overall glossiness of the jeans either via texture or a matt clear coat ...

... of which the former (i.e. painting more texture) was my method of choice.

Photos of denim and leather against a black background were shot with the Canon EOS 650D & Tamron 90mm macro lens; with settings at f/16 aperture; 1/60sec shutter speed; and ISO-1600

 So what did I do to the denim jeans in this second phase? Firstly, I painted denim texture onto areas of the jean which I believed to be a bit too bare and plain. A byproduct of this step was the further reduction of gloss levels in the denim jeans. Even so, there is a likelihood I may add a final clear matt coat to further dull the glossiness levels. Secondly, I brightened up the highlights especially on the wrinkles of the denim jeans, thus slightly improving the contrast.   

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim and leather (front view, white background)

While overall glossiness of denim jeans has been reduced somewhat ...

... there is a possibility any residual glossiness may be further dulled down ...

... with a clear flat coat to be applied at the final stage of the painting process.

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim and leather (back view, white background)

Another way the glossiness of the denim jeans is being dulled ...

... is via an optical illusion whereby the leather boots/belt are painted with a shinier texture ...

... thus relegating the denim jeans in terms of glossiness level compared to the leather.

Photos of denim and leather against a white background were shot with the Canon EOS 650D & Tamron 90mm macro lens; with settings at f/16 aperture; 1/60sec shutter speed; and ISO-1600

 Meanwhile work finally began on the figurine's leather accessories which comprise her riding gloves, boots, and belt. With the aim of painting a new, red leather look, I used a Vallejo Model Color paint recipe comprising 70.950 Black, 70.828 Wood Grain, 70.981 Orange Brown, and 70.847 Dark Sand. This color recipe was used in moderation, meaning the painting technique was executed in a way that de-emphasizes scratch and scuff marks, both of which are more numerous in old leather.   

 Everything's relative in that the denim jeans don't look as shiny next to the leather belt and boots. Although the jeans still look a tad too glossy for my liking, they look much less shinier when are seen together with the figurine's leather accessories. So much so that at first I thought I had made the leather too shiny as I was painting from memory and not based on actual reference photos. However when I did finally did the necessary research to find online images of branded, new (and presumably polished) leather boots, I found that they did indeed look very shiny. In fact they reflect light to such an extent that the leather texture becomes completely obscured by the reflected light.     

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim and leather (front view, azure background)

At first I thought I had made the leather boots look too shiny ...

... but upon further research I realized that polished leather boots ...

... have the exact same 'glossiness profile' that you see in the photos here.

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim and leather (back view, azure background)

In terms of work on the leather accessories like the gloves (not shown), belt, and boots ...

... I am currently in two minds as to whether to leave them as they are ...

... or add yet more leathery texture to them going forward.

Photos of denim and leather against an azure background were shot with the Canon EOS 650D & Tamron 90mm macro lens; with settings at f/16 aperture; 1/60sec shutter speed; and ISO-1600

 While I'm still at two minds whether to add more texture to the leather, there are other areas that need my attention. Specifically, the steel buckles on the belt and boots. Assuming I don't add any more texture to the leather pieces, then the accessories will be considered complete once the steel buckles are painted. Meanwhile, I'll be attempting the autopaint/primer on plastic test soon, in addition to the resurrection of two long neglected projects. One is the Star Wars Speeder Bike, which will be used in a vignette together with the Girl's Rider and Scout Trooper figurines. And two, is the Volkswagen Beetle, which I plan to complete first before starting a new car scale model kit project. So a lot to do. More importantly a newfound will to do them. So cheers. Stay safe, and be well.