Knight Models Logan [WIP - Base and Clothing]

What was supposed to be easy progress on Knight Models Logan miniature instead served up one of the hardest challenges I have faced as a miniature painter. I had inexplicably - against my usual practice - painted the white singlet without using a photo reference. After patting myself on the back for a job well done in getting smooth whites for the singlet, I then stared in open-mouthed horror as I realised the white singlet actually has a lined-texture to it. An uber facepalm moment for sure.

Knight Models Logan - WIP base and clothing

Wolverine's white singlet which was used as reference for painting

Starting from zero again, I was then perplexed by how to get a white singlet to show texture. In the end, I settled for a hint of the texture. To achieve that, I painted fine lines of light grey on the white singlet and then layered on a very thin wash of white to mute the overall effect. Admittedly, the end-result isn't as good as it should be but at least it wasn't a total failure. In fact, I had actually painted in a random mixture of blue, purple and black washes for the singlet's shadows but it all came to naught as my efforts in painting the texture caused the shadows to look largely greyish in the end.

Base completed with drybrushing and also some grass glued on

Shadows on the white singlet were kept subtle

Back view of Knight Models Logan (WIP Base & Clothing)

Both Logan's belt and shoes were painted to simulate leather - light brown leather for the former and dark brown leather for the latter. Meanwhile, work on the base was also very stratightforward and invloved some simple drybrushing followed by the gluing of some patches of grass.

Much work lies ahead - Logan's skin, face, hair and claws

Belt was painted to depict light brown leather with shoes as dark brown leather

At this stage, there have been no 'special effects' such as blood or dirt painted on the clothing. But I am still undecided as to whether to even paint such effects as I kinda like how a pristine Logan looks ala The Wolverine movie posters. Next up will be the most difficult phase of the Knight Models Logan miniature, the painting of his skin, face and hair. So please stay tuned for that. Peace out. 

Messing about with hair and some clay for sculpting

A pause in my portrait drawing practice sessions was in order as I decided to go back to basics and try to rectify some things I wasn't too happy about. Chief among my shortcomings was the inability to draw hair well so that was what I focussed on, for starters. Having gotten some valuable advice from Michael Awdry (of the 28mm Victorian Warfare fame) on using willow charcoal as a foundation of sorts, I was intrigued by the few charcoal pencils I had and how it could be used to draw hair. Until I can get my hands on some willow charcoal sticks, I decided to try out my charcoal pencils instead. 

Hair drawing practice using both charcoal and graphite pencils

Less attention was paid to proportions while I concentrated on getting the texture of hair right (see pictures above and below). As I was experimenting without really knowing what I was doing - reason being I didn't find any good online material on drawing hair using a combination of graphite and charcoal pencils - the results were ambiguous at best. I am pretty sure I wasn't using the pencil combo correctly. Hopefully, I can get hold of some willow charcoal sticks soon and try out the method suggested by Michael, who was right in pointing out that charcoal pencils tend to scratch the paper.  

Pencil drawing (hair not messy enough) versus reference photo used for this practice session

I am very glad I decided to learn how to draw concept sketches for my future sculpting projects as it is helping me understand how the human figure is portrayed accurately through art, which can only help when I start sculpting. Speaking of which, my baby steps in the sculpting process continues with the purchase of some polymer clay namely SuperSculpey and SuperSculpey Living Doll. In addition, I bought some cheap house-brand aluminium foil to be used in the sculpting process later.

Some SuperSculpey clay as well as aluminium foil for the sculpting process

I don't have any proper clay sculpting tools on hand yet but I am hoping to sort that out before the end of next month. In the meantime, my drawing and painting will keep me plenty occupied. 

Knight Models Logan [WIP - Denim jeans]

Depending on how you approach the Knight Models Logan 1/28th scale model kit - either as a beginner painter or one with some experience under his or her belt - this fantastically detailed metal miniature puts up its own unique challenges. If you are new to miniature painting, then the limited colour pallette required - blue, white, flesh tones, silver metallic, and black - should make things less complicated as a first project. But if you are an experienced miniature painter, then this is actually a very difficult figure to paint well due to its simplicity. Confused? Please read on to see what I mean.

Knight Models Logan, work-in-progress on his denim jeans

If you were using Logan as one of your first projects as miniature painter, then a simple basecoat of blue for the jeans, white for the singlet, flesh colours for the hands and face, black for the hair, shoes and perhaps the base, metallic silver for the blades and military tag and then tying it all up with some washes should give you a fairly decent result. However, if like me you have had some projects under your belt and are seeking to improve your skills, then it becomes a whole different ball game.   

Trial and error gave me the overall denim colour that I wanted

By the very nature of its simplicity, the Knight Models Logan metal miniature can only stand out if the painting process takes into consideration the various textures - be it denim jeans, leather shoes, cotton singlet, flesh with prominent veins, etc - is accurately depicted. The simple colour scheme will inevitably force one's eye to pay that little bit more attention to these textures and how well they are painted. So for the miniature to really 'pop', the jeans, singlet and skin tones in particular have to look ultra realistic - something easier said than done as it always hardest to paint the simple things well. 

Best angle in which to view the painted texture on the denim jeans

Interestingly enough, my preoccupation with texture for this miniature stems partly from my experiences when drawing concept sketches for my sculpting projects. When drawing, I am particularly vexed time and again on how to depict a texture by use of just pencils and tonal values. It has made me approach miniature painting in a whole new way. When I look at surfaces to paint, I now no longer look purely at colours but also textures in order to achieve the next level of realism. 

Shadows and highlights were subtly painted to prevent them overpowering the denim texture

Back view of Logan's denim jeans

Creases on the jeans were a bit of a challenge to paint

First up for the Knight Models Logan miniature was to paint Logan's jeans so that it accurately portrays the texture of denim. Online materials for denim texture are abundant making it easy for me to compile my favourites into a composite photo (see below) to serve as a reference point when painting the jeans. In a nutshell, I tried using some cross-hatching paint strokes to mimic the texture.

Case study of various denim textures I sought to replicate

Before painting began proper for this minaiture, I was fortunate enough to achieve a smooth primer coat this time around. If you have been following my progress as a miniature painter, you would know that on occasion I have encountered fairly rough primer coats. I am not sure if the extremely hot and dry weather that the city has been experiencing has had a hand in this because I assume such heat would remove some humidity from the atmosphere and improve the priming process.

Finally a good primer coat

Anyway, thanks for following my progress on the latest miniature in my Marvel Universe project. I hope to get more work done on Logan over the coming weeks, along with other projects on my work table which includes among others Red Riding Hood, a knight from a noble house in Westeros, possibly some W40K stuff as well as more concept sketches for my sculpting project.

Girl on Fire: Portrait Practice #08 and finding the right Katniss Everdeen pose to sculpt

Every movie has its own iconic scene which embeds itself into our psyche and simply screams out to be replayed again and again, especially for fans. For me, the Girl on Fire segment from The Hunger Games movie is that scene ... so much so that I plan to use it to find the perfect pose for my first sculpting project, codenamed ... duh ... Girl on Fire. So with that in mind, my eighth portrait practice drawing is one of Katniss Everdeen in a moment from that scene. I like this particular Katniss pose because it reminds me of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's ... must be the hairstyle.     

Portrait Practice #08 - Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)

Jennifer Lawrence in the Girl on Fire scene

By using better quality drawing paper - Daler Rowney A3 Graduate Sketchbook 160 g/square metre - I was able to get slightly smoother graphite blends for the skin tone. But being my own worst critic and a perfectionist of OCD proportions, I am still not entirely happy with my drawing. I am not making much progress on the drawing of hair and the facial proportions of my portrait drawing still suck (from what I suspect is a result from not having my eye parallel to the paper when I draw).  

Pencil Drawing vs Black and White Photo

Based on a quick rewatching of the Girl on Fire scene, there are two possible subject matters I can based my sculpture on. First is a bust of one of the character's more emotive portrayals during the scene while the other is a complete head-to-toe figure of Katniss Everdeen while she is in mid-twirl and with the lower fringes of her dress on fire. Both are technically beyond the skill-level of a beginner sculptor but maybe beginner's luck can see me avoid a major failure. That's me doing a Grand Moff Tarkin impersonation ... and then we will crush the rebellion with one swift stroke (Dum-dum-dum Dum-dee-dum Dum-dee-dum) ... we all know how well that notion turned out.   

Katniss attending the talk-show interview for the Hunger Games participants

My favourite part of the Girl on Fire scene from the first Hunger Games movie

Anyway, I might be putting the cart before the horse as I still have yet to get some reading done on the sculpting process or even gotten all the supplies I need to actually start sculpting. But without any inspiration to sculpt, the book will likely remain unread and supplies unsourced, so getting inspired is just as important. That's what I keep telling myself as I procrastinate on learning how to sculpt. 

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon [WIP-Le Chiot]

Despite taps running dry occasionally eventhough the area where I live has not been earmarked for water rationing during this mini-drought, water supply has thankfully not been disrupted to the extent where I cannot paint. Nonetheless, to conserve water I didn't really do much painting and worked on something simple such as the pet dog of the Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon resin model kit.

Le Chiot - Red Riding Hood's adorable pet dog 

Fur was painted with the Siberian Husky as reference

I wasn't too sure as to the type of puppy that accompanied Le Petit Chaperon. But it looked a lot like a Siberian Husky puppy to me, which kinda makes sense because they are wolf-like in appreance. Red Riding Hood ... Wolf ... get it? My version of the puppy is sort of a composite of all the types of Siberian Huskies that you can see in the photo below - a grey plus yellowish brown colour scheme.   

Fur colour was a composite of various different Siberian Huskies

One cool thing about the Siberian Husky puppy is its blue eyes. I am glad I managed to successfully paint in the blue irises on which the black pupils rest. Good practice for Le Petit Chaperon herself. 

Small regular paint strokes were used to simulate fine fur

For portions containing white fur, some grey were added to create depth

Because the fur was not really sculpted on the puppy's body, I proceeded to paint the fur using small regular strokes to simulate fine fur. I was really happy with the results as it gave the fur more depth. Colours that I used to paint the fur (including ears) comprised various mixes of Citadel Acrylic Paint such as Ceramite White, Chaos Black, Codex Grey, Fortress Grey, Khemri Brown, Kommando Khaki, Bleached Bone, Desert Yellow, Dark Flesh and Dwarf Flesh.

Paws might need further paint work 

Fun fact - an upward arching tail indicates that this is a dog and not a wolf

Apart from the fur and eyes, painting for the rest of the puppy was fairly straightforward - leather for the dog leash/collar and a gold medallion. Initally I painted the medallion in silver but that didn't work as it did not really stand out against the puppy's white fur.   

Front and back view of the Siberian Husky puppy

Work on Le Petit Chaperon herself hasn't started yet because of the uncertain water supply to my house. Hopefully with cloud seeding resulting in some late evening showers means that the intermittent dry water taps will not turn into full-fledged water rationing. I can only hope.