Report from Garness-at-Home

Dread Pirate Garness writes:

Hello all. I would like to begin by saying thank you to i-Kore, the editor, and the patrons of TMP, for the opportunity to compete in this competition, and by wishing the best of luck to all the competitors.

The first figure to be painted was the Gael Druidess. I went out and bought the Gael book to get a little background information to help bring her to life. With this in mind I wanted the Druidess to look more like a spiritual leader and arbiter (as opposed to a warrior). She needed a more natural look, in keeping with the Celtos background. For the overall theme, I wanted her to look as though she is coming toward the faithful (or fearful) in a ceremonial demeanor, trying to inspire with her presence.

No major conversions or part swaps were permitted, but looking at the connection on the staff, I knew I would have to do something. My solution was to clip off the two connections and drill a hole in each end of the staff, top and bottom. I then cut a piece of round plastic strip that was as close to the same size as I could find, and drill a hole through the center, inserting a pin in each end of the staff and through the length of the plastic strip. The staff is a little taller than it was originally, but I think it came off very well with no signs of the part having been modified.

My most basic rule of thumb is to use grey primer whenever possible. I like grey because it is neither dark nor light, and gives a certain amount of freedom in the use of colors and how they will look when they are painted on the primer. I used Rustoleum from the local hardware store. It's cheap and gives a good smooth surface. Having cleaned off the flash, I gave the figure 2 light coats of primer and let it cure overnight.

My main method for doing this figure was to use the wet-blending technique. Applying different shades (or colors) to the figure, and blending them while wet. I used Golden Gel extender on the paint colors to keep them wet - not only on the palette, but on the figure as well. I use a variety of different colors and brands - often I will grab whatever color is closest at hand and use it.

I used acrylics from every manufacturer under the sun: Vallejo, GW, Ceramacoat, Polly S, I-Kore, Americana, Andrea and a couple of the old Aleene's (no longer in business, but had to be among the best craft paints ever made).

I first painted the base color on the section I was going to be working on, before adding the extender. Reason for this is the extender tends to make the paint a little transparent, and the dry time longer. Once the figure had dried, I added extender to the paint on the palette.

I then applied a small amount of the base color along with the shade color. Using the same brush for both colors, I blended the two shades together to get a smooth transition. It takes a little practice getting used to doing it this way. More time consuming than dry brushing or dry blending, but the transition is seamless, and I have a certain amount of freedom to play with how the shade transitions from darkest to lightest. This worked out great where I wanted the shadow to have a sharper contrast. The best part is if I make a mistake, the paint is still wet and can be quickly adjusted to my liking.

Repeated the process for the highlight color, again gradually working the two colors together. There were some instances where I went from highlight color directly to deepest shade - usually around very small areas like the headpiece and bracers - but the technique is the same.

I chose to start with the flesh color and began with the legs, in keeping with my technique. I did the entire right leg first, slowly building up the colors. I used a Vallejo Sunny skin tone as my base, Americana Shading skin tone as my shade, and I used Ceramacoat Antique White as my highlight. Sounds garish I know, but keep in mind I am blending the colors on the figure as I go, mixing colors as needed to get the correct tone. I tried to give her an athletic look, but not overly muscular. I worked in the shading where I thought it was needed and then lightened or darkened as I saw fit; darkest under the kneecap, lighter under the calf and thigh muscles.

I followed the same principle for the rest of the flesh on the body. I will not go into great detail on the rest of the figure flesh as the basic idea has been explained, but I will touch on highlights for the rest of the figure.

Left Leg:

Painted the same way as the right, but darkened the skin tone a little more under the shin, as that part of the figure is facing the ground and will see less light.

Left and right arm:

Careful not to shade too much as could wind up with "farmers tan line" look - i.e. arms are way too dark and look odd.

Abdomen:

Painted lighter towards bottom because of large corset sticking out, providing shadow over a larger area.

Corset/breastplate:

I really did not like the idea of this spiritual leader going off into the thick of battle, and I imagined her using her powers rather than her fists if she did get attacked. Also, I don't know any woman who would willingly put on a cold steel breastplate (the key word being cold). So I went with a green leather look for the corset, with a little metallic trim on the bottom.

Following the same wet-blending technique/principle, I used i-Kore's Viridian Green as the base, mixing in a little grey and brown to age it a little. I then used Americana Prussian Blue as the shade color, and Ceramacoat Pineapple as the highlight (blue and yellow are great shade and highlight colors for green, and very little is required). I wanted the leather to look like it had been tooled just for her, and worked in her abdominal features on the corset. I used the same color on the breastplate area, but kept it plain for the sake of modesty. (She is a religious leader - can't have too many features worked in, after all). I applied the same color to the bracers, loincloth and headdress to tie it all together.