returns from Mexico with a new vision for making palm trees from scratch.
I used Reaper's Misty Grey for the eyeballs. I think that in the picture below you can see that - yes, these figures do have pupils! Bill asked me last go-round if I had painted them in, and I said no. I though I'd try to do it this time - but boy, are those holes tiny! I followed up with the irises by using the Reaper Green Liner, 9113. Next I used the Tanned Shadow, 9042, and went back around the eyes to outline them in a darker skin color.
Right after I did the eyes, I took a progress snapshot and then carried on. The eyes looked pretty good when I, well, eyeballed them. Once I got the pictures off of the camera, however, I did not like the way I had finished up the eyelids. I did not go in close enough to the eyes, and there was still grey showing where there should be eyelid.
I took the Tanned Shadow, 9403, thinned it a tad, and then made slight corections until I got it right. I also had a problem with the mouth not looking as good as I had wanted it. I used the Brick Red, 9001, to lightly sketch in the lips, and it was way out. Looked almost like someone who had put on lipstick during a high-speed car chase! I again took out the Tanned Shadow, and made minor corrections until I got the shape of the lips correct.
I used the Bone Triad for the bandage around the head, and for the loincloth the figure was wearing. This triad consists of Bone Shadow, 9058; Aged Bone, 9059; and Polished Bone, 9060. I used the Bone Shadow as the bottom coat, and then drybrushed in highlights using the Aged Bone, followed by the Polished Bone.
For the blood, I used Red Brick, 9001, with a touch of pure Blood Red, 9003, thrown in.
As I was sitting in church the other day and thinking about how to paint this figure, I noticed - while looking at the back of someone's head that had dark brown hair - black as the shadow color. I based the hair with a thinned down Pure Black, 9037, and followed it up with highlights from the Warm Deep Brown Triad. After looking at the picture (below), I went back and emphasized the interior of the hair by using WonderWash Ink to get more black back into the depths of the hair.
The majority of the blending I had intended on doing was on the torso. I used the Medium Skin Triad for the work I did here. I used what was already there as a base, and then gradually painted smaller and smaller areas of skin using 50% each of Tanned Shadow and Tanned Skin, then diluted Tanned Skin, then another 50% each of Tanned Skin and Tanned Highlight and finished with a diluted section of pure Tanned Highlight. I am still in need of practice in terms of getting the paints to go on smoothly, but Reaper has made this much easier. I then applied repeated layers of thinned Tanned Highlight to areas that needed it (such as the edges of the pecs and upper sections of the back muscles).
All in all, I was pleased with how this came out.
