Leonidas

Richard48

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Mighty fine looking urn.I think its rather nice and different and unique.
Excellent work.
Richard
 

wotan

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Thanks gents

Now starting on the painting. I like to under paint in acrylics and finish in oils. So to start with here is my first session of skin under painting. As a contrast to other styles I am not concerned hardly at all with colour at this stage. I am trying to define the form of the model and create tonal and temperature patterns. The whole of this will be covered up in later stages with oils. Oil paint has the unique property that it is generally translucent, so some of this paint will show through the top coat, and provide depth and interest to the final effect. Notice that the brush strokes are very open, that is to say not smoothly rendered. this will contribute to the final effect and is a hallmark of my approach to flesh painting. Anyway....

Face acrylic.jpg

Note that the eyes are only roughed in at the moment

arm acrylic.jpg

I will let this dry out before the next layers.Just in passing some people are put off by the supposed long drying time of oil paints. I use Alkyd oils which will dry very quickly, relatively speaking, and can be worked over within 12 hours.

John
 

Tim Marlow

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Mate, that’s fantastic! Apart from anything else, it explains where the warm and cool areas of a face are better than any art text I have tried to decipher....
 

wotan

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Thanks Tim.

OK he has now been oiled up, as it were. Of course a photo cannot show all the subtleties that oils allow but I think the general effect is there. It is still shiny so more will become apparent when I apply the mat varnish.

Face oil.jpg

Arm oil.jpg

John
 

wotan

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Thanks Peter

Moving on to his helmet and his shirt. Now both of these are red according to the box art. Red is often a tricky colour to paint since you cannot lighten red without it becoming pink or orange. here is a simple glazing technique that the renaissance painters mastered. Simply under paint the red area with a monotone black and white tonal base. This takes a little work however you don't need to get perfectly blended finish since it is all going to be covered up. When the base is what you want and is dry, I usually do this stage in acrylic, simply splurge a crimson red all over it. Since the oil paint is fairly translucent your under toning will show through giving an acceptably smooth and toned finish. Here is how I attacked the plume and his shirt.

Plume.jpg

Sleeve.jpg

You can always rework some of the shadows if you want to. I often add a bit of Alizarin crimson to the scarlet in some places just to vary the red a little.

I hope this helps
John
 

JR

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John.
That's Sir is exquisite.
The eyes look quite real, and the skin too. Love the muscle definition.
The other John.
 

Tim Marlow

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John
I think that face is as good as anything I have ever seen, just superb...
 

Jon Heptonstall

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Very much looking forward to seeing how you do the bronze.Lovely work.
Jon.
 

rtfoe

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Your figure painting is as exquisite as usual...so much life in the colours.

Cheers,
Richard
 

minitnkr

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Your mastery of color and mediums is evident. Super work. Had always thought their superior armor for the period was one of their advantages. PaulE
 

wotan

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Gentlemen you are most kind. Peter Sumptuous is such a great word that we don't hear often enough thanks

He has now had a quick mat coat so the colours look a little better.

Red done.jpg

I also made a start on the bronze. This effect is done with AK true Metal. I can't over state how much I like the effect of these wax paints, particularly since they can be polished to taste.

Helmet done.jpg

John
 

JR

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Say no more ! Other than perfection.
John.
 

BigGreg

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FANTASTIC and the vase/base it's a superb idea.... the flesh tones are very realistic..not to mention the brass and and the cloth... well everything is, as i said FANTASTIC... i can't wait to see the end...
 

Jim R

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Hi John
It doesn't get much better than this. Superb.
Jim
 

rtfoe

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OOOh Nice...John. Metalwork superb.

Cheers,
Richard
 

Steve Jones

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OMG! I knew you were good John but this is staggering work my friend. A real piece of art. Looks like you are having more fun with this than the plane:thumb2::cool:
 
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