Sunday 4 March 2012

Rendering the Kapok Vest


This installment recounts the wet-on-wet technique employed for a localized rendering of the kapok vest towards the build-up of chroma for the highlights and shadows.


To prevent the greying of the highlights from the dark shadow colors. Only the parts in shadow were moistened with the water and retarder solution and dabbed with small amounts of Storm Blue.


The Storm Blue was blended  downwards. However, sensing a lack of warmth, a small amount of Cadmium Orange was dabbed on and blended upwards to create a transitional gradient between the yellow base color and blue/green shadow.

The same process was repeated using Naples Yellow for the highlights.




Realizing later that the incline of the flared collar and the final attachment of the head would result in a darker appearance, Light Yellow was applied over to darken the highlight.

In summary, this pretty much concludes the techniques applied in the painting of this masterful sculpt by Mike Good. On accounts of the high quality casting, the ease of assembly and beautiful design,  I must say that it has been a fun filled experience tackling this highly refreshing WW2 German subject matter. I do hope that the pick-up for this piece will be encouraging for Young Miniatures to warrant another collaboration with Mike Good in the near future.



Cheers,

Calvin



2 comments:

Stephen said...

Really enjoyed reading your techniques for this one Calvin. Definitely inspired me to do some wet on wet techniques for the Hemingway project I've been working on and I have to say I'm pleased with the results. Looking forward to your next SBS bro!

Cheers,
Stephen Ward

Calvin Tan said...

Hi Stephan,

it brings me great joy to know that not only are you actively following but also adapting the techniques to your artistic endeavors. This approach has personally been a game changer for me as it really speeds up my painting.

I sincerely hope that this approach gains more traction to people such as yourself and experience a greater joy from this hobby.

Cheers,

Calvin