Winter Contest Entry - Piotr Irongale

[MamaGeek]

Here is Reaper's Piotr Irongale, sculpted by Bobby Jackson. Special thanks to joe_b, TaleSpinner, and Doug_Sundseth for providing much-needed advice at hour 7 of 13.

 

CMON link, if you'd like to vote.

 

This first image links to an enlargement:

 

[rgtriplec]

I think he looks great. I like the muted earthy colors. He almost looks like he's been camouflaged. I just bought Piotr and one with the grapple line, Kurf the Swift (?). Wanted to paint something a little different.

[BKBass]

Looks great! Love the base.

[Wilwarin]

Really nice job here, I love the color scheme and the mute colors. The base looks awesome too :) Good luck in the contest!

[TaleSpinner]

The NMM looks loads better now. You did a great job on it since the WIP photos. Everything is looking great. Well done!

 

Andy

[MamaGeek]

Thanks, everyone! I've taken new photos (replaced the old ones above) that more accurately represent the colors, and show the tattoos a little better.

 

Thasia, that's the base you gave me in our base swap!

 

I plan on auctioning this figure on eBay sometime. I should probably sign my initials on the bottom, or something.

[dks]

Nice work on this figure overall.

I think the materials look like what you intend them to -- cloth pants, leather boots/backpack, metal chain -- thanks to the contrast and the location of highlights.

The freehand on the tattoos looks crisp, but the base color of his left upper arm looks much colder than the base color of his left hand -- I didn't realize at first that the upper arm was supposed to be bare skin. With tattoos, I glaze over the freehand with the base skin color and highlight over it with the skin highlight, to make the tattoo look embedded rather than on the surface. It looks like you did this on his left arm but not (enough) on the right biceps.

The NMM on the chain isn't quite believable. The contrast seems about right, but some highlights that should be there aren't: in particular, on the links that look like O's to the viewer, the upward-facing surface of the lower half of each O should also have a highlight. The holes in the spiky end-links should also get highlights. Imagine all the surfaces of the chain that are oriented to reflect glints of light.

I would also go higher on the highlights of the studs and rivets and buckles.

The colors on the top half of the figure -- brown hair, leather, metal -- are dull compared the green pants and the red backpack. Maybe the blanket or the trim of his undershirt should be a bolder color, to serve as a more attention-getting frame for his head in the front view.

And I don't know whether the figure's teeth are sculpted, but I would paint in a line for the lower teeth. The mouth is just dark-on-dark right now, so it is getting lost on the face.

 

Anyway, yes, I sign the underside of my bases. I find it useful to know when I painted a figure (and am often amazed to realize how long ago it was).

 

Thanks for sharing,

Derek

[MamaGeek]

Thanks so much for your insightful critique, Derek.

 

I've never even thought of painting a line of white for teeth. I'll have to try it sometime.

 

I did glaze over the tattoos, but looking again, you're right, the right bicep tattoo could have used more.

 

Looking at the NMM, I see what you mean. I think at one point I had some highlights on the lower half of the chain links, but when I was smoothing my blends and adding contrast, I let them get dulled down to avoid what looked, at the time, like just too many highlights. I guess I should have stuck with my initial instinct! I didn't even think of bright points on the holes in the end-links.

 

I really love your comments about where the bright colors draw your eyes. I'll have to keep that in mind with the next mini I paint. I think a lot about color, palettes, and how they work together, but I definitely have room to improve in the area of overall composition and artistic focus.

 

Thanks again,

Joy

[awong]

That's a beautiful piece MG. Lots of little details that, under less skilled hands, would just turn into mush. Even with your muted colors, the items all seem to pop and hold their own, but without overwhelming the figure. Great work!

-AW

[bikerdrew]

I like this this. The muted colours work very well on this figure. Nice detail.