Slaine Paint Along

[bailey03]

I'm taking part in a paint along over at CMON.  The figure is from an independent sculptor, Olivier Bouchet.  It's a 54mm fantasy figure titled Gokan, the Guardian, but as someone pointed out it has a striking resemblance to the comic character Slaine.  So that's how I'm painting him.

 

If anyone is interested, the paint along just started.  Most people are just receiving the figures and only a few have started to paint.  There's still plenty of time to join in.  Here's the link to the thread

http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?58625-Gokan-group-painting-competition

And here's the link to the sculptor's site where you can order the figure

[link removed]

 

Here's the current state of the figure

 

I'm doing a full step by step tutorial as I paint this figure so people can follow for the paint along if they want (though I expect to see many different versions/takes on this figure).  The tutorial is posted on my painting blog but I thought I'd share part of it here too.  This is how I went about painting the tartan.

 

The tartan pattern can seem really difficult and intimidating, but really if you can paint stripes then you can paint a tartan.  The trick is to break down the pattern into different parts.  I based my tartan on this one

 

I started by base coating the tartan in the background color, orange (Reaper's Oiled Leather).  Now I don't worry about all the different stripes, I just start with the most significant ones.  Here that's the thick brown stripes (mix of Oiled Leather and Blackened Brown).  I lay out the horizontal stripes first.  Since the bottom is jagged I used the top at a guide.  Try to keep the horizontal, but follow the contours of the cloth and adjust as necessary.  Do your best to keep their spacing and thickness consistent.  With those finished I add in the vertical stripes.  Again, watch the thickness and spacing.

Next I add in the dark squares (pure Blackened Brown) wherever the stripes cross

Now I go in and do my shading and highlighting.  This is also a good time to clean up the lines as needed.  If you keep tweaking and cleaning up minor issues as you go the entire process is much more manageable.  If you want until the end it can be overwhelming.

That looks pretty decent, but we can do more.  So now we move to the next most significant detail.  In this case the two thin brown stripes on either side of the thick ones.  Placement of these is easier as you can use the first set of stripes as a guide.  Just watch the spacing.  Again, wherever they cross another brown stripe I switch to pure blackened brown to make the cross over section darker.

I just continue on down the levels of detail.  Up next are the thin horizontal white stripes and the thin vertical yellow stripes.  When they cross the orange sections, I mix them with Oiled Leather.  When they cross the brown sections, I mix them with Blackened Brown.  Not too much, just enough to be noticeable.

 

The end result is complex, but if you just take it one set of stripes at a time and build up the pattern it's really not as difficult as you'd think.

Edited December 14, 2014 by CashWiley
Removed commerce link

[ub3r_n3rd]

He's awesome!

[Marsya]

Really looking forward to following along with your progress. Looks stunning so far.

[Mad Jack]

 Oh, damn, if I only had the cash - that guy rocks. (I will own this guy someday.) And he definitely does look like Slaine...

 

 Excellent work on the kilt.

[Limey72]

Now there is a comic book character from my past. It's looking great ;)

[Pennyfew]

Very impressive!  I always loved Slaine.  Interested in seeing how this progresses.

[bailey03]

Thanks, everyone.  I've been really pleased with how he's turned out so far.  I spent a little bit of time working on his armor.  I initially wasn't sure what to do with the odd texture, but the only thing that makes sense to me is that it's supposed to be leather.

 

[Limey72]

Your doing a wonderful job on one of my childhood Heros, 2 things who makes him and after your finished find him in warp spasm and paint that too;). Awesome job

[bailey03]

Thanks!  The figure is made by an independent sculptor, Olivier Bouchet.  This is one of his newest.  You can get it through his website.  Check the link below.  It's got all the information you need to order one if you want

[link removed]

 

Ha, if I can find a warp spasm version I'll add it to the to do list. =)

Edited December 14, 2014 by CashWiley
Removed commerce link

[bailey03]

Whoops, sorry about that.  Didn't mean to break the forum rules!

[bailey03]

I continued on with more of the detail work.  With the hair, fur, and shoulder pad finished I was able to add his other arm and sword.  I did a few celtic inspired designs for tattoos as well.  These were Soft Blue mixed with Fair Skin, then a few glazes of the skin tone to help tie it all together.

 

And then I went in and put in a little blood from the claw scratches sculpted onto the shoulder.

[CashWiley]

This is what I pretend I paint like.

 

Amazing as always!