Distracted - an ub3r WIP (NSFW)

[knarthex 59914]

3 hours ago, Xherman1964 said:

*** Rings doorbell with a box of wine under his arms***

 

 

 

 

See!!!!

[Corporea 20190]

it depends on how sheer you want them to look.  some stocking are very dark, others thinner and more transparent.  The main thing I'd do is a bunch of glazing to smooth out the brushstrokes unless you're going for a textured effect.  That may lighten it a hint and give it more of a sheer effect.  If texture's what you want, doing very small hatchmarks would work.  Use a teeny brush like a 3-0 and do first horizontal then vertical marks over and over and over again- back and forth.  I find this harder on a larger surface to keep the lines straight.  there should be no space in between the hatches.  You do the shading as you go by working in color.  It's... challenging, which is why I prefer smooth blending.    For the parts like the hem at the top, use a different highlight than your skin to keep it from looking sheer itself. 

[ub3r_n3rd 152233]

3 hours ago, Corporea said:

it depends on how sheer you want them to look.  some stocking are very dark, others thinner and more transparent.  The main thing I'd do is a bunch of glazing to smooth out the brushstrokes unless you're going for a textured effect.  That may lighten it a hint and give it more of a sheer effect.  If texture's what you want, doing very small hatchmarks would work.  Use a teeny brush like a 3-0 and do first horizontal then vertical marks over and over and over again- back and forth.  I find this harder on a larger surface to keep the lines straight.  there should be no space in between the hatches.  You do the shading as you go by working in color.  It's... challenging, which is why I prefer smooth blending.    For the parts like the hem at the top, use a different highlight than your skin to keep it from looking sheer itself. 

 

So you think I need to add a few more glazes for the skin tone on the stockings and clean up brush strokes a bit?

[Corporea 20190]

It will look smoother.  For larger minis we have to work that much harder on transitions, especially for areas like skin and cloth where any defect or errant brush stroke will be more obvious.  I put these examples in spoilers super blown up at ginormous scale:

 

so see how much more blending I did on the larger 1st pic than the later two?  When I blow them up you can see all the imperfections, because at the scale I'm working, no one can see them except Derek and my camera!

 

here's what they really look like:

 

see? fine at that scale, but up close and personal the details show.  54+ minis require the extra oompf to make them look right.

 

So more layers.  So many layers it hurts.  That's the best way to get a smooth blend.  I'll do it one of two ways.  First I'll set down my paint and clean my brush quickly, then feather out the edges of the paint with the damp brush to smooth out the paint.  When I do shadows I work towards the shadowed area.  With highlights work towards the highlight with the stroke.  Then I'll do successive layers of very thin paint.  (Let everything dry in between. I have messed up enough layers by being impatient I say this to save your sanity!) You only want a teeny bit on the brush, so I'll often thin the paint, clean the brush then re-dip into the thinned paint so I don't overload. 

 

I also do a lot of spit blending, but don't tell anyone... it just adds love!

 

I know you're just starting this mini and you're not done yet, so don't feel like I'm, um, being pushy or a perfectionist or something.  I'm just planning and plotting and want to help!

[ub3r_n3rd 152233]

@Corporea - not pushy at all. I appreciate the feedback and I asked for everyone to give me honesty and help me get better here. She's for a contest and I want to challenge myself and do things I've not done before. Thank you, I'll definitely be applying your valued advice!!

[Pezler the Polychromatic 50991]

This has been one of the most educational WIPs so far.

[GlenP 1990]

Seems people are dancing around the 'how to paint a leg with stockings'. I paint a lot of pinup girls. Over time, I've gotten a bit of a handle on hair, makeup, stockings, and lingerie. Weathering tanks is easier...

 

Here's a pic. Points to note:

 

Smooth transitions on the bare thigh.

Skin tones under the stocking are darker and grayer, but still have smooth transitions.

Fabric that is stretched out (thigh, knee, calf, heel) allows more light to hit the skin and is thus lighter. It is still darker and grayer than bare skin.

Fabric that is not stretched out (areas of the feet, ankles, behind bent knees, etc) will appear darker because of the woven fabric is denser and allows less light to hit the skin.

All of this is affected but the basic light source, direction, and color - zenithal, halo, side, OSL, sunlight, candles, torches, glowing purple orbs, etc.

 

The pic is a studio piece with the light coming from above and front or perhaps right front. With multiple lightboxes and bounce screens it can be hard to tell...

[Glitterwolf 163472]

Very useful information here!!!

 

Painting sheer clothing is on my to do list as well.

 

*** Hheeellloooo, I couldn't help notice you're reading!, I like books too!!!***

 

*** I brought some wine,, shall I pour you some???***

 

*** What does this spell do? ***

 

**** Reads arcane words out loud***

 

*** Did something happen?***

[ub3r_n3rd 152233]

@GlenP very nice reference photo! I'll be trying to do some more refinements to the stockings tonight. Yesterday got away from me as I was busy with other things around the house. 

 

@Xherman1964 you can do it too!

 

Down boy!! Ut-oh... the stasis field was disrupted!

[bailey03 1682]

Very cool figure and a great choice for the competition.  I've got a copy and just thinking about assembling it is intimidating, much less painting the figure.  Best of luck with the competition, I'm looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

[ub3r_n3rd 152233]

1 minute ago, bailey03 said:

Very cool figure and a great choice for the competition.  I've got a copy and just thinking about assembling it is intimidating, much less painting the figure.  Best of luck with the competition, I'm looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

 

Thanks! She's made out of like 15 pieces, took a few hours to put together and I didn't find any guides online anywhere. 

 

Any feedback you'd like to give, if greatly appreciate.

[bailey03 1682]

All in all it's looking very nice.  I'd try to smooth out a few of the skin transitions.  For a female figure, you want it to look as smooth as possible.  For me, once I've got the basic blend in but need to tweak it a little, I'll mix a gradient of colors on my wet palette (from shadow to highlight for the skin) and then focus on just one spot.  With the whole range from shadow to highlight, I can just back and forth between shades quickly and try to find the right intermediate tone to smooth the blend.  You can also use stippling to break up a tricky blend so it's harder for the eye to pick out the transition.

 

You can also try using some glazes to help smooth the final blends. This goes for both the skin and the stockings.  On the stockings I'd be tempted to increase the top highlights beyond where you want them and then glaze black over the whole stocking.  This should smooth the blends and also knock down the highlight (back to where you'd intended it to be).  If you haven't done much with glazes, I'd try it out on a test figure before you used it on this competition piece.

 

Oh, and with all of that, keep in mind where the book and other pieces will be.  No point spending your time trying to get a perfect blend on an area that will be hidden by the book!

 

Hope that is helpful!

[ub3r_n3rd 152233]

@bailey03 thanks for the advice!

 

No work on this yesterday, my wife was home for two days so we were running errands and spending the evenings together. Usually she works until 7-8pm. 

 

Going to to get some work on this project done for sure tonight!

[ub3r_n3rd 152233]

Worked on her base last night. Will take pics today. Doing research on arcane/occult tattoos and trying to decide on a few designs for her tats. 

 

Might try the all seeing eye on her forehead... 

 

Any thoughts from the watchers of this thread on tats that I could attempt that aren't too complicated?

[Glitterwolf 163472]

Words and Magical symbols crawling under her skin while she reads the spell.

 

I replied in our PM, look at the links.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Xherman1964