02023, Tolzar Righteous Arm (updated)

[Metalchaos]

Hello everyone, here's the result of my first attempt at sky and earth non metallic metal (SENMM). This Dark Heaven Legends model 02023, Tolzar Righteous Arm was sculpted by Sandra Garrity. I started painting it during RVE (Reaper Virtual Expo). I painted the cape as I was following along Ian Markon's class on blending through Layering and Feathering. I then painted the freehand at the bottom of the cape during Brice Cocanour's Beginner Freehand class. I finally painted his armor, shield and hammer head using the SENMM technique. It's my first take at Sky and Earth Non Metallic Metal. I did my best to reflect the sunset on all metallic parts. Let me know what you think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Metalchaos

[sentinel]

I like everything about this one!  The shield and helmet look really well done, to me.  And then the reflected light on his left shoulder of his cloak is something else.  I admit, it took me a second to figure out the different coloring there.  The freehand at the bottom of the cloak is cool.  The cloak left shoulder is my favorite part, because it hit me like a magic trick.  Ah-ha!  Nicely done.

[Metalchaos]

Many thanks @sentinel, I'm glad you like it. SENMM is a technique I will certainly practice even more in a near the future. I think it's the hardest technique I've try so far. As for the cloak, I added the final highlight at the very end. I used the same color as the ones on the metallic parts. I also added a shadow on the ground under the character to add contrast.

[Glitterwolf]

Stunning!

[Chaoswolf]

Wow, that's mighty impressive; good work!

[Metalchaos]

15 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

Stunning!

 

12 hours ago, Chaoswolf said:

Wow, that's mighty impressive; good work!

 

Many thanks, so many colors went in this painting, this guy is a living rainbow.

[72moonglum]

I am just in love with these colors!

 

[Poilu_1914]

That is a fantastic paint job! My one comment would be on the helmet, as it's rounded maybe go for more of a fisheye reflection on the rounded part and at the bottom edge reflect some of the cloak as well. But overall definitely an amazing effect!

[Metalchaos]

2 hours ago, 72moonglum said:

I am just in love with these colors!

 

Thank @72moonglum, I appreciate it.

 

1 hour ago, Poilu_1914 said:

That is a fantastic paint job! My one comment would be on the helmet, as it's rounded maybe go for more of a fisheye reflection on the rounded part and at the bottom edge reflect some of the cloak as well. But overall definitely an amazing effect!

That's true @Poilu_1914, right now, it looks more like a cylinder. I've found some reference picture in the Web and I'll see what I can do to make it look more like a dome. I'll post an update when I'm done. Thanks for sharing your point of view.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Metalchaos

[Metalchaos]

@Poilu_1914, following your remark, I repainted the upper part of the helmet. I like the right side better now (the first picture). Not sure about the left side, I will need to practice this technique some more, but it was a satisfying study for a first try. There now seems to be a phoenix that's reflecting on the left side of the helmet.

 

 

 

 

 

[Darcstaar]

Great attempt!  Thanks for sharing.

[Poilu_1914]

@Metalchaos that looks fantastic! Really makes a difference. I kind of like both sides being slightly different as they would be reflecting different vistas and light levels.

[dks]

Ambitious and well done!  And congrats on having him featured on ReaperLand today.

I like the amended helmet. 

I've never even tried to paint reflective/SENMM.  I can only imagine how hard it is, because only one "front" and one "back" camera angle will look right, and at any other angles (rotations or elevations), the illusion of accurately plotted "reflections" will be broken.

(Anne Foerster has been painting an ambitious SENMM bust on her PaintingBig Twitch channel, Thursday afternoons.)

I think the head of the hammer should look different but I'm not sure how.  (Maybe not a contiguous horizon line -- some planes reflecting only sky or only earth?)

If there's such a strong yellow side-light from the sunset on one side, then maybe the haft of the hammer should have vertical core-shadows perpendicular to that direction, where the cylinder first turns away from the light.

Thanks for sharing and providing the food for thought.

 

Derek

 

[Metalchaos]

Thank you Derek, I will need to catch up and watch ReaperLand episode from last night.

 

SENMM is a lot of fun, I'm sure you will like it. I would say, it takes twice as long as regular NMM because of the number of colors involved. I painted the pure colors directly onto the surfaces, but I think a different approach might work as well. Starting from a NMM base, the colors of the environment could perhaps be added afterwards by glazing.

 

It is also true that it is difficult to paint the intensity of the colors all around the model correctly. In my case, the setting sun is coming from the left side of the cleric, the light on its right side should be less intense. I have not taken this detail into account in this case, I am pretending that the light reflecting off the clouds is strong enough to reflect with the same intensity all around the character.

 

 I can only imagine how hard it is, because only one "front" and one "back" camera angle will look right, and at any other angles (rotations or elevations), the illusion of accurately plotted "reflections" will be broken.

 

I will have a look to see if I can find Anne's painting session. Painting SENMM on a bust must be something else. I'm sure, there is a lot more room to illustrate the landscape on bigger piece like a bust. I never painted a bust. I have a Grudge bust on my “to be painted” list but didn't have time to tackle with it yet. (I started painting a Ral Partha T-Char dragon by Sandra Garrity this week. I tried airbrush for the first time. A lot of new stuff this month).

 

You are probably right about the hammer head. The horizon line should probably be lower, just at the base of the square part. With the ground reflecting under and the sky reflection on the sides. You're also right about the haft of the hammer, it should have a stronger highlight on one side. As Da Vinci said, art is never finished, only abandoned. Have a great weekend.