Onitsukaji Part 2

I've done a bit more work on the new orc. I moved on to the forearms, painting the bit of skin poking through the wrappings and one of his hands. I also painted the wrappings. I'm still making some adjustments there, but it's nice to start painting something other than skin! I've blocked in some colors on the lower body... but I'm still debating what I want to do there, so I may switch that up a bit.

I've posted about photography before, but it's been a while so I thought I'd share a peak at my photo setup. It's rather simple and I find that to be helpful. I can quickly turn my painting station into my photography area and then back again to painting with a minimum of hassle. My lights are adjusted to be hitting the model from the front and on either side. I want to minimize any shadows cast by the lights so I can more clearly show what's been painted

Aside from the painting, I've been rethinking the base and composition. I went into this piece with a number of ideas for the scene and the intention to more fully flush them out as I went. As I continued to brainstorm and play around with different ideas, I kept feeling like I wasn't happy with the composition I'd put together. Plus I was developing a favorite angle from which to view the orc and would prefer to have that facing the front of the base. I decided to swap sides and move the goblin to the orc's left. I like this much more. It feels better balanced to me and creates a nice tightly packed scene I can work with. I think I've settled on a scene for them too... though I need to make sure I can actually create the details I need, so we'll see how it goes!

Onitsukaji Part 1

I gave you a preview of this project in my previous post. I needed a fun piece to help me recharge and so far this has fit the bill well. I'm planning to make this part of a 2 figure scene, but I had to start somewhere so I chose to begin with the larger of the two.

I spent a bit of time thinking about what sort of color scheme I wanted for the piece. Part of the fun of fantasy is the freedom to work with a variety of colors. While orcs are most commonly depicted as green, there's plenty of fantasy work (for example Paul Bonner's art) where they come in a variety of colors. I've already done some variations on green with orcs and just did a blue one for the Hera Models bust. So I opted for something of a red-violet shade for the big orc. My intention is to go with a triadic color scheme, so that makes blue-green and orange-yellow as my other main colors. I can certainly work both of those into details on this figure's body. For the goblin, I might switch back to green for the skin, but use more of a blue-green shade like I did with the Orc Brave from Ouroboros.

This guy has a lot of exposed skin. Since it's such a large area, I prefer to break it into smaller sections and work on one of those at a time. This helps me keep track of things like where I put my last layer, which regions I've started to reduce the area of application to form the top highlights, etc. If you're part of the Kimera Kolors Painting Club on Facebook, you can find a bit of a longer discussion on why I choose to paint this way and some tips on how I make it work there. Just search the 'Tutorial' topic. Anyway, below you can see how he came together one section at a time.

I still have the back to finish, along with the forearms and hands. But I'd at least like to base coat those straps around his arms before I work on those sections of skin. The mix I'm using for the skin is a variation I've used on red for a couple of figures and one I happen to like. For the base coat, I used a 60/40 mix of Violet Red and Dark Elf Skin. Burgundy Wine for the shadows and then a mix of 50/25/25 Fire Red, Dark Elf Highlight, and Vampiric Shadow for the highlights. I mix some Linen White into that for the top highlights. I think the combination of the red with a cool grey creates a nice desaturated red-violet.

Starting a new project

While this post will (hopefully) be a preview of an upcoming project, it's also going to discuss my process on what I look for and think about when I begin a new piece.

Lately I've felt like I'm in a bit of a rut with my painting. I've got a piece I'm painting, but seems like each section I do I find I'm not happy with and wind up redoing it. So it feels like I'm not getting much done. The other day I decided it might be best to put that piece on hold for a bit and start something new to hopefully recharge my mojo.

I've been searching through my collection of kits to see what sparks my interest. There's a lot of neat figures but these days I look for a couple things in any new project...

1) What can I do that hasn't been done before? With the forums, Facebook groups, instagram, etc you've likely already seen several versions of any commercial kit. And often you'll find some really amazing versions painted by some of the pros. So how do I make my work stand out from the rest? How do I make it memorable? Well, I try to find a way to do something new with the figure. It could be as simple as a new color, but I typically aim for a bit more. Perhaps I can interpret the figure in a different way. I think of the fallen angel piece I did a while back. The figure was intended as a 'good' angel. But with a different color scheme and setting, it became more of a demonic entity.

Another way to do something different is to pair two or more figures together. A lot of people may have painted figure A, but has anyone ever paired it with figure B? That helps to create a unique scene when you pair two figures that weren't initially designed to go together. Of course the figures have to work together for the piece to be successful.

Tied into all of that is the story behind the piece. These days I try to come up with some story, some setting for the figure beyond just 'hey, here's a neat figure standing in a field.' I've done my fair share of figures on ground, but if you can make the scene something more that too helps it stand out. The stronger the story, the more memorable the piece will be.

2) What can I learn from this piece? No matter how good you are, there's always room for improvement. Since I first got into display and competition painting, I've had a mental list of topics I wanted to work on. On that list has been painting textures (leather, etc), TMM, weathering, base work, greater contrast, color variation, etc. I usually pick one or two topics and attempt to improve those with whatever project I have planned. At the moment, high on my list is working with light. That includes aiming for more interesting and complex lighting conditions (like I did with my recent Hera Models orc bust) and introducing ambient light and how light reflecting off one object can influence the color of another. Other topics on my current list are color schemes, composition, compelling base work, more multi-figure scenes, and probably more if I continue to think about it.

3) Does it spark joy? Okay, I'm not really a follower of Marie Kondo, but I do what a project to be fun. So, simply put, am I excited to paint it? While the first two topics are things I hope to be able to work on with any project, this last one is a must!

For the near future I'm not able to travel to any shows/competitions. But, if there was a show I planned to attend in the next 6 months or so, I'll also weigh whether or not that new project could be entered there.

And there you have my general thought process as I look for new projects. I will say, as of late, I feel like I've been putting more pressure on myself with my new pieces. I've always tried to make each piece better than the last because that's how I continue to improve. But lately I feel like I have a standard that I have to live up to. So when a project isn't as good as I want it to be, it can be very discouraging. While I do want to continue to grow and improve, painting is also an outlet and a way for me to relax and enjoy myself. At the moment I feel like those two aren't quite in balance. I'm not exactly sure how to fix that, but I'm hoping a new project will help.

So... what's next on my to paint list? I've been digging through my collection this past weekend and I think I've finally settled on Onitsukaji from Big Child Creatives. It's a fantastic sculpt with a lot of character. And I also really enjoyed painting Redghar from their first kickstarter, so I'm hoping this will feel similar. To address some of my questions for any new project... what can I do with Onitsukaji that hasn't been done before? One thing that came to mind is to put him in a multi-figure scene (which also hits one of the topics on my list from #2). I've been sitting on Bocanegra since the first kickstarter, knowing that I wanted to use him in some scene. I think he could work with Onitsukaji and I really like the size juxtaposition between these two.

I did a mock up of how the two might look together and took a few pictures:

At this point I'm starting to brainstorm a story for them. Why are they together? What are they doing? Bocanegra clearly has a pirate look, so the story should have something to do with that. Onitsukaji to be about to shoot someone or launch that goblin at something. That certainly gives me stuff to work with. And it doesn't need to be the most intricate and detailed story. But are they standing on the edge of a ship about to shoot at a ship they're planning to raid? Maybe they've come off the ship and are at the gates of a town, threatening to blow their way in. I'm still coming up with ideas. But, when I finally settle on the one I like the best, that will help me figure out how the scene should look, what elements I should include in the base to help convey that story. I also need to come up with a color scheme for the pair and what sort of lighting conditions I want to use in the scene. Knowing the story and setting might also help me figure out those details.

I should say that I don't always do so much planning. Sometimes it's good to just grab a figure, start painting, and figure out everything else later. But, more often than not, this is how I will approach any new project. Hopefully it provides some helpful insights!