Well, my next project will hopefully be coming with me to the Crystal Brush competition. It's not until March... but the way I've been painting I better start early! I'm planning to bring a couple historical figures, but those categories haven't been too tough the last couple years. So I'd like to also enter some of the more competitive categories and see what happens. For the large scale (54mm and up) I thought I'd paint Jack in the Plucker from Terrible Kids Stuff. This figure is 75mm scale and based on the cover art for a illustrated novel by Brom.
It's a great kit, very close to the original art and it even comes with that creepy background. I was lucky enough to get a copy (they only made about 150 and it sold out fast) and I've been really looking forward to painting it.
I'm really trying to follow the original art as closely as I can, from the colors to the lighting. I even made a few minor changes to the kit, like adding the nails in the background, using a bit of wire to add the wisp of hair down his forehead and the thread on his right arm, and adding the ribbon to his baton (metal foil). For now I'm leaving the arms separate. The joints are well hidden and it's going to be a lot easier to paint the stripes without the left arm in the way and the hair without painting around the sword. Below you can see them just held on with sticky tack.
My focus so far has been the face. Below is my first pass using Chestnut Brown, Rosy Shadow, Tanned Highlight, and Linen White.
From there I went back in with a variety of GW glazes (red, blue, and purple). I also carefully added some freckles to the nose and cheeks (a mix of Chestnut Brown and a little Rosy Shadow)
I'm having issues with the far side of the face. As with the cover art, I'd like the light source to come from above and to his left (as opposed to just straight above the figure). So the right side of his face will be mostly in shadow. However there's also a bit of OSL with that purple glow coming from below and to his right. I've painted and repainted the right side, but I'm still not satisfied. Unfortunately if I do much more I'm going to overwork it. So I think it's best to put it on hold for now and paint more of the figure. Hopefully once I've got his hat and upper body finished I'll have a much better idea how to do the rest of the face.
