Barbarella Part 8

I've continued to work on Barbarella and am very close to wrapping up this figure.  Since my last update I've done the yellow details on the coat and head covering, I've updated the shirt and pants, and I've painting some new details like the boot, belt, and skull on the hat.  The only unpainted part of the figure is the grip on the sword, but I've got a few more small details to update (pistol and peg leg) and I might redo the beard (probably should, but definitely not looking forward to it).

To really see the difference that the revisions have made to this figure, here is a side by side comparison of the piece as it was a year and a half ago and as it is now.  The lighting isn't exactly the same, but it's pretty close (as you can see by comparing the unchanged sections like the face, beard, and pistol).  The increased contrast has made for a much more dynamic figure, volumes look more well defined, and small details are brought out.

(click for a slighter larger image)

Here are a couple other views to give you a better look at the updated version of the piece.

I'm working on a tutorial over at FigureMentors that will go into detail on how I do my textures.  It's been an area I've focused on lately with all the leather work on the dwarf and pirate orc.  Hopefully that will be posted early next week.  In the meantime, I've included some ultra-close ups below.  You can click on the images to get a good look at the surfaces and see how the color and brush strokes went onto it.  There will be more of this and detailed explanations in the tutorial, so be sure to check back for the link!

Redghar Part 6 and Barbarela Part 7

Well, what started out as two independent pieces has now become a multi-figure scene... so the titling gets a bit confusing!  Over the past week I've done some more work on my pirate crew.  I initially focused on Redghar, trying to finish off the leather sections.  However, to make sure the overall piece looked consistent, I decided to work on the dwarf pirate, Barbarela, too.  Before I go into the details of each, here's how the two currently look as a pair:

Since I was working with leather, the obvious place to focus on the dwarf was his hat.  There was a bit of distressing in the sculpt, but I added to that with a bit of stippling to create more texture and some added cracks painted on as well.  His belt and boot will get a similar treatment, but haven't been finished yet.  In addition to the leather, I redid his red coat to bring it more inline with Redghar.  One problem I had to address when pairing these figures was the difference in contrast level.  The work on the dwarf was done back in December 2015.  Redghar was started almost a year later, at a time when I was more aggressive with my highlight and shadow range.  For the two to fit, I knew I needed to make some adjustments to the existing work on the dwarf.  The rest of his clothing and equipment will get touched up as well to deepen shadows and lighten highlights, where appropriate.  It's not done, but already I feel these two seem to fit together better.

As for the leather hat, here are a couple close ups to show the details and how the texture is done.

As for Redghar, the leather work continued on the same as before.  I did the belt around his waist and then took on the boots.  I might make some small adjustments (the new belt work might be a bit too light in spots), but overall I think it looks pretty much in line with the earlier work and lighting on the piece.

Soon I will need to start building the base.  I plan to do some conversions on the third figure (the monkey), so I will need the base to make sure he is posed correctly.