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Viking bust

RussF said:
VERY cool! I haven't been able to get a sense of scale -how big is he? The paint brings detail alive that you can't see in the raw print. I especially like the subtle things like the snags in the shirt sleeve. Beautiful paint job Dean!
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Thanks Russ!
He is approx 4” tall… magnifying glasses needed to paint small detail. ;)
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RussF said:
Wow! :oops: Based on the detail, I thought it was a LOT bigger. Your painting skills are truly amazing. Hats off!
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Thanks Russ, I appreciate the compliment. I have been painting models and figures for decades! ;)
Namabiiru said:
The paint is nothing. What’s amazing is what a skilled painter can do!
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True! I typically put a dark base coat on and then dry brush a medium color, then do highlights with the lightest color and sometimes even a wash over that to tone down the highlights some. Then a matte clear coat. So there is a lot of color and depth going on to achieve realism. ;)
 
Here is two figures I printed and painted for my granddaughter.
On the rabbit, the wooden base was painted to look like the travertine pavers around our pool per her request. ;) So that was fun brushing on the different colors to simulate the stone. Then I added lines to create the same pattern used outside.
She just turned 8 yrs old, but she tells me what colors she wants me to paint everything…lol. And I comply because her happiness is my happiness. ;)

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It’s probably time for me to add another figure to her collection.
 
Dean, your talent continues to amaze me. Those "lines" in the stone look like actual grooves - the colors give it the surface actual texture. And the eyes of the princess - wow! You must have some formal art training. I wouldn't even know where to start with colors, layering, etc. Well done!
 
RussF said:
Dean, your talent continues to amaze me. Those "lines" in the stone look like actual grooves - the colors give it the surface actual texture. And the eyes of the princess - wow! You must have some formal art training. I wouldn't even know where to start with colors, layering, etc. Well done!
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Thanks again Russ. The lines are an illusion, you add a few white highlights on the edges and that makes them appear to have depth. ;)
The eyes are done by starting with a dark blue, then adding medium blue inside that and then lighter blue for the lines and I add the black for the pupil last and then a white dot or two for the light glare typically seen in photos. Then a gloss clear on top.
I don’t have any formal training, I was born with the ability to draw and paint. It’s a God given talent IMO. I have learned techniques over the years that have improved my abilities, but I started out drawing in 3d as a child. I simply drew what I saw, not stick figures! And I shaded my drawings. It’s really a study in how light refracts on objects and how to give them texture.
This is an example of a pencil drawing or portrait of one of my granddaughters…It’s not finished here, but was a work in progress.
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I typically work from a picture and I note how the light refracts on objects to see where the shadows fall. I don’t have a picture of the finished portrait, it’s at my daughter’s house framed and on the wall. Here I have just begun to start the shading process after doing a light outline of everything.
I have done many portraits over the years of family members.
So I have always been drawing, painting and building models since a child. I love arts and crafts. That’s also why I like wood working, especially carving because it allows me to explore my artistic side.
And finally I am color blind…ROTF…but I still see colors, just not as wide a spectrum as normal people. So I keep it simple and choose shades of the same colors when adding depth. Sometimes I just add white to a color to use for highlights. ;)
 
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Dean62 said:
And finally I am color blind…ROTF…
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:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: Ok, now I'm just embarrassed! ROTF

What a beautiful sketch and an even more beautiful girl.

I guess we have to get away from the generalized mentality that grass is green, snow is white and the sky is blue. 35 years ago, I built a couple of cedar strip canoes. A colleague of mine was an accomplished artist and I commissioned a painting of one of the canoes in exchange for building a couple of cedar Adirondack chairs for him. The painting turned out wonderful and hangs over our fireplace, but I had always wondered why he made the sky lavender. Then, one evening, we had a truly spectacular sunset (you can see the photo from our front yard by hovering over my avatar to the left), and it wasn't until I was post-processing the photo that I saw it - an honest-to-goodness lavender sky. It's often difficult to see the true colors of something (more so for you than me :D), but since having my cataracts removed, I do have a better appreciation of color.
 
RussF said:
:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: Ok, now I'm just embarrassed! ROTF

What a beautiful sketch and an even more beautiful girl.

I guess we have to get away from the generalized mentality that grass is green, snow is white and the sky is blue. 35 years ago, I built a couple of cedar strip canoes. A colleague of mine was an accomplished artist and I commissioned a painting of one of the canoes in exchange for building a couple of cedar Adirondack chairs for him. The painting turned out wonderful and hangs over our fireplace, but I had always wondered why he made the sky lavender. Then, one evening, we had a truly spectacular sunset (you can see the photo from our front yard by hovering over my avatar to the left), and it wasn't until I was post-processing the photo that I saw it - an honest-to-goodness lavender sky. It's often difficult to see the true colors of something (more so for you than me :D), but since having my cataracts removed, I do have a better appreciation of color.
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Beautiful photo. Some of the best color I have seen has been sunsets. ;)
 
Last night, I was showing this thread to the Admiral, who is of Danish descent. She said, "Oh look, he has my nose!" ROTF Thoroughly impressed, she wanted me to pass along her compliments. She loves your clock as well! (Although, truth be told, as a lover of all things wood like myself, she did cringe a little bit when I told her why you painted it. ;) )
 
RussF said:
Last night, I was showing this thread to the Admiral, who is of Danish descent. She said, "Oh look, he has my nose!" ROTF Thoroughly impressed, she wanted me to pass along her compliments. She loves your clock as well! (Although, truth be told, as a lover of all things wood like myself, she did cringe a little bit when I told her why you painted it. ;) )
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Tell her thanks.
On the clock, my admiral did not like the stain and so I decided to paint it black, but still let the wood grain be visible. ;)
 
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