Jeannie: Lighting, Highlights

I continued working on the source lighting effect from the ball of flame today, lightening up the reflected light on the closest surfaces and refining it some. I also messed about with the positioning of the lighted areas a little. It still needs work...that lighting on her arm is now awful opaque and chunky. But it's progress.

I also did some shading and highlighting on the rest of her skin. It was kinda quick and dirty, but even so, it's amazing what a difference it makes. I'm going to try bringing some of the blue in as a light glaze over a couple of the high points.

You might notice I didn't put shadows under her legs. That's because I plan to give the clouds a slight glow.

Jeannie: Flames

Got back to OSL practice with Jeannie today. I painted the ball of flame and then just started laying out roughly where I think the light from that flame would go and at what intensity. It still needs a lot of work. I don't think I quite have all the light placement right yet, either.

This is a somewhat helpful trick for OSL - shine a light on the figure from the direction of the light source, It's not perfect - the sculpted light source will itself block some of it, though I suppose that just means the shadow placement will tell you something about where the light might go. The flashlight is probably also putting out a wider beam that the source would. However, it's still helpful for visualizing where the light would go, just don't use it as gospel.

What it tells me is I should think about broadening the lighted area across her breasts, and also bring some of the light on to other leg. However, the light source on the figure may not be giving off as strong a light as my flashlight is, so I may choose not to carry the lighting effect that far.

Barbarian: Still Shading. Also, some swords.

I added in the next layer of shadows on the barbarian's skin today. I'd have liked to get farther, but I didn't. I'm pretty happy that I don't feel like I have to do a ton of smoothing, but I think I am going to bring some of the red lighter shadow back.

I spent some time working on the next steps for the diorama. I want a couple of swords to hang over Conan's head, so I started looking at options for those. I started making one out of plasticard; since the thing will be stuck to a wall it doesn't need to be perfectly 3-D. A flat back isn't a problem. I didn't really finish it, but ran into some issues. This plasticard has a grid on one side, which made a weak spot where the 'hilt' broke off. The guard would also need some more shaping. I'm pretty happy with how the shape of the blade came out.

I also found a couple of leftover Tyranid arms and am looking in to using those. The top one in the picture is as it was originally. The second one is after I removed the arm and the hand. I think it still needs some work to reshape the hilt and guard a bit to get rid of the organic look. That plastic was surprisingly soft and easy to work, though.

7!

I got a late start tonight and didn't feel up to doing careful blending, so...here's a barrel. Just something quick and easy.

Barbarian: Shading Skin

Started shading the skin on the barbarian today. This is really just roughing in the first couple layers of shadows. I'm going back to trying red in the shadows again. This time I'm using a less vibrant red than last time. Hopefully that'll help me a little, and so far I think it is. That's RMS Redstone in the shadows now, which is a pretty desaturated red. I might go purple, blue, or brown in the deep shadows. Haven't decided.

Verocithrax: Teeth, Horns. Jeannie: Boots, Cloth.

Finished up Verocithrax's teeth and his horns. I think he's done at this point. I'll let him sit for a day or two and see if I want to change anything, then seal him and put him with the others.

I had a little time after finishing him, so I put a base coat on Jeannie's boots and loin cloth. Next for her will be putting in the value changes from the light sources.

Verocithrax: Highlights, Face

I'm trying to wrap up Verocithrax and move on to more building on the diorama. So, I focused on him today. I put on a layer of brighter highlights, brought some more of the base red back into the shadows in various places, and then did his eyes, tongue, and started the teeth.

I think the horns I'll do as black, or maybe dark brown or purple that will read as close to black.