Rashida

[PaulinKendal]

Next bust, 1:12 scale from BigChild Creatives.

This is my first commission - of a sort! A friend saw Grór, and asked if I'd paint a bust for her, if she bought it. I don't think she realised how costly these figures are, so said I'd only paint her one if she let me pay for it! (I think my business model is broken...)

She's black, and asked for a strong, positive figure of a black woman. Perhaps inevitably, while there are plenty of heroic Caucasian female busts, most black figures are temptresses, witches, and general baddies. And most are in a state of advanced undress, which I didn't want to paint. This figure was her favourite and, luckily for me, it's a really beautiful sculpt.

[Tim Marlow]

Looks like more OSL in your future Paul. I actually don’t think the box art does that excellent casting any favours.

[Mickc1440]

That really is a lovely cast. This should be a good test for your skills Paul

[Jim R]

Really nice but I must agree with Tim the box art is not good. You'll do better :thumb2:
Jim

[PaulinKendal]

Agreed absolutely about the box art Tim and Jim.

Tim, this is for a friend, so there's no point in using techniques best served by the camera rather than for real. So no OSL. And the glowing eyes seem completely unnecessary and, as you say, undersell the sculptor's work. The sculpt itself is awesome. Looking at other work by BigChild, they do seem to achieve very high standards, both in the poses and the finish achieved. The detail is incredible, the pose superb and there's very little to fill. Although you'll be pleased to know I'm making every effort to eliminate ALL the mould lines!

I'll be attempting a more naturalistic finish - the sphere will either be stone or metal, the face as natural as I can make it. Not so much gold, either - the backing disc again will probably be painted stone. The sphere is cast to hover magically between her hands, and I'm considering setting it so that it rests on her right hand - again, less magical, more real. But we'll see.

It'll certainly test my skills, Mick. All that smooth, young black skin is going to take a lot of control to achieve a flawless finish!

Jim, if I come close the the box art I'll be well-chuffed - while the colour choices are a bit off, the technique is superb. So far I've done crusty, craggy old blokes - this is going to be a lot trickier!

[PaulinKendal]

Here she is just blu-tacked together. I love the way she's tilting her head just fractionally to her left - very deft work, I think. I've glued her head on because the choker which masks the join was damaged, so I'm having to fill that, in stages.

[PaulinKendal]

... and here she is fully blu-tacked together.

[Jim R]

The eyelashes maybe look rather long and solid, almost like the peak of a cap. I hope they don't prove to be a problem. Put together she looks superb. The stone disc, the folds of the fabric and that smooth skin.
Jim

[PaulinKendal]

I know what you mean, Jim, but I don't think they will. They'll be black against her very dark skin and, so long as I paint her eyes lined with kohl, they should just help make the eyes themselves really pop.

This is a great excuse to research pictures of truly amazing black women!

[PaulinKendal]

[Mickc1440]

So many variations in tone, which are you thinking of aiming for

[Tim Marlow]

Don’t know if you’ve seen this Paul, but it might come in handy…..

http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/1310-ethnic-skintones

Personally my favourite of your images is the last one. That ebony skin tone will really stand out against the shield background…..

[PaulinKendal]

Yep, at the moment I think really very black, almost blue black, would work well. But I also know that, once I get painting, if the skin tone starts to look good at a lighter tone, then that's what I'll go for.

I've been liaising with my (black) 'client', and she says: "it will be a beautiful black, whatever you go for" - she's giving me carte blanche, if that's not COMPLETELY the wrong expression to use!

And thanks for the link, Tim, I'll have a gander.

[Tim Marlow]

No probs Paul. Sounds like you are perhaps after a South Sudanese type skin tone.
PS, I think the phrase you are after is “blank canvas”

[rtfoe]

Hi Paul, I concur with Tim on the South Sudanese type skin tone as her features are similar as well.
I lost you for a while which delayed my response. That is a very nicely sculpted figure and the casting is good. The silk shoal will be a thing to paint using fantasy style wet blending with hints of metallic paints.
Looking forward to the painting.

Cheers,
Richard