Young Miniatures Lucky Jack Bust

[Guest]

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I wasn't going to post my work on this one, but, hey ho, it's become part of the process. This is Russell Crowe as 'Lucky Jack' Aubrey in 'Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World':

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A three part casting; hat, head and torso (plus plinth). Very little clean up was required generally, though the hat was a bit dodgy - as that is going to be painted in shades of black, there shouldn't be too much of a problem:



(Photo from internet).

So, the head. This is where I was at lunchtime today:

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I've since done a bit more refining and shading, but I managed to stop before getting too obsessional. I used the box art as a guide, but as there's no way I'll ever get to that standard I'm learning to accept my limitations. The most difficult bit looks as though it will be the frilly shirt-front.

[Mini Me]

Nice start Peter.

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Definitely a good start, and a recognisable head.

As for the box art!

It will have been ""prepared"" to provide the most saleable image possible, and as such may not accurately represent the original?

Your progress should be judged by the distance travelled more than the distance still to go.

Many of the You Tube painters I watch, keep older work as a catalogue of progress, especially when they look at the "masters" of their genre, in envy of their work.

Squidmar's latest video, "Its OK to suck at your Hobby" sums its up in 12 minutes, if you get chance to watch it.

The shirt and waistcoat will push your whites and lights skills to the limit, but should be fun too.

Have a good day painting, its time to pack my bags for my little trip away.

Regards

Steve H

[Guest]

Rick - Many thanks.

Steve - The big day dawns! The best of luck to you, but I expect that the prospect of a new knee outweighs all other considerations. An early Christmas present?

Yes, it is OK to suck at your hobby, and it's good to fail occasionally. I am a bit of a perfectionist though, and get intolerant of my inability to progress sometimes. As for the box art, those artists are professionals, with years of experience, not to say rare skills, but one can at least try and learn from them. I did notice that on a couple of Young Miniatures boxes, strong and coloured lighting had been used, but the painting still has to be stratospherically good for that to work.

I had a cabinet cull the other day, clearing out older work that niggled or that just wasn't up to the mark. I find it a very therapeutic exercise, and it creates a base-line on which to re-build the collection. I do keep some of the older work that I'm fond of, and it is a useful gauge to judge present work by, though that eventually gets put away into the attic.

Good luck with today.

[Steve Jones]

Morning Mr Day.

Not seen a naval figure from you before (me thinks). Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

I always treat box art like magazine photos. Lots of good lightning, photo shopping etc but if you ever see it in the flesh it's not much different to anything else.

As for your cabinet cull, is there a great difference between what you are doing now or just subtle improvement's. I look at the work I was doing two years ago and there is a noticeable improvement.

Speak soon

Steve

[Guest]

This is my version painted about six years ago.
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[Neil Merryweather]

Great choice, Peter.
And if you get fed up you can always just watch the film again- or better still , read the books - they are the BEST!
but I'm sure you know that.
good luck
N

[Guest]

Steve - I've done one other naval subject, a Mitches RN midshipman:



I can see differences between my old and new work, but whether they have 'improved' is something I find hard to judge.

Ralph - Very fine work and a tough act to follow. Thanks for posting the photo.

Neil - Loved the film, but confess I've never read the books. I will give them a go some day.

Some progress made:

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The hat took a while, as it required a lot of tonal blending over large areas - black through to basalt grey for the highlights. Sod's law means that it doesn't show up in the photos of course.

The shirt front and waistcoat were very fiddly. The white areas were done by building up off white over a medium grey base, and the waistcoat is done with heavily lightened khaki (all Vallejo colours). I'll do more refining tomorrow.

[Guest]

Lovely work Peter :smiling3:.

[Mini Me]

Very difficult to find fault with something that looks that good.
Cheers, Rick H.

[Fernando N]

Looking very good Peter, that’s Russel Crowe alright, although he could use a shave :thumb2: .

[Guest]

Ralph - I have yours to inspire me!

Rick - Glad you like how he's turning out.

Fernando - The sculptor has caught Russell Crowe exactly, a lot better than some of the Maximus busts out there. He's been too busy chasing that damned French ship to shave.

[Jim R]

Hi Peter
You have certainly captured Russell with that face painting :thumb2:
Jim

[Jason Crausby]

Great job Peter!

[Guest]

Thanks Jim and Jason.

He's finished. Photos when the varnish is dry.