Friday 25 April 2014

Le Petit Chaperon [WIP - 2 B's and a colour scheme]

Shifting between two projects of hugely contrasting scales - Kingdom Death White Speaker's 35-mm versus Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon's 80-mm - has become less disorientating for me as I get used to the idiosyncrasies of the differently sized miniatures. More importantly, both miniatures regardless of their scale, have been extremely fun to work on so far.     

Using Amanda Seyfried's Red Riding Hood as an inspiration for Le Petit Chaperon

For Le Petit's colour scheme, I sought inspiration from the 2011 film Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried, which was loosely based on the original French folktale. Three predominant colours in this scheme are red, white and greyish blue. With Nocturna Model's version of Red Riding Hood being sexier than the movie version, the greyish blue bodice covering Amanda is now a corset on Le Petit and Amanda's white blouse looks more like a sheer lingerie on Le Petit. The only red on Le Petit will be her hooded cloak, shoes and maybe red ribbons on sheer white stockings. As for her hair, it will likely be bleached or golden blond, which should go well with either fair or rosy skin.

Likely colour scheme for my version of Le Petit Chaperon
While I may not have the luxury of painting Le Petit Chaperon with an air brush, I am nonethelss relishing the challenge of painting smooth layers for such a huge model by using just nylon brushes with perhaps a little help from a Kolinsky sable brush for fine detail work. In hindsight, the 6/0 brush I have may be too small and its use is likely limited to just her eyes. As the Nocturna Model figure is the most ambitious work I have attempted to date, I could yet be tempted to invest in a larger-sized Kolinsky sable brush for (less fine) detail work such as possible freehand designs on her stockings.

Base and basket (2 B's) of Le Petit Chaperon
Le Petit's base turned out to be a prime candidate for drybrushing as it smartly sculpted with many edges that easily caught highlights from a brush loaded with paint straight from the pot. I wasn't too sure what the 'long wavy parts' of the base were, so I just assumed they were grass and drybrushed accordingly using green hues. Painted earlier, the puppy was added to show relative size. 

Base of the Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon
Overhead view of the base showcasing the ground and what I presumed to be sculpted grass

Additionally, I managed to complete a quick paint job on Le Petit's basket of goodies. So in essence, I have completed all of the 'outer parts' of the miniature except for the dog leash. However, the next step will likely be Le Petit herself starting with the challenge of painting her skin showing through sheer fabric. At this point in time I have no idea if I can pull it off but I plan to try regardless.

Le Petit Chaperon's picnic basket - I wonder what goodies are insid

Le Petit Chaperon is one miniature that I want to really take my time on so as to do the best job I can with my current skill level. With that goal in mind, I plan to work on a few miniatures concurrently in order to alleviate the tedium that can somtimes arise from looking at the same miniature for too long. It's the old cliche of too many miniatures too little time but definitely a good problem to have. 

http://shireworks.blogspot.com/p/nocturna.html

13 comments:

  1. No such thing as too many miniatures. Besides, conventional wisdom on the matter states that a mini painter cannot die until his last mini is painted...Thus, I may in actual fact, already be immortal o_O

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    1. One mustn't argue with conventional wisdom ... ^_^ ... in fact there is immortality in a sense. Imagine 1,000 years later archaeologists digging up a painted miniature and ooh'ing and ahh'ing over it, wondering who this painted girl in a red hooded cloak was. Was she an ancient queen, an ancient alien, who knows ... muah ha ha ha ha ha ha (pause for breath) ha ha ha ha.

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  2. Great start i love this wolf , very well done paint , i'm enjoy to see the progression .
    Cheers .

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  3. Beautiful model, love it!

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    1. You are right. Le Petit is one of my favourite Nocturna Models figurines. She is a wonderfully sculpted piece that should be a joy to paint. :)

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  4. good start!
    i can't wait to see what you'll do with this piece!
    you're right, i also use to work on more projects in the same time.
    bye

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    1. ^_^ ... there is just so many miniatures to paint. I just hope I am blessed with good health until my very old age so I can continue painting for as long as I can.

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  5. I love the puppy, but you know that so I have to admit I like the basket too even if I am waiting for the main piece :D

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    1. To be honest, I am a bit intimidated by the main figure. I hate to spoil the wonderful sculpture by doing a bad job painting it so I am running various approaches in my head to see how I can successful tackle this project ... especially the sheer facric on Le Petit. The problem with painting sheer fabric is that it is already difficult when you want to do it with colours such as green or blue. But I am attempting to paint sheer white fabric which is worse than difficult, for me at least. :)

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    2. Here are a few articles to help you out:

      http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/content.php?7601-painting-sheer-clothing

      http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/1128-wet-t-shirts-and-other-sheer-clothing

      http://valloasvale.com/?p=100

      Cheers :)

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    3. Thanks Zab ... these are very helpful articles. ^_^

      I am trying to find an approach that does not make the chalkiness of white or light flesh colours too apparent. With white, I think I can safely rule out a glaze approach/method. It will be fun to try and to be able to one day pull off sheer white fabric would be awesome. :)

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    4. There is an artist on C'MON (who wrote one of the articles i think) named Milosh who does white sheer very well. If you look up his WIP thread he has many examples. Also several people highly recommend vallejo Ivory for a staple of painting white as it thins very well without ever getting chalky.

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