This will be a lengthy one so grab a snack or call for help if you feel like you are getting weak ;) I used the colors above to base coat the leather (shoes and belt), gold and hair on her respectively...
A few thin coats to help preserve the detail. I took the opportunity to pre-shade her hair too while I was laying in base colors. The color below was a great way to darken her hair and not muddy the nice red tone.
I only watered it down to about half it's normal consistency so it would settle in the recesses, but not tint the whole color.
I then carried on with the darkest color which was the leather. The colors below where layered on in a gradual series of fairly stark highlights.
It was straight line highlights nothing fancy with thinning or blending. The details were super small so a bit of color exaggeration doesn't hurt to define them and bring them out.
The following color was used to shade the leather. No thinning on this one either since the highlights were so stark.
I didn't load the brush with too much wash it was partially unloaded on a damp paper towel to give me more control. So the brush should be damp with wash, but not dripping.
Gold was up next. I bet you thought the brown was the base coat? Nope. Just a good way to give your gold a solid color to hold onto and add some depth. The color below was the base coat.
This was followed by a series of highlights using these colors.
Then it was time for the first set of shades. The colors below were a good way to add some depth and contrast to the gold. They were only applied in the deepest recesses and were thinned at very high ratio - just colored water again really.
A sepia wash over the whole gold area was used to tie the previous colors into the gold and knock back the silver highlights.
One last highlight was applied to bring back the mid tones.
Finally a VERY thinned down wash of brown just to the deepest recesses again to a add some more um, depth.
The Gem. Mustn't forget the gem...Base coat.
Shade top of gem with thinned mix of these colors. 1:1:2 water.
Highlight bottom of gem with this color.
Small spot reflection at top of gem with white.
Seriously, grab a drink or take a break 'cause we aren't even done the hair yet and I still have to cover the box and base after that o_0
Hair. Hit it again with the base color.
Then there was a bunch of highlights with these colors.
Thin them a bit and try to make it look natural, but not even (maybe watch TLC while working on it 'cause they have a lot of hair product commercials you can use for reference). Again, more of a damp brush and use the side of the bristles rather than the tips.
She's kind of a strawberry blonde right now. Let's make her more of a dirty blonde or mousey brunette with a few thin glazes of brown. As always, let each one dry completely between coats so that you can judge when to stop.
Okay, let's get into her box :P Base coat the whole thing black.
Now comes a tedious process of highlight, shade, highlight, shade, highlight, shade -_-
Highlight.
Shade.
Highlight.
Shade.
Highlight.
Okay, now highlight the black parts of the box with these colors. They help keep the black nice and cool and tie into the dress.
Time for the final shade of the box - both metal and black areas get a final, very thin shade to tie them together and make the black look black again.
At last! The base. Holy crap! Are you still with me?! Way to go champ. Base coat the rock she is standing on in a few thin layers.
Shade said rock with black. No need to thin.
Highlight all over with the following color.
Wash again with brown thinned a bit with water. 1:1 Ratio is good.
Now highlight with these colors. Working to the highest points the lighter you get.
It was a mad blur of wet brushing and dry brushing. As with the hair try not to be too even as it will look more natural the sloppier you are.
One last set of washes. These were all very thinned and applied over each other in a very sloppy, wet blending type fashion to get a natural tone and some interesting color variations (i.e. Play & have fun).
Okay, I'm done. So check out the blog roll because there are a bunch of cool new blogs I found. Next post: Eyes, makeup, nails, display base and... blood?! Questions, comments and critiques are as always welcome. Thanks for pushing through this one and remember; you can't spell painting without a little pain.
~whew~
