This week I painted Lysette, Female Elf, from the Klocke Classics Set. I didn't really have a plan going into this figure...and kind of just started applying paint knowing I had to get it completed in time to post today. This caused a couple errors that I had to deal with along the way. This figure's completion puts me halfway though the Klocke set.
I prepped the figure in the usual way; soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish- soap added, then giving it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying. The staff was actually sculpted to the bottom of the dress, which caused it to bow badly. So I had to trim it off the dress, and used steam from a kettle to help straighten it. I then glued the figure to a 1" black-primed fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and glued the washer to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's White Glue.
I forgot to take an unpainted starting shot, so we'll get straight to the step-by-step. As, I mentioned I didn't really have a plan, but I had recently bought a bottle of Folk Art "Thicket" in the discount rack at the local Craft store, so I was eager to use it. So, I began by painting the dress with it. I then painted the cuffs, bodice front, shoulder pads, and skirt straps with Apple Barrel "Rock Grey". I then started to paint the skin with GW "Elf Flesh", and did everything but the leg when I realized I probably wanted to do a black wash on the dress and gray parts, but not get any on the flesh, so I stopped painting the flesh at that point until I could do the wash.
I did the black wash with GW "Badab Black" wash using a wet brush. After the figure had time to dry, I did highlights on the dress with first the base "Thicket", and then I mixed about 50/50 "Thicket" and Folk Art "Hauser Green Medium" to make a lighter shade. I did highlights on the gray parts with the base "Rock Grey". I went back and painted the leg with the "Elf Flesh" and cleaned up any areas where the black wash had got on the skin. I then painted her scabbard belt, pouches, and shoe with Americana "Zinc".
Next, I gave all the skin parts a wash with Winsor-Newton "Peat Brown" ink using a wet brush. Then, when the ink wash was dry, I painted her hair Black. I then painted the wood parts of her staff with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and the wrappings in the middle with Folk Art "Barn Wood". I also used the "Barn Wood" to paint the scroll rolled up and strapped to her rear pouch. I painted the scabbard with Apple Barrel "Apple Blue Spruce".
I then drybrushed her hair with Apple Barrel "Apple Scotch Blue". I painted her eyes, with Black sockets, White whites and Black pupils. I also added fine Black lines for eyebrows, then went back and added in eyeshadow with some Americana "Leaf Green". I then took the "Elf Flesh" and did highlights on all her skin. I then added a little White to the "Elf Flesh" and did some finer highlights. I realized at this point that I had painted the top of staff wrong (I hadn't realized the very top was wood, I had thought it was metal), and went back and painted the top portion with the "Mississippi Mud". I then painted the crystal in the staff with the "Leaf Green". The blade of the sword I did with Folk Art "Metallic Emerald Green". All the buckles, buttons, hair jewelry, sword hilt and the scabbard and staff fittings I painted with Ceramcoat "Metallic Copper".
I gave the staff, scabbard, and the sword hilt a wash with some GW "Agrax Earthshade" using a wet brush. I also took a little bit of this and did a light wash on the runes running down the sword blade. I highlighted the scabbard belt, pouches, and shoe with the "Rock Grey". When the washes I did earlier were dry, I highlighted the staff wraps with the base "Barn Wood", then mixed a little of the "Barn Wood" into the "Mississippi Mud", and did highlights on the wood parts of the staff. I painted shadows on the crystal with Americana "Forest Green" and Accent "Forest Green", and then did highlights with some White and some of the "Leaf Green" with a little White mixed in. I then drybrushed the sword blade with Folk Art "Silver Sterling", and added highlights to the copper parts with the base "Metallic Copper". Lastly, I painted the base of the figure with Ceramcoat "Walnut".
I let the figure sit all day, and that evening I gave it a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish". The next morning I flocked the base, and late that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's "Dullcote" spray varnish. After the Dullcote had overnight to dry, I went back and painted the crystal part with Americana "DuraClear Gloss Varnish".
For an off the cuff paint scheme, I think it turned out pretty good. She turned out a little darker looking in tone than I usually like for Elves, but I suppose she could be an Elf gone bad...or maybe wearing a more autumnal or winter outfit.
Figure 154 of 265: Complete
Beautiful, she is. It's fun coming here and viewing your skills. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm glad you are enjoying the blog.
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