From AnneO'L-Hasslefree Moderns (25 points)

Rather than paint for points or for prizes in bonus rounds, I chose to use this years Challenge as an opportunity to push myself as a painter.  With that in mind, I set three specific goals for myself.  Expand the scope of genres I work in by painting historical miniatures (more is to come), paint teams and make a serious effort to improve my work on skin tones.

Today's figures represent my first attempt at trying new techniques to produce more realistic skin tones.  This first exercise involved using colours such as red, purple, pink, blue and lavender along with the Reaper Tanned Skin Triad to produce different effects. I will briefly discuss what colours I used on each figure and why I chose those colours.  All paints used are from Reaper.

Figures are from Hasslefree Miniatures, are 28mm and are sculpted by Kev White.

I wanted a very warm skin tone for this figure.  In order to achieve that I mixed different colours with Tanned Skin Shadow and glazed down from the base colour, Tanned Skin.  For most of her face I used Crimson Red. However, to produce the darker tones where the hair obscures the face, I used Burgundy Wine, which has a strong purple tone.  For the deeper recess on her arms I used Burgandy Wine, then worked up to Crimson Red and finally up to a pink using Old Western Rose.  This allowed me to produce different gradients within the shadows.  This is most noticeable on the back of the miniature I think.

As there is little skin showing on this figure, the technique was simple and straightforward.  I wanted a warm tone that was consistent with the overall palette.  This was achieved by glazing down into the shadows using Tanned Skin Shadow mixed with Burgundy Wine.  The resultant purple tone would contrast well with the red of his beret without compromising the warmth I was looking for.

In keeping with the cooler palette of his clothing, I wanted to produce a cool skin tone with this figure.  In order to do that, I mixed Winter Blue with the Tanned Skin Shadow and glazed down from the base colour, Tanned Skin.  As the highlights on the top of his head were quite high, I decided to finish with a pale lavender glaze to tone them down a bit.

Oftentimes there is some confusion when talking about glazes and washes.  When I am referring to a glaze I am using paint that I have thinned down with water to the point of being translucent, with very little pigment noticeable on the brush.  When doing this, one must use many, many layers before the colour is noticeable. However, as the paint is translucent rather than opaque one gains the advantage of producing interesting gradients and a multitude of colours. This is a watercolour technique. Also unlike a wash, the paint is not applied to the entire surface, rather it is targeted solely to the areas where one wants to produce a colour shift.   

There are two more figures as part of this group of Moderns.  Both are being done in a deep ebony skin tone.  I have completed the work on the skin tones and am now working on their clothing.  As the technique for producing such a deep ebony is more complex, I will post those figures on another day.  

These figures are worth 15 points and put me over my 100 point target.  

First of all Anne, congrats on hitting your target.  I understand that you will hang time on the benchmark but may have some more figs to add over the back half of the challenge.

Now that my administrative duties are over with let me just say "WOW".  Once again you have produced a triumph!  Wonderful paint jobs and I appreciated the tutorial on flesh tones.  Since you've rendered me almost speechless I'll just let the figures tell the story.  But I have doled out some more of my limited supply of bonus points your way once again.