WIP part 1 – Little Werewolf – Reaper 02870

This little werewolf is from Reaper Miniatures Familiar Pack VI (02870). I’ll be posting additional self-critique as the work progresses (hence WIP). All paints are Reaper Master Series Paint except where noted. Underpainting colors: Walnut Brown (#09136) , Lonestar Leather (#09284), Bleached Linen (#09436). Pumpkin: Pumpkin Orange (#09670) thinned to glaze with Vallejo Glaze Medium (#70.596) and water. Stem: Intense Brown (#09138) thined to glaze.

I’m simultaneously working on 77040: Satheras, Male Warlock for The Official Quarterly Reaper Group Bones Painting Contest #2  For Satheras, I decided to try my hand at a new (for me at least) technique of underpainting and glazing. After making significant progress, it dawned on me that I hadn’t actually tested the technique prior to using it on a contest piece. While this contest isn’t something I’m truly concerned about (its a fun contest primarily for motivation) I’d still like to finish and show well. Anyway, I can’t show Satheras until after the contest. 

Little werewolf is my test dummy… poor guy. He’s small, was already primed and the pumpkin was a good test shape.

What is underpainting? This is not a new technique! It was used by the old masters to develop the contrasts and tone of the painting before adding color. I’m no expert, a Google search will provide a plethora of information on this. I found this article to be informative: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/blog/underpainting-why-you-need-to-do-it/

My interest in attempting this technique stemmed from my trip to ReaperCon in October with my introduction to Portraiture from Jess Rich and “Sketch Style” from a brief discussion with Matt DiPietro (http://www.contrastminiatures.com/)  I have also had several discussions on this topic with my mother, who primarily works in large-scale oils, I’m not ready to try out her formulas, but eventually I will. Creative-overload, check!

These first two images show the underpainting on the pumpkin. Next time I’ll use a blue background, white makes it hard to see. The light source is intended to be in front and above as if from the moon he is howling at. The last two images are after a glaze or two of Pumpkin Orange and a glaze of brown on the stem.

I need to have lighter underpainting and more layers of colored glazes. I also don’t like the way the stem turned out.

For my next session, I’ll research pumpkin stems and try out underpainting on the wolf.