Today I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with unconventional skin tones. I'm working with Moxy, Space Adventuress from the Reaper Chronoscope line. At first, I considered painting her to like Turanga Leela from Futurama, but I wanted to try a completely different, non-human skin color. I've painted purple and orange skin before, so now I'm experimenting with blue. I want to keep the hues bright and vibrant. At first, I tried mixing some of the blues with white for highlights, but the effect was too chalky. Here are the colors I'm using from the Reaper Master Series line:
- Blue Liner
- Deep Ocean
- Marine Teal
- Surf Aqua
Since she's an alien, I wanted to do something a bit different for her eyes. Many eye sculpts are too small for much iris detail, but this sculpt allows for more added interest. It reminded me on an image I saw by Patipat Asavasena, an artist based in Thailand that uses a kaleidoscope of colors in his art. This work-in-progress photo (left) inspired me to paint a bright orange & yellow eye on Moxy. While her pupil is a bit darker, but it adds to the non-human effect. Later, I'll be going in to add some "makeup" effects in a light green.
After that, it was time to block out different shapes and decide what colors her clothing should be. I wanted her vest to be two-tone and the vest portion and her glove to be black leather while the other part of her jacket is a ruddy brown. Her boots will be the same color as her jacket, but I still haven't decided what color her hair will be. I'm keeping her clothing fairly neutral, since her skin is such a vivid color. I chose a light beige for her pants and painted her jewelry and headband gold. The biggest challenge for me will be her gun. I've blocked out her blaster gun in a dark red color (a la "Gears of War"), though that may change as I edge it in lighter colors. Plenty more to paint on this mini, but I think I'll stop here for now. Until next time!