12 September 2017

Jon Snow - Painting: The Pedestal

The storm is finally beyond us! Save for some very light rain and the occasional waning gust, Atlanta has ably survived its first tropical storm in recorded meteorological history. Heartfelt thanks to those who reached out to express their concerns and well-wishes.

Now comes the "fun" part! The post-storm clean-up. Kudos to the metro Atlanta power and road crews who have outdone themselves in clearing the major hazards--namely downed trees and power lines. They have also restored about 40% of lost power in highly unenviable--dangerous!-- conditions.

My building was not one of those enjoying power, so I am back home dealing with the intermit- tent power outages and beginning to clean-up the scattered jetsam. And in the interims, I deci- ded to proceed with the chromatic "sketching" of the pedestal. As you might recall, the pedestal was of a thematic nature, representing "The Wall". Nearly all renditions--the boxart a notable ex- ception!--are primarily dark grey/black. . . the wall is mostly ice! So I am beginning to counter- shade, if you will, the bust in acrylics, with the support significantly lighter than the bust it is supporting.

FOLLOW-UP. . . With the acrylic base/undercoat done, I decided to take the watershed step of all projects: permanently mounting the subject on its display base. Much remains to be done--on the bust itself, as well as the pedestal; but the remainder of the work will benefit from the 'display perspective'.  

More to follow!

UPDATE 13.09.2017. . . The pedestal received its targeted application of oils today--Titanium White, Mars Black, UM Blue and Raw Umber. Actually, I could leave it as is, and deem the pe- destal done! But it is only about half-way home. . . Hopefully the oils will be dry by this week- end, so that I can proceed with the final step: Tamiya's Diorama Texture Paint Snow and Pow- dered Snow Effect with Reality-in-Scale's Snow-in-a-Pot!

UPDATE 14.09.2017. . . I apparently very lightly drybrushed the distal edges of the pedestal--the perimeter in contact with the display base--'cause it was bone dry to the touch by the time I got home! Thus, I got a jumpstart on the weekend and the base layer of accumulated snow is now drying! I used Tamiya's Diorama Texture Paint Snow (Snow, not Powdered Snow), which, as you might surmise, is coarser than the Powdered Snow. As I am a "newbie" using this product, I have no idea what it is going to look like once it is dry; but rest assured, regardless of the outcome, you will read about it here!

UPDATE 15.09.2017. . . The pedestal is now effectively done! And I've become a HUGE fan of the Tamiya DTPs--Diorama Texture Paints. It really couldn't be any easier (read: controllable), and the results are spectacular! Yesterday, I "anchored" the pedestal to the display base with a rela- tively coarse ring of Snow; today I completed "The Wall" with a mix of both Snow and Powdered Snow, reduced as required and/or to taste with MiG's Acrylic Thinner. I fully expect to revisit the pedestal for tweaks to enhance the flow and balance of the piece, but these will be nothing more than touch-ups to achieve a given result.  

When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

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