Mista' J - Painting VII: The string tie

I wanted to get this tricky bit of work out of the way asap--especially after having permanently attached the head. The painting of the string tie was the main contraindication to prematurely attaching the head, but given the minor repositioning undertaken, it was an acceptable risk.

The color of the string tie is inextricably tied to the color of the shirt and vest. In short, there is no canon color, per se. I chose to paint the string tie a vibrant green with an obvious yellow bias. The latter muted the bright green somewhat, and will complement the purple coat nicely. 

NEXT: The coat.

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

Mista' J - Painting VI: Face 3

I decided to take a fairly straightforward, fundamental approach to the "whiteface": Titanium White and Lampblack. I added Payne's Grey, Zinc White, and Flake White to the palette; but these are for the final "tweaks", not for the foundation coat. 

The trick is to work thin, and know when to go wet and when to go dry. The base white is applied wet, little more than a glaze. The shading is applied thinned and dry; and then carefully blended with an absolutely dry brush. 

So far, I am delighted!!!

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

Mista' J - Painting V: Face 2

The face, as it turns out, will be a 4-step process. . . 

Step 2. I stained the eyes bloodshot, and "outlined" the face in black, methodically feathering the black into the white primer coat. This effectively acts as a foundational grisaille for what is to follow in Step 3.

I then permanently attached the head to the torso. This will allow me to control the lighting of the face during the painting of the "whiteface". . . 

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

Mista' J - Painting: Intermezzo 2

A brief interlude by way of progress. . . The coat-tails were dry to the touch right before calling it a day last night, and I permanently attached the torso to the legs to allow it to cure overnight.

This morning, upon confirming that everything was as it should, I proceeded with permanently at- taching the primed left arm. I have yet to decide when I will permanently attach the right arm; or how much of the right arm will be [pre-]painted prior to attachment. 

FOLLOW-UP. . . The left forearm has been uc'd.

FOLLOW-UP 2. . . The brocaded vest has been selectively glazed with a weak linseed oil solu- tion to provide more reflectivity and "pop".

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

Mista' J - Painting IV: Let's face it. . .

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

The time had finally come to begin working on the face. To be honest, I have yet to see a painted Joker--save for the boxart--where the face met expectations. The sculpture is masterful. And my casting at least is well within expectations. In fact, as noted earlier, with a modicum of effort and diligence during prep, one couldn't ask for a better canvas! This is not the figure to take a cavalier attitude about that much-revered keystone of figure modelling: "It's all about the face". . . 

So. . . how best to approach the face? As you know I have already uc'd the hair: this sets the up- per "frame" of the face chromatically. Next, I tackled the defining mouth. I did this in acrylics as an under- and base-coat that I will later tweak with very controlled applications of thinned oils to suitably distress the teeth.

So far, I couldn't ask for more! Things will definitely get serious in the next step as I begin apply- ing the oils. . . 

Stay tuned!

UPDATE 02.06.17. . . The eyes and eyebrows have been blocked-in, as have the lips. Re: the latter, this was more at defining the shape and depth rather than finishing. I will hopefully be able to begin the "whiteface" in earnest by the end of the weekend. 

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

Mista' J - Painting III: The Trousers

Or what I thought would be the next step. . .

Once again, I have been detoured from the filed plan. Not a bad thing. . . not at all. But the focal point of the project continues to have a good laugh, albeit disembodied, at my expense. . .

In any case, I was afforded a multi-hour block of time this afternoon, and I decided to tackle the trousers. These are a challenge at virtually every turn--and that's before we even begin to consider whether to pinstripe. . . or not!

All's well that ends well, and I am quite pleased! Especially with the pinstriping!! Given the tone of the hue--and the scale!--this is not an exercise in micro-striping! Rather it is a fluid, synthetic treatment that underscores the plasticity of the fabric.

Finally, I tackled the undersides of the coat-tails. Once the oils are dry, I will be able to perma- nently attach the torso to the legs. . .

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

Mista' J - Painting: Intermezzo

This is not so much an interlude as an epilogue to the first block of painting on Mista' J before moving on to the defining aspects of the figure. . . 

The shirt. While a distant third on the list of canon colours, I chose to paint the shirt a "custom"/ proprietary purple-biased black for any number of artistically-driven reasons.

The "string tie". UC'd using Polly-S Jungle Green. . . And while I had the Jungle Green out--and in anticipation of the next step, I uc'd the hair.

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

Mista' J - Painting IIA: The Vest--Brocade

Hard to believe that it has been over three weeks since I last slid behind the painting bench. Ad- mittedly, much has transpired; but still. . . 

To be honest, I did not expect to pick-up a brush until the "lusty month of May" (I'm a HUGE fan of Camelot. . . geez) was well behind me; but after last night's episode of Gotham and all the potential Easter eggs of the last few episodes, it was time to get back to Mista' J!

Warm-up session? I think not--do it or don't. So I dove right into the brocade, with the full palette of printers' inks--Pale Gold, Rich Gold, and Silver--and a selection of toning oils: Raw Umber; Naples Yellow; Chromatic and Mars Black; and Schmincke Mussini Casslerbraun.  

This was purely a visually driven, free-hand session, with the ultimate goal to create a discerni- ble, albeit "muted", pattern, and eliminate the dead space in a chromatically-pleasing manner on the left-half of the vest. I elected to do one half/session just in case the results required corrective measures. . .  Fortunately, I do not believe that will be necessary; though careful and controlled outlining, highlighting, and overall integration will be in order.

So far so good. I hope to finish the remaining half of the vest over the long weekend. Once that is done, I can pick-up where I left-off at the last posting and begin to work the face. . .

UPDATE 25.05.17. . . Phase 1 of the vest is now done; i.e., all the brocade has been applied. As I indicated above, careful and controlled outlining, highlighting, and overall integration will be in order. This will not be a stand-alone step, but will be addressed as perceived necessary in the course of painting the suit.

Having said that, the first integrative step has been completed on the left--dry--half of the vest: a thin glaze of Transparent Gold Ochre and Transparent Orange Oxide mixed to taste. This serves two purposes: 1) a muting agent; and 2) a tonal agent, shifting the hue from a bright yellow-gold to a Joker-esque orange-yellow.  

UPDATE 26.05.17. . . The vest is effectively DONE!!! Whatever might remain will be addressed as final tweaking during the finishing phase. Before moving on to the face, I will paint the shirt, and uc or re-prime the "string tie". . .

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

Mista' J - Painting II: The Vest

Things just got serious in a serious way. . . Why? Read on. . . 

The trousers and the vest will be the most challenging, if not daunting, items on the agenda. The trousers because of the pin-striping--which I admit I am still somewhat on the fence about, but leaning towards their inclusion. The vest because of the pattern-work which I feel is a must. 

Pattern-work screams brocade to me, and brocade screams "metallic" silks. So, my Mista' J's vest will be a gold brocade. . . a gold "HA HA" brocade to be precise. And this is where things get serious. . . 

The vest has been painted in a Pale Gold printers' ink-Grumbacher Raw Umber mix. Please note that this is not your usual Grumbacher Raw Umber; but an 11ml tube I have had in my tray for well over 20 years! Think a transparent, dark Yellow Ochre!! Shading was done with Van Dyke Brown and a transparent black, while highlights were punched-up with Silver printers' ink and Zinc White. . . 

And as a foundation, it looks fantastic! Now comes the tricky part--once the base is dry, of course: creating the pattern of HA HA's across the fabric. . . 

But first. . . 

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

Mista' J - Painting I: UCing

The iconic purple/violet evening suit is now curing in the oven. . .

The trousers were painted in Andrea Violet. The tailcoat was painted in Polly-S Eyestalk Violet, a lighter and cooler tint of the Andrea Violet. 

I primed the face in white, so in theory the undercoating is already done.

All that remains to be done--at this time--is the shirt and the vest. Hopefully these will be com- pleted before day's end. . .  DONE The vest is in gold (Polly-S Kirin Yellow/Gold and Bugbear Fur, mixed to taste); and the shirt is black. Fortunately, the canon is rather flexible. . .

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

Mista' J - Painting: Benchnotes

To belabour the obvious, at some point in every project, there is the matter of palette selection. Some select as they go along; others take a break at some point in the early stages--or late during prep--to pull their palette. 

I prefer to do it just before priming. But in this case, given the three distinct sub-asssemblies, I waited until all the primed pieces were before me. While my palette is comprised of the usual trimumvirate--Reaper, Vallejo, and Andrea, they were joined by three stalwart colours from the long-defunct Polly-S Fantasy range: Kirin Yellow/Gold, Bugbear Fur, and Eyestalk Violet. 

For those of you not familiar with Polly-S, they were the first mainstream hobby acrylics. Back in the day, some still undercoated with enamels, but the impermeability of acrylics and the satura- tion of pigment made them the medium of choice as the UC for oils. Polly-S was manufactured by the Floquil Polly-S Color Corp.

Floquil/Polly-S was acquired by Testor's, if memory serves, sometime around the turn of the century: that was the beginning of the end. In 2013, the re-formulated Floquil/Polly-S lines were dropped from Testor's product line, and an era had come to an unequivocal end. . . 

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

Mista' J - Painting 0: Priming

The Clown Prince of Crime is now primed!

By way of full disclosure, this piece will be painted in sub-assemblies. I have primed the head, torso and legs--each piece is on its own workbase; the arms and Miss Harley (the latter is comprised of 3 pieces) will be primed at a later date. Please note that given the prepwork undertaken, I do not foresee having to tweak or adjust any piece in the course of assembly: simply paint and attach!

Let the fun begin!!! 

FOLLOW-UP. . . The left arm is primed.

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