Trugg the Trugg-Trugg WIP

[tulip agate]

Started working on Trugg as a side project from my competition Dwarf bust. Loving painting him so far, though assembling was a bit of a pain, lots of little gaps...

[inland glen]

Oooooo fun. Just picked him up yesterday and looking forward to putting him together

[tulip agate]

He has been a blast so far. Was going to paint him up quickly but slowed down after a bit as I'm enjoying the sculpt

[tulip agate]

Some more progress on Trugg. Thoughts on how I can make him more interesting or just how to amped this up? Any ideas on the base? I’ve been at a loss there (maybe jungle?)

[dull ledge]

He looks awesome. If you wa t to amp him up consider adding some textures or scars on his skin. For the base I’m leaning towards yellow

[tulip agate]

Cool I’ll keep that in mind. So like…a desert base or something?

[dull ledge]

I think you can uncouple the color from the environment. You can find a yellowish jungle if you want

I just like yellow because it contrasts the blue skin and matches the yellow accents in the tattoos and eyes

I can try a lil photoshop later to see if it looks cool

[tulip agate]

That’d be awesome if you’re able to, don’t want you wasting your time on me though haha

[dull ledge]

lol i suck at photoshop. I took the color of the tattoos and did some value variations, then added a little bit of red

I would love to hear the opinion of one of the other color gurus @spare rock @junior swan

Maybe grey? Then yellow would stay focal on the eyes and tats

[junior swan]

hmmm... I'm a little distracted by all the visual noise in the background but I kinda like the base color as it is - I just might pull it a bit more toward a darker gray but keeping the blueish undertones. But I think either the yellow or grey mockups could definitely work as well. I think in general I would try to keep the base a darker value and probably a more desaturated hue so the light blue skin pops off of it.

One idea that comes to mind is to echo the weapon color causing the face to land right in the middle. I just did a color overlay which turned out kinda flat but I think some subtle tonal variations with greens and greys could work.

Either way I really like the little bits of yellow on the base by his left hand. kinda looks like lichen or something

[dull ledge]

Oo yeah that looks quite nice.

[bright lion]

I love the way you build up your colours!

[tulip agate]

The grey looks decent, I was thinking of maybe a snow/ice base, would be similar. Though also feels weird because he’s kinda mossy? Idk

[tulip agate]

Do you think white/snow could work in the same way? Lack of saturation to make the other colours pop.

Otherwise I could maybe do a swamp base like you have it looking there. Do some dark green water effects in there or something

[tulip agate]

Thank you, really appreciate it 🙂 This guy has been a joy to paint so far

Bit of a better picture. I’m working on brightening up the weapon, a brighter orange/yellow with maybe some glowing spots, not sure on that colour yet

[junior swan]

I think that could work but his light blue skin is already a quite high value (more light than dark) so if it’s value contrast you’re after, then a darker color would provide more value contrast. Personally my brain can’t help get a more swampy and/or tropical impression from this character because of the mossy antlers (giving me swampy Florida Spanish moss vibes), the seashell weapon (giving me a tropical vibe), and the blue and yellow tones (also a kinda tropical vibe). HOWEVER I’m just a product of my own experiences and I’m literally just one dude. I know you’re reaching out for advice, but I strongly believe that you should do what your heart and gut tell you to do. And it’s fantasy after all, so he could be anywhere you want him to be and it will be correct.

[tulip agate]

Got the weapon finished up…need to complete his back, some touchups and then the base…

Also all the little dangly bits…damnit lol. This guy has a lot of little details

Also debating fixing the gaps I missed…there were so many gaps during assembly, was kind of annoying to build…filled them but still missed some

[tulip agate]

Getting there…few details left to work on, maybe some airbrush work, base, etc…

[dull ledge]

nice color on the base. that complements things super well. I also love the stones on his back

[tulip agate]

Thanks! Trying to figure how to amp up the altar thing on this back. Thinking I'll maybe add some glow and maybe some dirty down moss or something...

[junior swan]

honestly I really like how the alter thing is a bit subdued. I feel like it gives it a lot of depth and allow the overall shape of the antlers to be seen

[tulip agate]

I just feel like it looks a little plain and unfinished compared to the rest of the model at this point. Could maybe do some wear/tear or something...not sure. I wish the model didn't even have the altar, it looks kind of tacky IMO. I originally wanted to build it without the altar but it's basically impossible due to how it's made, without some extremely heavy sculpting work. The model itself was a real pain to assemble in general, so many gaps despite being fairly careful, lots of large weird connection points

[junior swan]

ah true, some wear and tear would definitely make sense. I absolutely loathe gaps and mold lines in models. I don't really mind doing the labor of the cleanup work, but I get a bad attitude about it because I feel like i shouldn't have to do it ✊

[tulip agate]

Yeah I'm pretty much the same...but I thought I had them all on this guy, yet some gaps reared their heads once I got a few layers on his skin...gave up on worrying about it at that point as I had already filled a bunch of gaps...I'll paint a new one later if it bugs me enough, but someone else can assemble it lol >.<

[junior swan]

Lol! I’ve gap filled many models after already gap filling and priming 🫠

[tulip agate]

hahaha yeah I didn't notice it until after multiple layers of flesh (shadows/midtones/highlights/etc) - was a big "fuuuuuu" moment...I need to return to a competition piece soon which needs to be done in a few weeks, this is a palette cleanser for me, so didn't have the time to go back and fix it up >.< maybe I'll fill it later and touch up those areas...maybe...

[dull ledge]

that's a classic move - paint it halfway then tear something off, file something down, reprime 😄

[dull ledge]

if you can get a little swampy water effect on there (vallejo still water?) it would look amazing

[tulip agate]

That's what I was thinking, making the raised ground area kind of dark and mossy and then doing a pool of water in the recessed front area 🙂 I don't have any water effects on hand though...maybe it can be done using modge podge? Have a bunch of that laying around

Actually with some quick research...seems like modge podge won't work...guess I'll be swinging by the FLGS shortly

[tulip agate]

Have you used this stuff at all by chance?

[dull ledge]

I can't remember the one I have, it might be that one. It makes waves and stuff. This is the one I'm thinking of

[crimson anvil]

I saw your vid on YouTube, nicely done 👍 maybe some bigger paint brands comparison next time? ^^

[tulip agate]

Oh thanks for watching it! Do you mean review some other paint brands? Or compare Kimera to other brands?

[crimson anvil]

Personally I find comparison videos very helpful when looking for new products (paints in this case 🙂 )

[tulip agate]

Cool I could definitely do a paint comparison video 🙂 I will absolutely keep that in mind, have a few favourite brands and some not-so-favourites I could talk about for sure.

Appreciate you watching my vids - I'm small time but I love the hobby

[crimson anvil]

@tulip agate can you tell which white paint is your most favourite and why? I heard lots of different opinions

[tulip agate]

Absolutely would be Titanium White by ProAcryl, hands down. It’s so pigment dense but the consistency is perfectly smooth out of the bottle. Clean application and it covers really really well