golden goji entry - beholder

[rotund girder]

making this to track my progress hehe

Feb 3 10pm - finished up this dry brush just to see what shading might look like

[rotund girder]

Got a layer of purple on there too, just to start to visualize things.

[rotund girder]

Feb 4 6pm: played with some dry brushing and inks to make things a bit warmer

[haughty copper]

I can’t wait to see where you take this

[rotund girder]

Thank you!! I’m nervous haha- feels like I’m going too fast? But I’m trying to prioritize having fun with it

[kind swan]

Loving the purple so far!

[rotund girder]

Extremely marginal progress today

Can't tell if im getting in my head over this being a competition piece or if i just dont love the sculpt. struggling to push contrast... i feel like the shapes of the scales don't lend themselves to edge highlighting? at this point trying to just push past the insecurity... this is for a few extra points on submission, nothing more lol

[kind swan]

I totally feel ya, thinking about the competition aspect can really make you question everything. Purple is tricky when it comes to contrast, Vince V has a great video on it (about halfway he starts talking contrast/richness) https://youtu.be/NHebQvyMgWc?si=Gh3VJACNNYbiuhWV

Also I find it helpful to remember that every model has a stage you won’t like, as a painter - we have plenty of time in the comp so you could always pivot to something else for a while and come back to the beholder after a break? You might see it with fresh eye(s)

[rotund girder]

definitely think this might be the way. set it aside out of my eyeline (its been on my desk a while lol) and just come back to it like this weekend. ty for the video!

also progress pic for today

[kind swan]

Nice one! Looking more powerful already 🙂
Purple has always been my nemesis and those tips on glazing and highlighting with peachy skin tone really helped 🫡

[tender verge]

Hey @rotund girder this is gonna be super sick. Are you taking thoughts/ideas in here before I say anything.

[rotund girder]

please speak ur thoughts!! would love it

[tender verge]

Alright I really think you’re on the ball with colors but if you have some matte varnish maybe try apply that to the gums, they are a bit too glossy from your washes and it’s a wee bit distracting. If you don’t have a matte varnish, just a watered down purple will do the trick too

[rotund girder]

oh absolutely- i have some matte varnish and im gonna hit it with some highlighting that'll help even it out. but thank you!

[tender verge]

Alright sweet. I’ve almost stopped using washes for that reason. All mine dry super glossy even if I shake them for an eternity. Super annoying

[rotund girder]

i like it in some spots and dislike it in others for sure. the overall varnish i use is a satin texture which should help even everything out, too

[tender verge]

Nice. Gonna be dope. I will say I do not envy you having to deal with highlighting all those scales tho

Project for a very rainy day 🤣

[rotund girder]

they're like weirdly shaped so edge highlighting feels wrong?? idk

lots of drybrushing right now lol

[reef cape]

You could paint each scale individually. (I totally would be too lazy for that :D)

[rotund girder]

this is what my brain says is the most logical result- it's what i would do if i were painting a dragon, or something with flatter scales. but the scales on this model are like, weird? kinda a weird shape- almost like tiny pyramids?? but not even that angular?? so my brain doesn't know how to approach them

i'm settling on lots of drybrushing and packing in detail in the eyes to compensate

[reef cape]

This is such a cool model!