Back to the Painting Table

The Philly trip was quite fun - I ate my body weight in soft pretzels, took everyone around to see various sites and museums, places I lived, my favorite place to do laundry, and even caught the Circle Jerks / 7 Seconds / Negative Approach show with some friends.

 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution. Which, as it turns out, might be a British soldier or even not a soldier at all. Washington Square Park.

 

I never noticed this before on the ground up at Logan Square, which is, to be accurate, a circle, and hence is also called Logan Circle. I probably didn't notice before because WWI was not a focus when I lived in Philly.

 

Me and the little monkey who isn't so little anymore. My phone's selfie camera had some gunk on it that gave this pic the glamour shot look. My shirt, for the curious, it's the "Noise Not Music" symbol - while I do play typical music styles (I'm in a crust band, for example), I really enjoy playing with noise.

 

Upon return, I picked up the brush and started painting again. I've got multiple projects on the paint table now - including an Austro-Hungarian MG team (Well, Germans and a paint conversion), French Foreign Legion, SCS Direct lizard warriors, and Tanitian Light Infantry. 

The latter I painted up in the same way as the heavy infantry, but they just don't have the same impact. I did three in that fashion, but their smaller shields, general lack of kit, and bare legs don't grab the eye. 

So, I grabbed a fourth figure I had started at the same time (I work in threes, but painting a fourth figure solid orange is hardly difficult - it's the multiple coats followed by the black lining and correcting black line errors that takes forever) and decided to do it as Greek black-figure pottery (which is the opposite of the red-figure pottery style I was using as a basis) by painting over the orange and leaving gaps between materials/surfaces:

If you are questioning my beverage choice, it's a Ghost energy drink, Bubbilicious Strawberry Splash.

To my eyes it is much more interesting this way. 

Now, this sample was done in a rush and over the gloss coat I put down before I black line (the pens are easier to use over gloss - he says for the 100th time) so the black paint definitely needs a second coat but you get the idea.

I can speed things up for this method by priming in white, then painting orange ONLY over bits that will have the orange outline - the head gear, weapons, belt and straps (of which there isn't much) and the tunics at the sleeve ends and above the thigh. Everything else I'll leave white. Without the gloss coat, I can cover up everything, white or orange, with black much more easily.

Or so that's my theory at least.