THE CLUBHOUSE

(I hope this is OK to post here; I'm not trying to tout Sideshow Collectables.)

I found some nice videos of in-house painters working on the heads ("portraits") of some characters and displaying some interesting techniques (new to me at least):

1) Painting Superman's head for an upcoming release:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWjuwZ0oM9g&t=313s

2) Painting Harley Quinn's head for a statue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wn3uBKeeZw&t=3s

In each of these, after the initial base flesh coat, the painters use washes (blue/red/yellow, depending on the videos) that are pretty bright (but thin of course). Most gets sponged off, but I wouldn't have thought of using a blue or yellow wash as they do. I'll have to test it out at some point, see if I think it adds anything - not my style, but probably a good idea to remember.

Other than that, the techniques are pretty standard, I suppose. Good shots, up close, of some intricate detail work. Interesting to see Kat Sapene using her rubber gloves to shed some paint from the brush before using.

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Besides these painting videos, I was fascinated to see a tailor creating clothes for the same Superman figure in #1. If you're into "mixed media" -), you might enjoy this:

Cut & Sew on the Superman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ewSwODOvw

Apparently, the sculptor included an Easter egg of sorts, labelling Clark Kent's shoes as being made by "Hanson" (the tailor in this video).

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I used the technique of the three washes for my Alter Ego bust and was really pleased with the results.
For a male figure, I find if you add the blue wash last it helps establish a beard line.



For the female figure, I noticed the artist started with blue - as I did on a Bram Stoker's Lucy kit - and then went to the other washes.
That way, the blue is part of the overall mix but without a heavy presence.

Derek,
My compliments on the bust you did; I saw the pics earlier and was very impressed. I like the subject matter, being able to clearly see Keaton's face. Good likeness.

Be aware sideshow is like what magicians do show one thing
and you get something else.. quality wise.. I seen numbers of prepaints
that do not look like what is pictured.
by sideshow. About 40 percent of people ethier send them back
because poor paint quality ... or strip them..
It's okay there giving painting lessons why not apply to your stuff.

I have got to say i really liked the videos. I was suprised to see the wash when i had seen the colors only misted with a brush and finger technique i saw that on a Rapheal R. video. Really liked how the Superman skin tones turned out.

scuzzfink85 wrote:Be aware sideshow is like what magicians do show one thing
and you get something else.. quality wise.. I seen numbers of prepaints
that do not look like what is pictured.
by sideshow. About 40 percent of people ethier send them back
because poor paint quality ... or strip them..
It's okay there giving painting lessons why not apply to your stuff.

See my earlier post about how pleased I was with the results I got.
We're not talking about Sideshow's products - just techniques shown by two of their artists to achieve desired results, and in my case it worked just as I hoped.
You have to keep trying new things in order to learn and grow as a craftsman and if you don't like the result just start over - it's only paint...

Fantastic vids thanks for posting.

Thank you for suggesting a most educational demonstration. The process looks easy but the results are beautiful.

They do always make it look so easy, don't they? No shots of mixing paints, cleaning up airbrushes or mistakes, etc. -)

Very cool! Looks like I need to pick up some new brushes. I wish I could work that fast and with as steady a hand as them.
Thanks for sharing.

You know, maybe I'll have to watch that demo again to see if there is any of the preparation is shown. Excellent point about the mixing of the paints.

Sideshow posted another painting video, painter is Casey Love, well-known in the GK world. He's painting Venom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrFbu3FyTc4

As always, there are some nice techniques shown. Interesting masking/cutting away the mask for the Venom costume - maybe this would be a good way to mask pinstripe pants for, say, Joker. The Citadel wash he uses around 4:05 looks handy, maybe better than making my own. -) At 5:31, he really loads on the blue pastel, only to knock it back via airbrush after - I'm guessing he must have sealed in between. 7:45 has nice example of removing masking and cleaning up. He has a very nice base with holes for holding pieces as he's working on other parts, lots of room for multiple parts.

I don't mean to be pushing Sideshow with these posts (although I like some of their stuff); it's nice of them to post these videos, and it's interesting to see what a pro painting shop looks like. It seems like the painting done here is for the master copies - one for local, and one for production in China (according to another video of theirs), where Production often has to replicate the look with different paints and tools. I often wonder what the production facilities must be like - what's done by automation, what's done by hand.

I enjoy watching these videos. I hope they do more from time to time.

I hear you I am liking them as well

Sideshow posted another video about a week ago:

Painting The Mandalorian Premium Format™ Figure | Behind the Scenes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMuvoQp9eQ&t=2s

Bernardo Esquivel does a lot of leather and figure work; Anthony Mestas does the metal armor (chrome Alclad, if I heard right). Interesting to watch, as always - Bernardo does a lot of weathering work; after a wash, he often spritzes the area with alcohol, then stipples it with a sponge to weather even more.

Bernardo seems to do some airbrushing while seated back in his chair, spraying towards his lap. Who needs a paint booth?! -)

Near the end (13:35) after punching up some highlights and shadows, he checks the figure through his phone camera, to see how it looks. Interesting way to get a different take on the painting and how it shows up.

After that, it's fun to watch him painting the Child portrait, as well.

I hope you enjoy it; happy holidays all!

Larry

There's a new painting video from Sideshow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioJ5ss8ak34

They've announced another Poison Ivy figure, and in the video, the artist does a nice job of showing the portrait and hair painting on a 1/4 scale figure. She has an interesting use of what she calls "toothpicks", I think - sharpened sticks, using the very small tip to apply paint, even correcting very small over-paints. All in all, an instructive video, and a cute product.

Their prototypes are so well done, but some compromises usually have to be made at the factory for production versions; it'd be interesting to see the painting procedures at some of these production facilities.

Well, Sideshow has put up another interesting/instructional video of an in-house painter (Kat Sapene) painting the prototype for a new 1/4 scale Wonder Woman statue. For the most part, she's showing the painting of the face/hair/shoulder area, and as usual, she shows (me, at least) some interesting techniques:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCP4Yjxnpmk

The eyebrows are not at all sculpted in, so she paints eyebrow strokes with a very fine brush, at least 2 (similar) colors, and mentions using an Xacto blade to thin them out afterwards. Some nice work on the eyes too; even at 1/4 scale, some of the brushwork is extremely small.