Uncle John - part 1

Here’s my latest project, Uncle John by Infamy Miniatures. I’ve wanted to paint this bust since James at Infamy first unveiled him but I’ve held off until Squarg was finished. Now I’ve got him started he has been a joy to paint. I’ve been in a veritable painting frenzy and everything you see here was done in two days. 
This is my first attempt at a 1/10 human portrait bust and I was a little unsure about how I would take to it. My concerns were unfounded, as I’ve loved every moment of this project so far. The subject and scale are offering me a whole new range of challenges and opportunities. 
As the larger scale gives me more to work with I decided to paint Uncle john as though he is lit from the side. I’ve never really tackled strong directional lighting before and it just felt right to try it out on this bust. If successful I think it will bring some extra drama and interest. 
The flesh areas are painted in much the same way as Squarg’s frog. Starting from a light neutral base the flesh tone is built up by layering glazes of many different colours. Unlike the frog I went straight in and painted the deep shadows first. This created a layer of under painting that formed a dramatic foundation over which I could layer colour to create some nuance. 
The hat took me a surprising amount of time to build up a good depth of texture and colour but I think it was worth the effort. I want all the clothing to be thoroughly decrepit so there will be lots of opportunity to experiment with different texture effects.