From Intimacy Male to Crystal Skin

The plan is to try the same muscle structure as in the previous attempt, but in tones of purple and blue rather than red and white.  I’m not certain how it’s turning out; I only know that I’m a lot happier with how it’s looking.  Having seen a version of the translucent blue skin over muscles (albeit only a layer glaze), I think this is going to mesh a lot better, visually.

Some portions will need to be blended more smoothly – I’ve never tried blending purple to pink to light blue to white.  It’s a bit of spectrum for such small panels.

The above muscles were basecoated with Reaper’s Royal Purple, to which stripes of Reaper’s Old West Rose were added while the basecoat was still wet.  On top of that I added smaller streaks of a 40/60 mix of Reaper’s Polished Bone/Reaper’s Denim Blue.  Finally, very small touches of Windsor & Newton’s Titanium White.

I also used the 40/60 mix of Polished Bone and Denim Blue for the tendon sections on the back and front of the knees.  Still a little weird – the blue muscle tendons might not translate well, but I’m going to let it stand for now.

For anyone interested, this is the main reference photo I’m using:

https://www.123rf.com/photo_17714630_male-anatomy-and-muscles.html

I’ve done a little adjusting of the blends on the legs, and worked on the abs.  The darker line work around each muscle structure is done using a mix of Reaper’s Regal Purple and Reaper’s Violet Shadow.

Not much happening on the back, apart from some of the light blue mix to indicate the tendons and ligaments of the back.  I learnt from the previous attempt that most work there will be overshadowed by the crystal-work.

I started on the hands and worked my way up the hands, using the same light blue and white mix as in the previous steps.  You can also see where I started work on the face.  Ignore how weird it looks – it gets weirder.

Again, I used the same reference photo for musculature.  My process is to pick one spot (such as the nose) and work my way outwards.  I may go back and smooth the face out some more in future.

The crystals were started using a 40/60 mix of Citadel’s Kantor Blue (my favourite blue) and Reaper’s Royal Purple.  I then added Citadel’s Altdorf Guard Blue, then Citadel’s Lothern Blue and Windsor & Newton’s Titanium White.

It was at this point I stopped and looked for reference pictures, as the crystals weren’t quite reading as ‘gems’.  In the end I settled on pictures of ‘uncut sapphire gems’, which gave me these photos:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/454300681149709006/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/95701560815794896/

What I noticed is the gems went all the way down to black, though a rich blue.  You can see where I started adding the rich blue in the 4th picture in each gallery above, but below I started adding actual black, then white highlights.

After seeing the photos, the white highlights definitely need some toning down, as I’m hoping the gloss layer will do some of that work for me.

Also, I’ve just realised what this colour combination is reminding me of.  Pop Tarts, anyone?

http://poptarts.wikia.com/wiki/Frosted_Wild!_Berry

(Did anyone else know Pop Tarts had their own wiki?)

The gloss both went as expected and did not go as expected.  Rather than waiting patiently until I could buy some gloss varnish, I used PVA glue.  This will be bad in a couple years, when it might start to yellow, but I decided to leave it up to luck.

The PVA dried clear, as expected.  However, when I tried to glaze a blue over the top, it reactivated the PVA and went mushy and white again.  I’m at a quandary because varnishing it will remove the shine but allow me to glaze blue.

I’ve decided to move on to his clothing, hair, and accoutrements, varnish using my normal can of matte, then attempt the layer of blue glaze.  After that, I can re-apply a layer of PVA.

An abrupt end to the project, but this guy has been waiting a while: at least one re-paint and two long abandonments on the desk.

In the end I think this mini has too many elements to ever be fully cohesive – the Phoenix shield and Acid Palms definitely pull the eye away from the already-strange skin.  However, I would call the kitbash and the attempt to paint translucent skin a success.