Painting Pete

Satisfied with modelling job from the previous evening, I gave Pete a quick coat of paint. Using inexpensive craft paint purchased at the dollar store, I first primed Pete with a coat of white, and then applied successive coats of various colours until I had blocked in his basic features. I emphasized some of the highlights in his clothes by lightening the original shades and dabbing them atop the original colours until I was satisfied with the coverage – my goal was to use paint to distract from some of the modeling defects.

Finally, I watered down some burnt umber paint, and washed it onto the figure – paying particularly close attention to the facial features – and dabbing the excess with a paper towel, until Pete’s features were clearly visible.

I’m happy with the way the figure turned out. While I can only see his flaws, I do know that from a comfortable distance he looks good, and is somewhat more believable because of his muted colour scheme, and dull sheen.

If time permits, I’ll attempt to add some additional figures to the railroad, perhaps even a scarecrow. Until that time, I have dozens of pumpkins to model…