A day to myself and I sat down to the easel and finished the marine painting I had been working on. The piece, now entitled 'Overwatch' is a 24"x18" acrylic on canvas painting. The final photo above too me a few days to get thanks to the type of acrylic paints I was using, Open Acrylics, but I'm happy to say that it's finished and dry now and I am quite happy with the end results.
I used this piece as a reason to play with color, and saturated colors at that. The subject being a very basic Space Marine with not much in the way of detailing, it allowed me to explore texture and shape in a way that a super detailed armor wouldn't have. The background was kept basic and brought together mostly by impressionist styled paint markings.
Placement of the figure helps to bring him forward amongst all of the warm tones in the background. Not allowing him to be surrounded by the oranges, reds and yellows keeps from having him lost somewhere in the mid-ground and instead forces him to the foreground and into the viewers space. His sharp finish helps bring him to your attention as well amongst all of the loose brush strokes of the background.
I'm quite happy with the finish on the armor, the mottled texture helps to give the look of a field hardened fighter instead of parade ground highly polished plate. Using my fingers to help create the effect brought me more into the piece and allowed me to not be as careful and loosened me up to allow the effect to take hold.
The painting is far from perfect, but as an exercise in color and texture, which it was always meant to be, it has succeeded and allowed me to step away from the serious subject matter I've been delving into of late in my other works.
