Bela Lugosi Bust (Grayscale finish)

[Glen10k]

1:4 scale bust of Bela Lugosi as he appeared in the 1932 film 'White Zombie'. Born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó on October 20th 1882 in Hungary, Lugosi was a stage actor before moving into silent movies in 1917. Moving to Germany in 1919 and then onto America where he starred on stage as Dracula in 1927 before moving to Hollywood in 1928. In 1931 he starred as Dracula on the silver screen. Lugosi's performance as Dracula and his thick Hungarian accent led to him being typecast although he starred in a number of horror films over the next decade frequently performing along with Boris Karloff. Due to medical issues Lugosi became addicted to Morphene and Methadone in the early 40's and struggled for work. He died in 1956 aged 73 and was buried in his Dracula costume, Cape and ring. He was married 5 times and had 1 son.

Lugosi is finished in grayscale style, done in a mix of acrylics and oils

 

[Pappy]

G'day Glen,

 

Lovely work and what a great idea to paint in greyscale in keeping with the movie theme.I am curious to know what colour(s) you used for the greyscale flesh tones. It is a very washed out colour but still slightly warmer shade than white?

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

[Yg Models]

nice monochrome style 

[Glen10k]

1 hour ago, Pappy said:

G'day Glen,

 

Lovely work and what a great idea to paint in greyscale in keeping with the movie theme.I am curious to know what colour(s) you used for the greyscale flesh tones. It is a very washed out colour but still slightly warmer shade than white?

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

Thanks for the comment Pappy. The overall finish of this figure does appear a bit more washed out than it really is due to the camera phone. Getting the skin colour is the challenge and contrasting it with the hair shirt and jacket.

The figure was initially primed in grey, shadows airbrushed with scale75 Graphene Grey, highlights airbrushed in Scale75 Thar Brown then Mojave white for top highlights. I then play about with oil filters, davys grey, paynes grey and charcoal grey to get the overall tone I want. Scale 75 mojave white + white misted over head to tie everything together. Thinned titanium white oils then used on highlights with paynes grey and davys grey used on shadows.

It's very much a constant back and forward with the oils to get the tone and shade I'm happy with.

It's my first attempt at this style and is alot more challenging than it appears. I've seen a number of models done in this style and it's a great idea for busts and figures from this era of films.

Here's a screenshot from the film I used for reference

Edited November 19, 2022 by Glen10k
Image added

[PLC1966]

That is lovely.

[Pappy]

Glen, I think you have really nailed it, the balance of the various shades is just right.

 

The sculpture is a great likeness and the only area that lets it down (slightly)  is that the eyes look slightly more startled than smouldering (not anything to do with your skills), but criticism that is only in a direct comparison with he reference picture,

 

Luv it!

 

Pappy

[Glen10k]

12 hours ago, Pappy said:

Glen, I think you have really nailed it, the balance of the various shades is just right.

 

The sculpture is a great likeness and the only area that lets it down (slightly)  is that the eyes look slightly more startled than smouldering (not anything to do with your skills), but criticism that is only in a direct comparison with he reference picture,

 

Luv it!

 

Pappy

Thanks again for the comments, much appreciated. Always good to go out of my comfort zone and try something different.

[Bertie McBoatface]

The likeness is very close. And doing it in greys was a tough challenge to take on. I think you handled it well.

 

Perhaps the 'startled' effect around the eyes is due to the pupils being slightly smaller compared to the visible white of the eye?