Jump to content

English Electric Lightning F-6


Recommended Posts

Spent a little time on the tail-fin this evening, most of which was taken up by the twin eagles. Honestly, the background shades and fin flash accounted for a few minutes each at the most and those bloody birds took the best part of an hour :blink:

Think they have breathed some life into that section of the painting but I'll get a better idea of how it looks in the morning.

The still wet paint looks black but they are in fact shades of dark blue and indigo.

Edited by Col.
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Col,

I must say that following your painting after just completing one my self, your style is, to my mind, very odd. You seem to start on one area and then whoosh, off to somewhere else where the colours and tones are totally different. I'm not knocking you for this as it seems to work very well for you. Totally different styles on similar projects, brilliant to watch.

Sav.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Sav, the main reason I'm working this way is to ensure enough contrast between areas such as the belly tank and tail fin. I also find it too easy to become fixated in one area or colour and overwork it, working on contrasting areas helps me avoid this. As you say, whatever works for each individual :angry:

Jorgen, I've always found watercolour gives me as wide a range of effects as I can find uses for. While many say it's not really suitable for this subject I think a little practice and imagination can prove them wrong. Using light washes for the base tones allows the white paper to shine through, after that it's easy to build any detail with stronger tones working from lightest to darkest. Done it for so long it's second nature now and I hardly have to think about it :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well guys, at long last I found the time to get some more done this morning before work. As you can see it's the upper fuselage and spine that got the majority of my attention.

Gonna try getting some more done this evening, I'll let you see if things go my way :woot.gif:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks lads, it's always good to hear from a couple of fellow artists. Looking forward to seeing more of both your work on the forum soon <_<

Well, things didn't go quite my way last night so instead I got up early this morning and did a little more.

Finished the wing leading edge at the root and blocked in the basic tones for the remaining underside (there's a lot more to go in that area due to reflections off the fuselage but I'll have to work on those in tandem) then got the main part of that huge length of a refueling probe in.

Next up will be the tip and spotlight. These shouldn't take too long then I can concentrate on the fuselage side under the wing.

Edited by Col.
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

At last! Finaly got some spare time and motivation so finished the probe and moved on to the canopy. The former was done a few days ago but the latter was the result of yesterday evening and this morning. Just finished my supper so lets see how much further I get this evening.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Here's the cockpit and canopy, gonna leave the windshield for another day.

The next issue will be what colour for the boarding ladder. Green or yellow are the most likely but either way there's going to be plenty of reflected light on the fuselage so I can't put it off too long. Any ideas guys?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Firstly; awesome painting, incredibly difficult to achieve this quality of detail with watercolour. Am I right in assuming that you are adding v little water and pretty much using the paint as is from the tube?

The toned down (green) building in the background and still polished metal aircraft will 'date' the composition to the early seventies. This gives you the green or yellow option, although I have photographs of green AND yellow steps in which the ladder is green but the supporting struts are yellow. Yellow will be a cow to get right. Remember also that the RAF went through a phase (sixties) of ground equipment including ladders being mid-blue. I also have evidence of green ladders having yellow tips (on the side framework)both top and bottom of the steps.

When I have a simlar predicament, I resort to computer art using a digi photo of the work and create multiple photos that can be reviewed. Invariable I 'sleep' on my decision before comitting the paint brush. Either way, I was well impressed with you Sea Harrier and look forward to the conclusion of your Lightning. Well done.

Chas McHugh

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Col.,

Magnificent painting sir :cheers:

This is fast becoming another very high quality piece of artwork. ;)

Based on Charles' comments, it would appear that you could choose whichever option suited you and still remain accurate. With this in mind, perhaps the best choice would be the colour to best give you the effect you want.

If I was in your predicament I'd consider the surrounding colours and choose the ladders' finish to either compliment or contrast with them. As you no doubt know, composition relies on a balance of colour as well as the placement of the main components..........if you opt for a green ladder this may blend with the buildings/grass/foliage and give a more muted feel. A yellow ladder, on the other hand, could give a higher contrast and more of a focal point in the centre of the painting.

The same holds true for the tips of the missiles...........bright red will draw the eye, black would be less sudden.

I'm confident that you'll trust your artistic instincts and make the choice that serves your purpose best. (It's not let you down so far ;) )

Marvellous work Col., thanks for sharing your progress.

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Cheers lads,

Chas, I've come to much the same conclusion as yourself about the ladder colours (I dare say based on the same evidence) although the blue is a new one on me. The other variation I've seen is red on the top and bottom of the side rails of a green frame.

For the detail painting I'm using as little water as possible to improve control of the paint and only a little more for the larger area washes. Mind you, there's not really any large areas of wash on this one.

'Friad I don't have your computer skills so it's all down to mental images, didn't even do a small scale study before starting this one. It was going to be just for fun but...well, you know how these things go.

GeeDub, you make a good point about the green ladder blending in to the other shades, I was hoping the red ends would bring it out a bit. My main concern about the yellow option is how it will look beside the yellow of the squadron flashes. Same goes for the red missile covers against the red of the roundel.

I guess in both cases it will be easier to overpaint the lighter colour if it looks bad :worship:

Thanks for taking the time to help me here guys, it's much apreciated :worship:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Cheers for the kind words Sean, glad you like it so far.

Here's what happened last night,

Think it's fair to say the cockpit is finished so it's time for the windshield framework and anti-glare panel. Lets see what I can acheive this evening after training.

BTW, there's a wee hint of the ladder colour in there. Cheers again Chas and Geedub :D

(EDIT) After chatting with kstater we came up with the provisional title 'Waiting for the Bear'.

Edited by Col.
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks James, here's how the evening went,

Charles, it's been a while since using yellow in any quantity (as evidenced by the fact I found my tube of Chrome yellow to be solid when I finaly got the cap off :taunt: ) but thanks for reminding me. I do find the translucent quality of watercolour usefull when painting bright colours, thin washes letting the white of the paper shine through. The ladder will, however, have to wait until I can get back into Aberdeen for more paint but at least there's plenty other areas still to keep me busy.

BTW, love the work you're doing on your own Lightning, it's inspired me on more than one occasion :rofl:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well guys, after another long lay-off I finaly got back to it this morning. A little work around the cockpit and boarding ladder, but most of my time was spent laying down basic colours for the wing shadow. Plenty more detail to go in there yet though.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow Colin!

I just can't tell you how lifelike that is starting to look

I can almost hear the sound of other Lightnings around the base and can even see myself reaching out to touch this magnificant aircraft!

Keep up the good work my friend!

John

Link to post
Share on other sites

Cheers John, glad you like it so far. Taking a few days away from it let me look over what had been done so far with a fresh eye this morning and dispeled some doubts I've had about the colours used. So since I had the day off a little more got done around the forward fuselage and wing shadow.

Might try to get a little more done in the evening, see what Fiona has planned for me :thumbsup:

For those who were wondering (sorry mudrat, I forgot to reply when you asked a while back) the image is 16x14", or 40x34cm.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Cheers James, here's a wee update just to prove I haven't forgoten about it. Not had much time to spare this week but got a start to the forward fuselage markings. These are the base colours over which the reflections cast by the ladder will go.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...