Painting water

[Candra]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone know how to paint a puddle. I've a mini of a merman (Ral Partha) that I wanted to be standing over a puddle, with reeds around the outsides. It's to be painted straight onto the base if that helps !!

 

Thanks,

Candra

[Rastl]

Well, an easy way is to shade it darker in the center then lighter on the edges so it simulates depth. Then give it a coat of gloss varnish.

 

The colors I would use are the ones that you're using in the base itself, just darker. Water generally makes things darker. Extend the gloss varnish into the reeds to bring it all together.

[mathewbaich]

the I've done it in the past is to base coat your water in a very deep blue and then start highlighting with brighter blues from the inside out so when you're done ou have a somewhat bright blue around the outside rim of your water, and gloss varnish completes the effect as rastl already said.

[Darkstar]

When I don't use resin to simulate actual water on a base I've painted the effect using a gradation of light browns fading into darker grey browns, then glazed with thin layers of an ocean blue color and topped off with stripes of gloss varnish that I dipped a sponge into to make a sort of foamy texture where the shoreline would be. Then I seal the whole deal in gloss varnish.

 

This is way big, but an old table I did used the effect I mention, if you look closely at the "whitecaps" you can see the effect that a sponge applied gloss varnish gives. Now, just miniaturize the concept and that's what I'm talking about. Here's the link to the image: http://www.coolminiornot.com/61531

 

I usually resort to making a clear resin casted water area on bases that need water effects now though, as it's kind of fun to work with that concept.

[skya]

I start dark and work light. I do add a few browns into my dark blues though. It depends on how blue you want the water. Real water is clear, to murky brown but it reflects the blue of the sky, so the lighting of you piece is an important factor as well. Sounds like you might want blues with hints of greens and browns, the greens from the color of the reeds. Anyways heres a few things I've tried:

 

Water Nymph

Egos Crossbow Chic

[Ferrinflame]

I usually:

 

1. Start with the center of the pond/river/whatever with a dark brown, then while the paint is still wet, blend lighter browns to the exterior. The darker the brown at the center, the deeper the water is. At the edge you can put a sand color if that is what the river bed is made of.

 

2. After the paint has dried, I use Tamiya Smoke (product code X-19) for a more murky water, or a Tamiya Clear (product code X-22). DO NOT USE A BLUE, AS WATER IS NOT BLUE, but clear and it will mess up the brown tint that you painted in step one (thats a personal thing though, so do whatever you want). An off-green works well for deep saltwater.

 

3. If there are whitecaps/rapids/or other areas of whitewater, drybrush with Bleached Bone or some white paint.

 

 

When all steps are completed and the X-19 or X-22 is dry, your water will have the optical illusion that it is deeper than the piece is thick. This works great if you commandeer a table and can't carry large layouts with you.

 

Hope this helps!