Karabean Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 So I'm painting this mini, and while it seems to be a good exercise in blending, I'm not so sure about the color for the under-shift. I'm doing aged bone for the main robe. I want it to look good because it's for a friend, she plays a watcher in Buffy the vampire slayer, and this was the only model that had books and glasses. Comments/suggestions/etc welcome. Here you are folks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Very nice job at this early stage! The fade looks good--very smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilwarin Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I love the blending; you're doing great so far! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonelf3 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Nice work indeed, I like the blend. Paint looks a bit shiny though. You could dullcoat it to seal it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltique Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Great start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karabean Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Thanks guys! DemonElf - I'm not sure what's causing the shininess, the only difference betweeen this mini and my others is that I used brush-on primer rather than spray on primer. The paint just doesn't seem to stick as well to it either. It's been driving me batty. So you use dullcoat even before you've finished the painting? Does that help with protection at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizard Hlavaz Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 You can Dullcote before you're finished painting, Kara. It'll help protect your work to that point. A lot of painters do take this precaution, but I find paint doesn't stick as well to dullcoted paint than it otherwise normally does. I've been able to peel up paint and remove it, which is helpful for correcting freehand mistakes. And dullcoting for this reason is actually quite helpful. Otherwise, I paint to the end before sealing. So if you're fighting adhesion now, I'd recommend you mix in some mat medium to your paint. It'll help improve adhesion and knock off some shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanael Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I love the fade on the shift! It's a really lovely start, and I think the bone will work nicely with it; just make sure to keep the ivory/creme of the bone as warm as you can as you work on the dress. By which I mean use warmer browns or greys to shadow the bone (if we're talking the MSP bone triad, I think it's fairly warm anyway, IIRC)...with that shift, a bit of the warmth is going to show through a "white" dress, unless it's made of thick wool. As for the shiny...I use brush-on primer from time to time and the only shiny I get is from too thin a coat of primer. It looks like this might be your problem with the primer, here (the reds look glossy, which may be the paints or it may be a thin primer coat, so I'm not sure about the reds). How many primer coats did you put down? I usually use two or even three coats of the brush-on primer, depending on how much I thinned it out of the bottle. That will really cut down on the pewter shining through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karabean Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 I love the fade on the shift! It's a really lovely start, and I think the bone will work nicely with it; just make sure to keep the ivory/creme of the bone as warm as you can as you work on the dress. By which I mean use warmer browns or greys to shadow the bone (if we're talking the MSP bone triad, I think it's fairly warm anyway, IIRC)...with that shift, a bit of the warmth is going to show through a "white" dress, unless it's made of thick wool. As for the shiny...I use brush-on primer from time to time and the only shiny I get is from too thin a coat of primer. It looks like this might be your problem with the primer, here (the reds look glossy, which may be the paints or it may be a thin primer coat, so I'm not sure about the reds). How many primer coats did you put down? I usually use two or even three coats of the brush-on primer, depending on how much I thinned it out of the bottle. That will really cut down on the pewter shining through. Good thoughts Sanael. I'll have to poke around in my paint bin. I put down 6-8 coats of primer, just because it wasn't looking as heavy as spray-on. 2 of them were at N.E paint day, heh. So, I;m guessing my primer-mixing skills need work. If the matte medium will help with coverage adherence and tone down the shine, I'll have to pick some up. Until now I've been mixing my paints with a bit of RMS sealer, flow aid, retarder, and water. Hopefully the matte medium will do it. Please oh please don't say I have to strip it and start over! I'd hate to have the mini in hand and move paint around from finger pressure even though it's been sealed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanael Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 HA! Don't worry, you won't hear from me that you need to strip and restart! I avoid that as much as possible...I've never been a fan of remedies worse than their disease. Did you mix all those additives in with the primer? I think both the flow aid and retarder will cause some gloss, so that might be something to look out for in the future. I don't know that you need either of those in your primer coat; of course, I pretty much only thin with water most of the time, so my experience with such additives is slim. My brush-on primer mix is usually 1:1 or sometimes 2:1 primer:water; just enough water to get the primer moving on the brush, but not enough to make it terribly thin. Ultimately, I'll say the gloss isn't not such a big deal right now. In a WIP photo, the gloss can make it hard to see contrast as it builds, but if you're able to see what you're doing as you paint, and it ends up looking good in the end, that's what really matters. The only big problem with gloss while you're painting is it can reduce paint adhesion. If you're not having problems with that, just keep doing what you're doing. Now, I do have two questions about what you've painted so far...A) how are you planning to treat her exposed leg--is it bare or somehow bestockinged? and B) did you miss the glove/sleeve on her right arm, or is that not her arm peeking out between the oversleeve and book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karabean Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 HA! Don't worry, you won't hear from me that you need to strip and restart! I avoid that as much as possible...I've never been a fan of remedies worse than their disease. Did you mix all those additives in with the primer? ... Now, I do have two questions about what you've painted so far...A) how are you planning to treat her exposed leg--is it bare or somehow bestockinged? and B) did you miss the glove/sleeve on her right arm, or is that not her arm peeking out between the oversleeve and book? Ah, no, that's just the mix I was using with the paints themselves, not the primer, I was trying to thin them for better blending. Still, good to keep in mind how that can affect things. And you are right! I completely missed that part of the arm. See this is why this forum rocks! ;) *edit* I was planning on doing a bare leg with rosy skin tone, but I'm open to suggestions! Any ideas on a color for stockings? The sash is a bright kelly green atm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mousekiller Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Really great start. I would recommend doing the skin next, as that will help blend the rest of the model together and give you a more accurate depiction of what is working and what is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dargrin Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Any more updates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karabean Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) Updates - skin/face mostly done, still contemplating lip color. I like the expression she has. I went with a rosy skin tone; thought she'd need color to avoid being washed out by the undershift, yet didn't think a bookish person was likely to have tanned skin tones. I tried to do a white/gray tights on the leg but I'm thinking it doesn't work so well. Anyone have ideas for other colors I could try, or do you think I should just go with skin tones for the leg? What about the raised parts of the dress, think I should go with coppery-gold metallics? Please have at it folks! I value your advice! Edited October 7, 2009 by Karabean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karabean Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Well, lots of experimenting later, I changed up the color scheme. I've been fiddling so long with her I'm calling her done. I'm also posting her in the show off forum. Have at it folks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.