Moderator TaleSpinner Posted January 16, 2010 Author Moderator Share Posted January 16, 2010 Hours 8 through 10: I roughly painted the spines and back scales with a 1:1 mix of Pure Black:Brick Red. I also painted the wing fingers Brick Red. That was all very fiddly. I painted the mouth with my standard colors (I don't have my note book handy now though so I can't remember all of the names off hand. If you want them let me know. The mouth did not photograph well; the pink parts appear darker in the photo than in RL. The eyes were done with a base of Blackened Brown. Then Sandy Brown, Sandy Tan, and Sandy Tan/Sandy Yellow. The pupil is Pure Black and the White Dot is Pure White. I see an small error in the pupil I'll have to clean up later (a ghost white spot from a misplacement of ht first attempt). I know it seems like not much for three hours, but then I never claimed to be a speed painter. Have a good night, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Just curious, but how do you think you'll base it? I have a couple of the big guys, but they're not complete due to lack of basing material. The thing is, I need to base it on a 3" disk, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of these. Any ideas? Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted January 17, 2010 Author Moderator Share Posted January 17, 2010 Just curious, but how do you think you'll base it? I have a couple of the big guys, but they're not complete due to lack of basing material. The thing is, I need to base it on a 3" disk, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of these. Any ideas? Damon. I'll actually base it very similar to how I did Cinder, on a sheet steel base with Green Stuff sculpted rocks. Since this is meant for display, I plan on mounting it all on top of a nice cherry base with routed edges. To get a 3 inch disk, buy the blank DVD-R disks for camcorders. They are 3" disks and would make a good base. I know Frosch has experience mounting dragons to CDs so he'd probably have some insight as to strength and the like. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 This dragon's looking like it'll be another awesome one; keep it up! To get a 3 inch disk, buy the blank DVD-R disks for camcorders. They are 3" disks and would make a good base. I know Frosch has experience mounting dragons to CDs so he'd probably have some insight as to strength and the like.Wow, thanks for that tip - I wouldn't have thought of that & I'm actually going to be basing some size Huge D&D monsters fairly soon... Kang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted February 11, 2010 Author Moderator Share Posted February 11, 2010 Hours 11 through 14: I haven't had a lot of time for painting lately, and there's been a bit of the usual procrastination that comes with the tedious layering of a dragon's scales. Frankly, I hate this step because you literally spend hours painting seemingly the same color over and over and over and over. Yes, I know that the shade is slowly shifting, but as you paint it is hard to see it and one must just have faith that in the end you'll end up with a nice smooth transition. I decided not to take shots after each layer, as that would be boring for you too (and I was too lazy to set up the photo box ). What you see above are the first four highlight layers. I have at least three more to go, and likely four. I'm using the Dark Red Triad from Brick Red to Blood Red (so far I am up to Dark Red/Blood Red) and will take it past Blood Red to Clear Red. I may add some light shine points after that as well, but we'll see how it's looking at that point. My biggest concern is that I do not want to shift too far to the warmer orange reds, so I won't be shifting to yellow as a highlight. I'll hopefully finish the body scales by next week sometime, as my schedule permits. Have a good night, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morganm Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Do you end up painting pretty much each scale individually? Coming alone real nice! I don't see the shade shifting you referred to. Am I missing something or is it very subtle? Would love to see it in person! Do you allow tours of your studio? =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty kahn Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 I have missed the progress on this dude. He is looking very sharp Talespinner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted February 18, 2010 Author Moderator Share Posted February 18, 2010 Do you end up painting pretty much each scale individually? Coming alone real nice! I don't see the shade shifting you referred to. Am I missing something or is it very subtle? Would love to see it in person! Do you allow tours of your studio? =) No, no tours of the studio. My wife would kill me if I brought someone I met over the internet home, and I have no free time right now to meet you at Misty again. Furthermore, my "studio" is mostly unused these days as I am doing most of my painting on my lunch hours at work, using my traveling paint case. At first, I wasn't painting every scale, but now (pictures not posted yet) in the last few layers that is what it is amounting to. Hopefully, I'll have another update by the end of the week. I only have two more layers to go and they are going a bit faster now that I am only hitting the brighter highlights. I started the Blood Red layer last night (yes I actually got time to paint at home for the first time in over two months) on the head and everything really popped, so I got a bit of excitement back. At this point, I only have the Blood Red layer and then a Clear Red layer left. I may add some white highlight points later if I want it to feel shinier, but I haven't decided that yet. I tend to like my chromatic dragons matte though so we'll see. Maybe white highlight points with a Clear red glaze would bring out the brightness I want without getting over the top. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted February 20, 2010 Author Moderator Share Posted February 20, 2010 Hours 15 through 19: This week I finished the red. I took the highlights all the way up to Clear Red. I am amazed at how well the clear Red really makes the red pop. (You can read my gush about it in the Tips and Advice section). <Rant> My camera hates red. In RL the red scales show a very subtle shift based on forward zenith light. It looks awesome, and I am very proud of it. In the photos, the subtlties blend together and it just looks bright red. I tried everything I could think of to get the camera to play nice, but all the shots turned out essentially the same. Now they don't look bad and you get the general idea, but it looks so much nicer in person. </Rant> Next I'll tackle the ventral scales and wings. I think I only have a few weeks left at this point, if I can get the time to paint. Have a good day, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morganm Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 You should be proud; it's turning out fantastic! Photographing red is a challenge. Check out this thread for some tips. http://www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=911040 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted February 26, 2010 Author Moderator Share Posted February 26, 2010 Hours 20 through 22: Alright, this week I painted the kahki portions. I used the Kahki triad, washed with Brick Red/Black/Brown Liner. The final highlight is Yellowed Bone. Again, it looks much better in person. In these shots, the red is looking better, the kahkis look rougher than in RL. It seems I can't take a good photo to save my life these days.* I was originally going to add spots to the wings, but with the folded wings, this might look strange so I canceled that idea. I like the pairing of the Kahki and the Red; I think they go well together. Do you think the wings are too plain though? Comments welcome. Andy *Since writing the above, I went back and tried taking the shots with a darker background and all the colors turned out much better (thanks MorganM for the link). I have replaced the original shots with the newer ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted February 27, 2010 Author Moderator Share Posted February 27, 2010 OK, the wings were really bugging me, but after putting all the time I had into them, I was loathe to change them. However, after talking to my wife and friend (Kreve on these boards), I decided to completely redo all of the membranes on this dragon. They are all going a deep purple (Dusky Purple base). I re-base-coated the wings this evening and just with the base coat they look so much better. They fit the mini now. I'm not sure when I'll next post pictures, probably after I get the new wings done this next week. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Looking awesome, good call on the wings, I think they were a little plain with the bright red on the body. Which is, by the way, gorgeous, the red clear really made it stand out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted March 1, 2010 Author Moderator Share Posted March 1, 2010 Hours 23 through 26: Well, I re-did the wings with Dusky Purple, Bruise Purple, Bruise Purple/Faded Purple, and Faded Purple (at this time only the wings have gone this far; the rest of the membranes are only base-coated). I think I may need to bring the highlights on the top of the wings up another notch or two toward white to make them really pop; what do you think? It is a bit hard to take good pictures of the wings. In the first picture, the highlights get lost, though the last two are pretty close to reality. Anyway, I think the purple suits the mini better that the khaki and I am glad I switched. Let me know what you think. On another note, I am shocked that I was able to carve out so much painting time this weekend. That usually doesn't happen to me. Have a good week, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimwolf Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 This is an awesome thread! I love watching you build your reds up. Overall looks great. Great idea. Keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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