For people that start with midtones: a question about shading tiny details

[mrbspaintjobs]

Thanks for the input, guys.

 

Concerning chalky, I don't have a problem and I think it's probably because for my tabletop minis that I field en masse, I don't water down my paints alot to do alot of layers. I have noticeable lines of demarkation for tabletop minis. Doesn't bother me, too much. They still look pretty good, and in fact, I think that the lines of demarkation give the minis a certain cartoonish quality that I am quite fond of.

 

It's probably not too uncommon, but I like to mix different things about different styles that I like. I don't paint display quality miniatures anymore - just don't have the time or sanity left anymore, haha!

[Qwyksilver]

I base coat with my shadow color and highlight up from there. I may go in and add deeper shadows later though during the final dark-lining step.

I start with my darkest colors and work my way up from there with progressive highlighting. It doesn't work for everyone. Sometimes you need to add a few more coats to make something very bright.

[buglips*the*goblin]

I do the same.

[mrbspaintjobs]

Good to know that others do it that way as well.

 

Maybe for my infinity and dark age miniatures I'll start with the midtone and spend more time on them...

[mrbspaintjobs]

Alright, I've been staring at Dark Age & Infinity miniatures all day. I've also painted a fair few of Reaper minis as well.

 

There is just something so completely different and alien about GW miniatures compared to other companies. They are way over exaggerated! Obviously at this scale, some things need to be exaggerated in order to make them interesting, but I mean insanely exaggerated. Hands and biceps bigger than your head? Okay... seriously.

 

That is not to say that I don't like these models - I love GW's models. Curse you Dark Eldar for appealing to my cybergoth and Tron-loving nature... just an observation. :)

[Mercius]

Try what Tailspinner and Qwykslvr suggested. I paint the same way, basecoating with my shadow, or close to it and then using a dark wash to dark line. I then progressively highlight up to my brightest highlight.

[mrbspaintjobs]

Mercius: Yep I think that's exactly what I'm going to do... I think I'm just simply over thinking the entire process.

[Qwyksilver]

There's no truly right way to paint, just what will work best for you.

 

If you're struggling with a particular style or method, try something else and see if that works for you instead. I started painting from shadow up because it allows me to visualize where the highlights are going to go and I tend to prefer darker, muted colors anyhow. So it works well for me. If I am drawing something, I usually start on the brighter areas and work down into shadows.

 

I know a lot of people that start from the middle and work both directions as well. If there is a local painting group, or FLGS that has painting nights, etc, try to go. Often the best way to learn a new technique is to watch someone doing it in person. Because you can always ask questions as it happens, which you really can't do in a video.

[mrbspaintjobs]

I want bright and vibrant colors. Should I start with midtones for that affect?

[klyons99]

Unfortunately, it tends to depend on your style.

 

If you trend towards the glazing/juicing style, you can get bright and vibrant colours by starting with a mid, or something close to a highlight, if not the highlight itself. If you're more of a blending type person, then you're going to tend to use more opaque layers of paints, in which case it doesn't matter near as much, as the underlying paints aren't really going to be showing through.

 

There is one trick that does help, regardless of style, however. RMS Clear paints can really make your colours pop, and provide very brilliant and vibrant colours. Personally, I'm hooked on the Clear Red, it tends to make reds just more, well...red.

 

In addition, depending on style, the initial choice of primer colour can actually make a difference as well. If you tend to try and use transparency more, then a white primer can help bring out brighter colours, while a black one can provide much more muted results. This varies pretty widely, however, depending on how you paint. If you tend more towards thicker layers, then you'll often see little to no difference from the primer.

[mrbspaintjobs]

For tabletop minis, I use more opaque and thick layers.

 

For display minis (which is an extreme rarity for me these days... I wanna play with my toy soldiers not just look at em anymore!) I go with more super thin layers.

 

So are you glazing the reds with the Clear Red after words, or are you mixing it in to your paint as you go?

 

For a glaze, do you water it down at all?

[TaleSpinner]

Glaze the clear reds over red to really pop it. A glaze, as I do it, should be thinned down to the consistency of half-n-half or whole milk, so a bit thicker than a wash. I also add some flow improver. Load up the brush, then wick almost all the paint out of the brush into a paper towel, then paint it on evenly just so the surface is wet. There should be no pooling or standing paint. Then let it dry. You may need many layers of this to gain the effect you want. Most glazing I do takes at least 3 layers and I've gone as high as 15, depending on what effect I am working on.

 

TS.

Edited April 4, 2013 by TaleSpinner

[mrbspaintjobs]

TS: <3 u.

[klyons99]

What Talespinner said.

[mrbspaintjobs]

Thanks guys!

 

 

Always such nice folks on the reaper boards...