Bones Terrain - DDS II Walls

[Sanael]

In addition to the full-blown Dragons Don't Share set, we also picked up a few of the extra bits of ruined walls, because who doesn't like terrain?

 

Over the course of an absurdly epic combat session of D&D last night, in between preventing a TPK with the help of the Goddess Mishakal*, I painted up these walls. There are a few things I need to tweak, and I plan on adding some flock and talus and so forth, but I'm pretty happy with where this is right now.

 

I've posed my modified Sir Forscale and some Gremlins to model the terrain.

 

 

I used tube acrylic from Liquitex' "Basics" line. This is the first time I've used artists' acrylics, and it's a pretty interesting experience. Here's a quick color breakdown, keeping in mind that the Basics series is pretty student-grade, so I don't know to what extent some of these are just the names on the tubes, as opposed to actually the genuine pigments used. Regardless, I was pretty astonished by the vibrancy and coverage on all of these.

 

Basecoat overall: apx. 50/50 Burnt Sienna/Primary Yellow (the rest of the table thought I was painting walls on Mars at this point, very orange)

Then I took that mix and used a variety of washes with varying additions of Burnt Sienna and Primary Yellow to create some variations in the orange.

Next, an overall, pretty thin wash/glaze of about 50/50 Burnt Umber/Phthalocyanine Green went over everything. A touch of the P.Green to thicken the wash back up then went over all the grassy parts and was stippled heavily into the shadows of the stonework.

I then started drybrushing the original Burnt Sienna/Primary Yellow mix, stepping it up through yellow several times, onto the higher points.

Finally, a really fantastic grey mixed from Dioxazine Purple and Pthalocyanine Green went onto the rubble and into patches on the stonework. Some white went into that mix to hit some highlights.

 

At this point, I still want to put a few more highlights in on the really tippy-top bits, and the ground needs some work as I mentioned, but ultimately this was a ton of fun to play with. I'm looking forward to putting these on the table for a game!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A footnote: although I haven't entirely broken myself of the habit, Pingo and like-minded individuals will be glad to know I refrained from using the back of my hand as a palette while using things with names like "Phthalocyanine."

 

 

 

 

*I do mean epic, and I do mean TPK. There were minotaur, a dragon, and bear-riding walrus-men. Walrus-men, I ask you**! The enemies numbered in the dozens, and my cleric was running back and forth between unconscious party members like a madman. We prevailed, but it was a near thing.

 

**The "goo-goo-ga-joob" jokes petered out after the first party member lost 30-odd HP in a single blow.

[Jabberwocky]

Really well done!  I like all the colors--much more variety (read: realism) than your standard gray stone.

[Clever Crow]

LOVE all of the colors.  SO VERY COOL!!!!

[ShadowRaven]

excelent break from the standard grey, and it looks wonderful.

[Bruunwald]

The range of colors is fantastic. And the gremlins look very happy and at home there. Go away, Sir Forscale! You're harshing the gremlin buzz!

[Adrift]

All these colors mean you can use this terrain in a variety of different RPG scenarios and it will fit right in. Wonderful choice!!

[Pingo]

It looks great. The use of color is very effective.

[Corporea]

awesome!  Great colors!! (That'll teach them to respect the walrus.  Those guys are scary!)

[malefactus]

OH but I do LOVE terrain; AND that is a GLORIOUS Ruin! Knowing it will evolve into something UTTERLY FANTASTIC as you add little touches over time makes it EVEN MORE STUNNING. Your selection of colors & deft brushwork are OUTSTANDING. VERY WELL DONE indeed!

[Sanael]

Thanks very much, everyone. Part of it is that these are "just" stone walls, and don't have things like faces or skin, but I really felt very free to play with color on these. There wasn't a whole lot of thought other than, this might look good. It did mean once or twice I had an "eugggh! Killitwithfire!" moment, but that was easy to fix without stepping backwards. Really loads of fun.

 

For those of you with experience using artists acrylics, my Burnt Sienna is very gritty and difficult to mix. The other paints all have a smooth consistency, but the Burnt Sienna is very chunky. Is this normal, or do I have a bad tube? It worked fine for the very textural work on these walls, but it would've been frustrating if used on, say, a dragon.

[Corporea]

hmmn.  bad tube vs student grade?  Does it smooth out if you mix it with flow improver?

[LordJosh]

great color choices!

[Pingo]

Burnt Sienna is one of those pigments.  It is a natural earth colored by iron oxides, and can have grit issues.  I have a jar of the pure pigment, and when I use it in egg tempera, the grittiness needs to be worked around (letting it sit and separate helps, since the topmost layer is the finest particles).

 

That said, I have never had trouble with Burnt Sienna in premixed paints, oils or acrylics, except for student grade ones where the color seems to be duller and the texture coarser.

[smokingwreckage]

I love this. It has given me something to aspire to the next time I think "Grey. I really hate grey."

 

 

(I don't hate grey, I just hate the boringness that happens when I use it.)

Edited March 9, 2015 by smokingwreckage

[Sanael]

Hmm. Thanks for your thoughts, Corporea and Pingo. I suspect it's a combination of student-grade and earthy pigment. Either way, I enjoyed using these enough that I think many of my larger pieces are going to use the artists acrylics...I'll try the burnt Sienna I have for now, and if it really gets egregious I'll upgrade.

 

Corporea, I didn't try any flow improver this time around. I'll try to remember to have that bottle handy next time.