First time poster, long time painter - Ebonwrath

[rollcast]

I'm getting back into painting after an 18 year break (finally raised a kid who likes D&D). I've painted a few figures in my time, but tend to avoid larger pieces.

 

I try to imagine creatures or people in real settings before I paint them. I love science, so I want to wrap my head around the biology of a creature or the environment of an adventurer. I guess I like something in fantasy that anchors me to reality.

 

So when I started Ebonwrath (bones) I couldn't get the brook trout out of my head. It's my favorite fish and I think its blend of color and pattern is very fetching.

 

Basecoat/Texture

I always start with a black basecoat. For Bones, I use Krylon ColorMaster Black Primer. Once cured, I dry brush white acrylic "against the grain" to pop the details that are hard to spot on a monocolored figure.

 

Software Pre-paint

Using the image above, I begin my color scheming in Paint Shop Pro on my PC. I usually add a transparent raster layer to the image, adjust its opacity and start "airbrushing" colors until things look roughly satisfactory. This step saves me from getting halfway into a paint and breaking out the rubbing alcohol and toothbrush to start over. I hate starting over.

 

Acrylics and Water do the rest

My first hour was spent with the wings. I used 4 colors on my palette, an avocado, a burnt orange, a burgundy and a dusty pale green. I would crossdip my #6 flat brush into one or two colors, blend a bit on my palette and start painting the wings. As the paint dried, I'd add water where I wanted to avoid hard lines. Then, I finished up with a black wash (acrylic & water) applied and blotted off as needed to get shadow & grain visible again.

 

 

Then I followed by covering the whole body with the avocado color, present in much of the body of the brook trout. The belly scales were the "Light Leaf Green" and another black wash. When done, the paint just looked ordinary so I had another inspiration. The eastern fence lizard's iridescent blue belly & throat.

 

Finished product? - I need your advice

Here's where I'm at. Have I made the right choices? Is there something I should improve?

[davor]

Very nice! And welcome.

[Baugi]

I love what you did with the wings!! Could we perhaps get a closer shot of the face, and maybe something  showing off the throat/belly a little more?  I really like what I see here!

[rollcast]

Sure - I'm no expert, so I'm looking for advice. I'd love to get more realistic, but maybe my vision & hands just won't let me.

 

 

Edited July 14, 2015 by rollcast

[Baugi]

He's really pretty stunning.  My wish, if I could have one, would be to see a bit of shadow in the spines, claws, teeth and horns.   Like on his spines, start with a brown, and apply thin layers of bone colour, increasing opacity up to the tips.  On the horns, something similar - just a bit of shadow between the ridges.

[Tarsemina]

OHHH, pretty. So very pretty, love the realism!

[rollcast]

Baugi, I agree - something needs to happen on the pale bits. There's no look of use there. I wanted to honor the white fin edge of the brook trout - originally, I planned to hit the trailing edge of the wings with a white edge, but talked myself out of it.

 

Do you have an example of the coloration you're talking about? Darkening toward the tips like the top ones on this guy?

 

Or more like this?

Edited July 14, 2015 by rollcast

[Baugi]

Darkening at the base, like the little ridges on the lizard's jaw and neck.

[smokingwreckage]

Amazing use of nature as inspiration! Really lovely!

[Mad Jack]

 My one suggestion would be to extend the green fade out a little bit further along the leading edge of the wings - for most of the wing, the greenish tint is present along basically the front half of the wing, but on that last portion of the wing it ends somewhat more abruptly just past the finger joints. I think it might look better if the fade from greenish to reddish carried all the way out to the leading edge of the wing along the same curve.

[Glitterwolf]

Awesome

[Hex]

Thanks for sharing, I've been looking for a spray primer to use for the bigger bones models since I also like to work up from a black basecoat. Do you find any stickyness on the mini after spray priming?

[rollcast]

Sorry for the long delay on this answer - didn't see the post. For me, Krylon Colormaster Primer dries really well. I usually spray very light coats, maybe two or so, depending on the angles I need to hit. I use black primer (not flat paint). It's dry to the touch in just a few minutes, but read the cure time on the can - I think it's 24 hours. I usually prime mine and walk away for a day or more.

 

I learned to paint long ago using black paint on metal. When I got my first bones, I went to the garage and found a can of the Krylon sitting there - black primer. It wasn't a scientific decision or years of experience that made the decision - just the can I had available.

 

But as to stickiness - no, the base coat is probably the least sticky time in the figure's life. The acrylics I use create a sort of sticky feel. I haven't tried any kind of sealer or flat clearcoat. If anyone has any suggestions in that department, i'm all ears.

[Cranky Dog]

Just discovered this thread.

 

For an 18 year break, your skills have matured splendidly. I really love the variety in pattern/textures you're using.

[LittleBluberry]

To kill stickiness you might want to try Testor's Dullcote or a brush-on sealer. (Reapers or perhaps Liquitex.) Just make sure you shake well first.

I do really like what you did with the dragon, and I think Baugi's suggestion to try and add more shadows would give it that extra touch of realism. Either way, it's a neat dragon!