Painting Blacks and Whites

[SparrowMarie]

Any tips on how to do either/both of these? I'm getting ready to do my mock up for Ma'al and I'm not really sure how to approach it. I've done black before so I have a little bit of an idea of how to go about it but for white I've no idea. I'm tempted to buy like all the greys/blacks/whites that reaper has and go at it that way but I'm thinking it might be more cost effective to buy the Scale 75 black and white paint set. Maybe. 

 

So tips, tricks, paint recommendations? All of the above?

[Pingo]

Um. When I do grisaille I paint with Carbon Black and Titanium White and mix all shades of grey myself.

 

It's one of the easiest, most painless ways to get practice in color mixing since all you have to worry about is value.

 

If I am feeling really wild, I will add some Burnt Umber into the mix for warmer tones.

[Cyradis]

For black, I like using slightly-non-blacks for shading. My favorite so far is Pure Black, Nightshade Purple, Dark Elf Triad, then peak highlight a wee bit with Dark Elf Highlight + wee bit Ghost White. It is obviously not pure gray-scale, but I enjoy the effect. 

 

I'm gearing up to do some white painting too, and this is what I've been studying. http://powellminipainting.blogspot.com/p/painting-white.html

 

Had brief practice on a tiny thing. I used a generic gray, leather white, and pure white otherwise. 

[Auberon]

For white there are three basic ways that you can go.  The first is a neutral white that is shaded with neutral greys.  Pingo's suggestion is a good one, but if you already own Reaper paints then you can just use the ones D. Powell mentions in his tutorial.  The second is a warm white that is often shaded with khakis/browns.  You'll often see this used on animals or fabric that is being worn outdoors (i.e. can get dirty).  Once again Powell has several examples of this using Reaper paint.  The third way you often seen minis painted is with a cool white which is usually used for pure cloth, snow, or other cold things.  A google image search for snow will show you just how blue snow can get under the right lighting conditions.

 

I dug up the old Dr. Faust vid which will give you an idea of how cool white works.  He always paints dark to light, so you can save a whole bunch of layering by priming white.