a question about blending

[tuxit]

I\'m slowly getting grip on the layering technique. I want to move further to learn blending to do better big surfaces.
My question is: How much do you thin your paint when blending two colors on the model ? Is it the same amount when layering or do you keep it less thinned ?

 

[farseerlum]

bit of both

i would mix them together with whatever extender i am going to use as well as a little water. it just makes it easier to mix and see the color.

then i would add water to the normal amount i use to paint.

but i don\'t think it matters. it all has to go in!

 

[wulverine]

I would recomend that you keep your paint at the same consistency as you are already using, but what works for one person may not work for another, so a little experimentation may be in order!

 

[mouse]

agree...

Originally posted by wulverine
I would recomend that you keep your paint at the same consistency as you are already using, but what works for one person may not work for another, so a little experimentation may be in order!

wulverine is right. that\'s a guideline to performing certain tasks (e.g. drybrushing, layering, blending,...) but it\'s your own feel and it has to be achieved through lots of practice (depending on how talented you are - for me it\'s practice, more practice and then some more practice...)...

basically, when you mention blending, i assume it\'s wet-on-wet painting (layering is my term for dry-on-dry painting)...hence you need to do the following (not necessary a mantra or formula - others may have other way of doing it):

(1) water down your paint,
(2) use extender/retarder or else acrylic paint dries fast - the you can\'t blend,
(3) use a slightly damp brush (without paint) either draw from one color to the other

 

[frenchkid]

From what I understand their are two ways of blending. The first one would be wet one wet witch I don\'t know anything about.
The second one would be painting like layering but once you have applied your paint you kind of pull it with a second brush to extend it over the surface to creat a blending effect. For this technique witch I\'m curently trying to learn, I would say that you should dilute your paint a lot, it really helps a lot to have really thined down paint. I just realized that the other day when I tried it on a mini. And I have to say that I was really amazed by the result. Way better then what I could do befor. Good Luck

 

[tuxit]

thx alot all,

What I\'m trying to achieve is a wet on wet blending. I used to do alot of historical mini painting a few years ago with oil paints and those paints work very well to do wet on wet blending.
I\'m now experimenting with mediums. I found an acrylic gel retarder which gives the paint a thicker consistency (like oil paint) but I end out by thinning my paint completely with retarder. Can this have negative effects on the paint itself ???

 

[farseerlum]

no you can\'t hurt it. the mediums are very similar to what they use in their paint line.

basically you could use the mediums to make your own paint if you have the pigment.

um yeah and my first post was way off. i didn\'t get that you were talking about \"on the model\" so just ignore it.

 

[tuxit]

heh no problem. My question was maybe not that well formulated and english is not my native language.
Thx anyway