Better Shading? How to do ... ??

[daMatze]

Hi there!

I tried hard, but my last tries are not as good as i expected.

The last one (85) was with a try to shade from snakebite to bleachedbone with skull white. But how do I get better results in shading?

http://www.coolminiornot.com/187084
http://www.coolminiornot.com/187085

Do you\'ve got any hints?

F.e. i want to make the plastics from the guns something grey. I tried mixing black with astronimican grey, but the results are not that good.

I wonder how people do really smoth shading?

Do you\'ve got any hints for me?

well ... i started making the Dark Angels more shaded in the green armor parts. I will add more pics as soon as I shot them.

Thanx!

Da Matze

- Regret heretic! Tomorrow you will die! -

 

[DaN]

This post is quite similar to your highlighting post - it just depends on how you like to paint, you either start out light and build the shading, or (As I tend to do) start dark and build up!

Have you checked any of the articles? There\'s LOADS of helpful stuff there

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by daMatze
I tried hard, but my last tries are not as good as i expected.... But how do I get better results in shading?

Practice. Sound like a flippant answer but it\'s the main thing that\'ll help.

Originally posted by daMatze
I wonder how people do really smoth shading?

Experience, both in choosing or mixing colours that work well together and in painting. Building up in very thin layers is common, but wet-blending is done by some. Good brushes can help somewhat.

But mainly it\'s a question of practice to build up the skills - even using the exact same paints and brushes you\'re using someone with more experience would get smoother, better-looking results; that\'s basically down to how they get the paint onto the surface of the mini (hand control, knowing how thin the paint should be, that kind of thing).

Originally posted by daMatze
Do you\'ve got any hints for me?

Practice, practice, practice

Einion

 

[Ritual]

Like Einion said, this is nothing you can learn quickly by learning some easy trick. Those you see that make really good colour transitions have been painting for years, in some cases 10, 20 or even 30 years.

So, you need to acknowledge that you\'re in the beginning of a quite long process. In fact, a process that will never ends, as no matter how long you paint you will always be refining and perfecting your techniques.

The easiest way to start is to learn what is commonly known as layering. You start by painting an area in a base coat and make sure you have a solid and smooth surface. The base coat can be a mid-tone colour, or a darker colour that in effect provides the shading. Which one you go for is a matter of preference and it can also depend on what colour you paint which method you chose.

Then you build up highlights and shading gradually by adding layers of slightly lighter/darker paint than the base coat over those areas that are to be lighter/darker. Make sure the paint is fairly thin so that it is slightly transparent and be careful not to apply too much paint at once. It is better to apply several thin layers with the same paint than to apply one too thick and/or too generous layer. When one layer is dry you apply the next. When you\'re happy with the coverage of one step in the highlighting/shading process you add a little more of a light/dark colour to the paint you\'re currently using and start the next step. This time you cover a slightly smaller area so that you give the colour transition a bit of a distance to happen over. Otherwise you will get results that are too abrupt and not smooth-looking.

If you use small steps (i.e. add quite little of the light or dark paint in each step) and use paint that is thin enough (which might require quite a few layers with the same paint) you will get very smooth results this way. You have great control over what is happening and you can take things as far as you like. When you think highlights, for instance, are light enough you can stop. The major drawback of this technique is that it takes time to do it really well.

Hope this is helpful!

 

[daMatze]

Thanx

Okay, ... i hoped, that there was some \"magic\" technique ... *lol*

Seems to be a very long time ... I hope I\'ll not dislike my minis sometime ... I just put 20 of my old minis into paint-thinner to remove my childhood-paintings. No shading, no highlights ... too much paint - you know.

Then I started working with our GW personal on my techniques ... and it seems getting better.

So ... my newest pics will follow soon.

 

[daMatze]

Photos are up

http://www.coolminiornot.com/artist/daMatze

so would be proud to get any hints and comments.

thx

DaMatze