Norseman30
New member
Can i get some links or advice on how to paint over black primer? Everwhere has tips on white primer but what if i want to mostly black thyen whats the key here. before i have to get more minis to practice on. 
Black primer help please.
- Thread starter Norseman30
- Start date
The trick to painting light colors on black primer is to use a medioum base to start off on.
For instance, lets say I wanted to paint a bone or skeleton and I have based black.
I would hit all of the areas I wanted to paint lighter with a coat of medium flesh. After it dries I can then paint it with a lighter bone or ivory color with a fair amount of coverage and no black bleedthrough.
The medium flesh tone gives me a base to build on and I do not have to fight the black for the lighter color to take on.
For instance, lets say I wanted to paint a bone or skeleton and I have based black.
I would hit all of the areas I wanted to paint lighter with a coat of medium flesh. After it dries I can then paint it with a lighter bone or ivory color with a fair amount of coverage and no black bleedthrough.
The medium flesh tone gives me a base to build on and I do not have to fight the black for the lighter color to take on.
G
G-nome
Guest
I use a black undercoat exclusivly as I started painting thinking GW was all there was and then going to work for them. So if theres one thing I know its how to paint from black undercoat. I will generally use about five shades/tones of the colour I\'m painting on RaF. For example a green jacket could be painted with a mix of Dark Angels green and black then Dark Angels green then up through to an appropriate highlight. The recesses of what ever you are painting are left the darker colour as you go up through the shades. The deepest fold can be left black and the shallower ones can be left a lighter colour as you go lighter. There is little need for shading and going back over with a darker colour as you just leave it there.
Lighter colours and white in particular can be quite tedious to go over and over again to get them nice and bright, however because your model will generally be fairly dark the lighter colours will fit into the overall scheme. I will often use blues to work up to a white if I want a cooler feel and browns for warmer. Is that any help?
Lighter colours and white in particular can be quite tedious to go over and over again to get them nice and bright, however because your model will generally be fairly dark the lighter colours will fit into the overall scheme. I will often use blues to work up to a white if I want a cooler feel and browns for warmer. Is that any help?
johnboyjjb
Active member
I read an article on here that has me using black primer. I then drybrush with white. Finally I use a black ink. Now all the high surfaces which would normally be a brighter color are more white than black and easier to paint over. This really has helped me get further ahead in my shading.
Yes, this is underpainting. It\'s not trruly drybrushing, it is just a layer of highlight with white paint on the raised areas. You could accomplish this with \"wet drybrushing\". I think I first heard about underpainting from Eric Louchard. I will be painting my fellowship this way. Painting on black primer with thin layers takes a lot of patience. For your base coats, I would recommend not using any extender, since it tends to make paints more transparent. For successive layers of course it\'s still great to have.
Cerridwyn1st
New member
More on black primer
I haven\'t tried the black ink part of this technique. Have to give it a shot.
Anyway, underpainting is a great way to build your brush technique if you are a beginner. You have to get just the right amount of paint on the brush for it to work well.
Start with a really stiff brush. The small Tole brushes you get a Wal-mart for about $1.25 are great, or Scrumbler with boar bristles. Just make sure you have really, really stiff bristles. The paint I use is Liquatex Basic Titanium white. It is very thick, so it won\'t run into the depressions on your fig.
Dip just the tip of the brush in your paint, then blot on a paper towel, foam or scrap cloth. Old t-shirts and the inserts for your minis are the best. Stroke quickly across the surface of the mini. If there is too much paint on the brush, you get a stark white. Not to worry - just blot the brush some more and hit the paint again before it dries.
Make sure the white layer is good and dry before you paint your color. Not a bad idea to let it sit overnight.
Then you start adding the color. What I do is take a shader and dip just the tip in the paint.
Reaper right out of the bottle is OK, or you can thin a little. Glaze the coat with color and you\'ll see nice highlights and shadows.
Once the first glaze layer is done, you can add more layers, or use this as a \"pattern\" for more traditional highlighting and shadowing.
If you have a lot of figs to do, this can go very quick.
I\'m going to teach this technique to my son to get him started with painting (article to come...)
I haven\'t tried the black ink part of this technique. Have to give it a shot.
Anyway, underpainting is a great way to build your brush technique if you are a beginner. You have to get just the right amount of paint on the brush for it to work well.
Start with a really stiff brush. The small Tole brushes you get a Wal-mart for about $1.25 are great, or Scrumbler with boar bristles. Just make sure you have really, really stiff bristles. The paint I use is Liquatex Basic Titanium white. It is very thick, so it won\'t run into the depressions on your fig.
Dip just the tip of the brush in your paint, then blot on a paper towel, foam or scrap cloth. Old t-shirts and the inserts for your minis are the best. Stroke quickly across the surface of the mini. If there is too much paint on the brush, you get a stark white. Not to worry - just blot the brush some more and hit the paint again before it dries.
Make sure the white layer is good and dry before you paint your color. Not a bad idea to let it sit overnight.
Then you start adding the color. What I do is take a shader and dip just the tip in the paint.
Reaper right out of the bottle is OK, or you can thin a little. Glaze the coat with color and you\'ll see nice highlights and shadows.
Once the first glaze layer is done, you can add more layers, or use this as a \"pattern\" for more traditional highlighting and shadowing.
If you have a lot of figs to do, this can go very quick.
I\'m going to teach this technique to my son to get him started with painting (article to come...)
Cerridwyn1st
New member
About the brushes
That last bit was getting long, so I started another
Here\'s the best part about these brushes - they are dirt cheap. You don\'t need a Koninsky sable for this stuff. Save that for your rounds and spotters that you use for detail brushes.
A shader is a wide, flat brush. Also called a flat. The same brush with shorter bristles is called a bright.
Scumblers and tole brushes have short, stiff bristles, usually of a stiff natural hair like boar. In the scumbler, the bristles have various lengths. In a tole, they are all cut to the same length.
The flats and brights will get scruffy on you after a while. That\'s fine. A scruffy brush will work as well, if not better, than a new one. Try a #4 flat or shader for color glazing and a #2 bright for highlights and shadows.
Toles and scrumblers are made for this kind of painting. They take the abuse and come back for more, pretty much the same as always, as long as you take care to clean store them properly.
Your scrumbler should be about a #4. The tole you want is the smallest or next smallest one they have.
Rounds don\'t offer nearly enough control for this kind of painting. They will put too much paint in the wrong place. The bristles are too soft and bendy for either underpainting or glazing. Smaller rounds and spotters don\'t hold enough paint to do you any good. Additionally, this kind of abuse will trash a round in no time flat.
So, to start out with, this technique, some cheap brushes, and LOTS of practice will improve your painting rapidly.
Good luck and happy painting!
That last bit was getting long, so I started another
Here\'s the best part about these brushes - they are dirt cheap. You don\'t need a Koninsky sable for this stuff. Save that for your rounds and spotters that you use for detail brushes.
A shader is a wide, flat brush. Also called a flat. The same brush with shorter bristles is called a bright.
Scumblers and tole brushes have short, stiff bristles, usually of a stiff natural hair like boar. In the scumbler, the bristles have various lengths. In a tole, they are all cut to the same length.
The flats and brights will get scruffy on you after a while. That\'s fine. A scruffy brush will work as well, if not better, than a new one. Try a #4 flat or shader for color glazing and a #2 bright for highlights and shadows.
Toles and scrumblers are made for this kind of painting. They take the abuse and come back for more, pretty much the same as always, as long as you take care to clean store them properly.
Your scrumbler should be about a #4. The tole you want is the smallest or next smallest one they have.
Rounds don\'t offer nearly enough control for this kind of painting. They will put too much paint in the wrong place. The bristles are too soft and bendy for either underpainting or glazing. Smaller rounds and spotters don\'t hold enough paint to do you any good. Additionally, this kind of abuse will trash a round in no time flat.
So, to start out with, this technique, some cheap brushes, and LOTS of practice will improve your painting rapidly.
Good luck and happy painting!
Norseman30
New member
jeez
well thanks you all for all the info it helps alot. So many technuiqes i get them all confused. I need help on doing a nice looking cape or cloth. i tried but it didnt come out right. Oh well more practice ive onhly done one after all. Thanks again all.
well thanks you all for all the info it helps alot. So many technuiqes i get them all confused. I need help on doing a nice looking cape or cloth. i tried but it didnt come out right. Oh well more practice ive onhly done one after all. Thanks again all.
