Blending, FOR NOOBS!

[obsidianpainting]

Hey guys, i would just like to say, that i know a lot of new painters question blending, or \"glazing\" or \"juicing\" or \"Regressive selective glazing\" (nice one automaton)

And most people give the same answers on how to do this, thin your paint make sure there is little to no paint on the brush, and practice.

Seriously guys, they mean it when they say that. Having only mastered this technique recently i can truly say, \"Yes, they were right\"
So, for new painters out there, just thin your paints (in my own opinion) to ATLEAST a half/ half mix. then take your brush, and wipe it on your cloth until there is almost no paint coming off of it onto the cloth. then go nuts on the model, and make sure no pool paints. if you did it right, you shouldn\'t even see pigment(this is the case with me, i see nothing, essentially just wetness) after about 10 up to 50 layers, youll see the paint. but don\'t worry, each layer should dry up within 1-3 seconds.

i hope this clears things up with beginners or anyone trying to master these techniques.

Any of the \"Masters\" who would like to elaborate on this go nuts.

Also it would be very interesting if people would give their own experiences with learning how to blend in this topic. That way people can try out other peoples stuff!

Anyways, i thought this was a good idea to do.

Thanks guys for reading, Gary.

 

[sg2009]

im not \"master painter but this is the best blending i have managed so far:

when i kept asking people how too blend they all give the same answer to thin your paints but when i first tried juicing i realized that the paint has to be amazingly thin, and i think this is the problem. i dont think people know how thin the paints need to be

 

[freakinacage]

welcome obsidian, show us some pics then!

i agree that most people probably dont appreciate how thin it should be, i know i didnt

 

[mickc22]

don\'t say \"juicing\"! it\'s a glaze

 

[obsidianpainting]

I would love to show some pics! but unfortunately my camera sucks and as soon as i get close to the mini (or zoom in) it goes all blurry. javascript:icon(\'\') so yah.. The company used to have a photographer but, she left us... which sucks. sooo. We are in the process of getting a new one. I promised Ritual a picture up like, a month and a half ago. but that was when our photographer left. and It seems its really hard to get one I don\'t really know what kind of camera to buy, so yah. Im working on it though!

 

[obsidianpainting]

Also guys, when i blend, i don\'t have \"amazingly\" thin paint. i think my consistency is roughly 5:1. im not entirely sure though.. since i just add water to the paint in the pot. and then add more water when its on the pallete. So i can\'t give you an exact ratio.. but i think its atleast 4:1.
Sometimes when i feel the paint is till to thick or grainy (bright coloured paints) ill go about 10:1.

There was one time where i wanted to build up the layers for a REALLY smooth finish i actually used 20:1
that took a while......

 

[obsidianpainting]

Also i would like to say that, the method i provided was the way I do it. Everyone comes up with there own way, and people copy other people. Like i don\'t wet blend, i just do the \"Regressive Selective Glazing\" (once again that was coined by automaton on ozpainters) which is essentially transparent highlights.

So i hope more people post they\'re own experiences with blending and how they came to their own abilities!

 

[Crayfish]

Why dont all people thin their paints? it makes everything so much easier! About 1 paint and 10 water is ideal for me and it works great i think! that way you can glaze in more realistic shadows and nuances that will make the painting so much nicer! now cmon, lets make a \"Thin your paint\" song!

ooh i should probably edit since obsidian wants to now my way :twisted: !

my painting progress starts out with what i call pre-shading mostly, its kinda like dark/blacklining but you do it over most of the surface and then you feather it so it gets smooth over the surface giving shading where you want it to be and white undercoat where you want the highlights, then i proceed by basecoating the whole thing perhaps say 10 15 layers with veeeery thin paint... then i get my white or offwhite or whatever i want to use and i start adding the highlights, it should look something like this (not a finished product, i need to correct some mistakes. its almost there though)

 

[ScottRadom]

Crayfish-What I\'d really like to see is one of your models with all the pre-shading done and no layers of paint yet. I am intrigued by these methods and I am trying to find the happy medium to improve my game table mini\'s but without completely stalling my speed by doing 50 layers of paint with 10:1 wateraint.

I know quality takes time but if I can bastardize some of your guys\' methods into tabletop mini\'s I\'ll be thrilled.

 

[obsidianpainting]

Hey guys, i posted a couple pics. not on the forum though.. don\'t have a url. anways, my camera quality sucks... but i got as close as i could with as clean a shot as possible.

Thanks, Obsidian Painting.

 

[Crayfish]

Of course i can, i have a nightgoblin from the new paintset, the ones that are cheap lol, i could do this day, a little tutorial, how nice!

 

[ScottRadom]

Crayfish- Bitchin\'! I\'ll be happy to see it

ObsidianPainting- Where do I find the pics?

 

[obsidianpainting]

They are still loading to the site.

Also another way you coudl do \"Pre-Shading\" (or pre-lighting)

Is to primer the model black. then \"dust\" the model with white primer. Essentially after you primer the model black, get a white can and hold it so its at the VERY outskirts of the spray. that way only the highest parts of the model pick up the white. Jeremie Bonamont (i hope i spelled that right) does this. And he uses this technique for zenith lighting. And holds the model in one particular spot so the white only covers spots that are under the \"light\"

 

[Dragonsreach]

Obsidianpainting\'s Gallery

 

[obsidianpainting]

Yah! thanks Dragonsreach. The camera kinda makes it seem like theres a film of dust. .. oh well, its the best i could do wit my camera. Now i would like to put out there, that this model was NOT painted to the best of my ability. I paint by a level system for my clients. And this is roughly a level 3. Out of like 6 or 7. So... I have one coming up thats a Level 6. so when i complete that i will put pics up and ill try my hardest to get another photographer to take photos!

Also anyone want to critique it, go nuts

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by obsidianpainting
Yah! thanks Dragonsreach.

NP.

As to critique, well as always with photos it can be a bit difficult to tell immediatly, but it seems to me that you\'ve used Scab Red (or is it Red Gore) as the main colour and worked down into darker tones.
Personally I now find that the GW Darker Red\'s are \"Lacking\" in something (most of the time its the medium. lol).
In the majority I now work Mid-tone first and then work in the shadows and up to the highlights.
However I\'d suggest that SOB\'s aren\'t the best of figures to try to develop techniques on. (Says he with a 3000+ Army of Nuns W\' Guns. ).

 

[obsidianpainting]

These models are a commision(theres about 10 of them) and The client(who happens to be an old friend of mine) sent one model that was already painted, so i tried to replicate what he did. he didn\'t blend his models, and decided i would give him one up and blend them. What i\'ve done is (origionally) is start with scab red, which was changed to mechrite red for time purposes. Then i did a 50/50 scab red/regal blue mix (personally i would have rathered used dark angels green since adding green to red to darken it give its a nice warmth that i like) but i was replicating the model that was sent. I then proceeded to highlight with blood red. As a level three i didn\'t want to to take toooo many steps. Im finishing one of the last ones as i write this actually. And i agree. The colours GW is putting out now are \"chemically different\" than what they used to be. Especially the reds, greens, and yellows.

snot green i find is a beautiful colour, but goblin green tends to be more chalky then it did a while ago.

thats my opinion anyways.

And thank you for your criticism. i have a couple primed capes set aside to practice more blending, with more colours. Oh, by the way, i apologize if some people are confused about my spelling of Favourite and colour, Im sure dragonreach understand. But being from Canada we use the british spellings, so...

Anyways, thanks again! I will do more with the mid tones. I personally thought the purple doesn\'t suit the model. but oh well what are you to do.

 

[hestan101]

uber tut on this
http://ca.games-workshop.com/Community/Games_Day/blog/feb_19/painters-VH.pdf
(yes, yes im still banging on about it)

 

[Mourner]

while not quite a master painter yet, i\'m starting to get the hang of blending.

here\'s some of the things i found that help me:
Thinning paints (as described above)
always have the shadow and highlight colors to hand (corrects you mistake with a brushstroke)
work back and forth (with colors)
add a tiny bit of slowdry to your thinned paint (especially if a color keeps getting grainy)

hope these are still applicable when painting skills progress, otherwise they may be of help to people who are still learning like me lol

 

[obsidianpainting]

Has anyone found that blending on Plastic is different then on Metal? i find that when i blend on plastic models its much more grainier and doesn\'t come out smooth?

Gary