Blending, FOR NOOBS!

[Backstabbeth]

Originally posted by Enzed
Thanks for that I understand now (I think) although the theory is a lot easier than the physical action!
One more thing: What colours in particular did you use for the purples shade and highlight?

EDIT: Apart from this mini what are some others with such big areas of cloth to practice on?

Well for the purples. I used lich purple GW.. shaded with a blue, Midnight blue (remember, dont go RIGHT to midnight blue, mix a little in, then mix more in and cover less etc) it is highlighted with white mixd in gradually.

as for whats good practice for these techniques there are a bunch of models, the choice is yours really. as for the obviuos ones Id go with GW elves ELVES or any eldar warlock WARLOCK
Or if you prefer fantasy, try empire wizards

WIZARDS
I am mentioning GW items because of the ease of access, but dont feel you need to use GW, many other mini makers make similar and excellent models. if you are inclined, do the research and find one that has flowing cloth and inspires you and go to town on it. Remember though, even if its practice,i say ALWAYS choose a mini that inspires you, ifeel it does, in fact, effect the quality of my paint job and maybethat is also true for others.

 

[obsidianpainting]

I\'ve actually been thinking about picking a pack of the Farseer with warlock guys. Its like 40$ i think. and comes with 4 guys. Which is pretty good. LOTS of robes to paint there. And would be some nice practice for some different colour schemes.

I also LOVE eldar dire avengers, and am thinking of purchasing a pack, along with the alaitoc autarch (the guy with wings) and the asurman guy. I also am thinking of getting a wraithlord and going to try some intense freehand.

I just purchased a week or so ago from the CMON store, Lathiem, Horthack black crow (30mm) and Belphegor (30mm) Im going to do some painting on them, and maybe some wips to! (you can help me there BlackStabbeth lol think of it as returning the favour lol) And after i finish them im going to buy the 54mm version, and urmuth figure. And possibly brom hardbark or whatever his name is.

Andrea miniatures and Enigma miniatures.

Gary.

 

[Enzed]

How do you choose the colours suitable for the shade and the highlight?

 

[obsidianpainting]

What colour are you using? what kind of colour do you want it to be? bright? Neutral? dull? what other colours are you using on your mini? whats your colour scheme?

 

[Kinetic man]

I\'m glad this thread came up since I\'ve been experimenting with blending much more lately myself.
My question is this: How does one go about blending with a metallic? Every time I try to water something like say, boltgun, down to a blending consistency, it gets separated and one part of the mini ends up metallic while the other ends up just gray...

 

[obsidianpainting]

Well, theres two answer i think i can come up with

1: if this is a basecoat i usually do them a little thicker to allow more adhesion to the surface

2: more layers? lol

3:if this isn\'t a basecoat than more layers.

So yah. maybe that helps?

 

[hestan101]

aesyest blending is acheived with juicing or glazing, but its different for metalics. first, you have to glaze with black a few times, then do your normal shades and highlights

 

[Enzed]

Thanks for this thread, has helped me a lot! I am still experimenting and my biggest challenge to the consistences of the juice. Do you have it the consistency of a wash? Its quite frustrating trying to master this method

Also, I will be picking up the JBT dvd, hopefully this will explain it further.

 

[obsidianpainting]

for a wash i essentially just dilute it till its really transparent. and then i add a little bit of PVA glue OR dish soap Or hand soap. all of those thigns breaks the surface tension and allows the paint to either pool (glue) or spread evenly (soap)

 

[Backstabbeth]

Id say what i have heard though my painting career is a really good figure for the consistency of the paint you are going for...
consistency of skim milk.

 

[Aliengod3]

I never go beyond 1 drop of paint to 5 drops of water. 1:10 - paint:water is way too thin for me. At that point highlighting becomes real frustrating as the paint looks chalky and speckled instead of solid and blended. My most recent minis were painted at 1:5 - paint:water and the blending is pretty good.

If I have to paint at least 20 layers before the paint starts to show up on the mini I go crazy and the results are normally not that satisfying.