Blood and Mud

[sulaco]

I am getting back into painting after a several year absence and I want to start painting in a much more naturalistic manner. Part of this includes creating realistic staining on clothing and blood on weapons. No more \"just walked out of the tailor\'s and killed a tin of pasta sauce\" look.

So, does anyone have any techniques for creating realistic staining/dirt on clothing - particulalry mud on the hems of cloaks and on boots - and blood effects on weapons?

Thanks.

 

[Valander]

Dirt

I\'ve found that using a light brown (like old GW Flesh Wash or Vallejo English Uniform) thinned down really far (like around 1:5, paint:water) is a good starting point.

What I do is get a crappy brush, like one I use only for mixing or drybrushing, and stab it tip first into this thinned brown on a pallete. Then I stab the brush against the mini where I want the dirt. This thinned paint allows some of the color to show through from underneath, and the blotchiness you get from stabbing makes it a little more random in pattern.

There\'s a small bit of this I did on the bottom of the gown on my Priestess of Isis here on CMoN.

 

[MaestroOfMayhem]

For dirt and mud stipple a few shades of brown with an old brush over the areas you want dirty, then do thin brown washes. For blood mix some red paint with a drop of pva glue then do some thin layers with this.

 

[Valander]

With glue?

Hmm. Why the pva glue as a medium for blood?

 

[MaestroOfMayhem]

It makes it more translucent and slick. You could use ink wahses I geuss. You don\'t have to add very nuch glue, just a little or it will be clumpy and wierd, or even pink.