Getting that creamy look
- Thread starter Wombat85
- Start date
Webmonkey
New member
If by creamy you mean "smooth",.. a lot of times this is done by airbrush, so as to not leave any brush marks behind in the paint. Also, some of it could be a trick of the eye. Subtle shading, by using a coat that's ~almost~ the exact same color, just a hair lighter,.. and then another coat just a hair lighter then that,.. and then another, and then another. If done right, it all appears to be the same color to your eye, but gives you depth. And then the opposite is done in the areas of shadow,.. a slightly darker shade,. then another,.. then another. The contrast is what makes you see the "richness" in the work.
gohkm
Active member
A creamy paintjob... First time I heard it described that way. But it may be generally to smooth colour transitions and high contrasts. As mentioned, different ways to achieve the transition, from blending, layering, to airbrushing.
Perhaps post a pic or two of your work for specific points of improvement?
Perhaps post a pic or two of your work for specific points of improvement?
Pop up an example.
My favourite 15mm painter chevallier de terre:
View attachment 26889
View attachment 26890
The colors are just so smooth and well creamy. Saturated is the word im looking for it seems.
View attachment 26889
View attachment 26890
The colors are just so smooth and well creamy. Saturated is the word im looking for it seems.
Last edited:
BloodFather of Kharnath
Active member
To me, the colors are vibrant and strong. I think this may be what you mean. Either that or you are talking about them being smooth, which is creditable to blending. But you talked about your minis being washed out. This happens to me when I apply a mid tone wash to scale back the highlights a bit for being to harsh OR I apply a wash to help smooth out my blends. Either way, both can result in a washed out look. This is fixed by simply reapplying the highlights.
I think strong highlights are what you are after. This is not just true of the final highlight of pure white or near pure white, but also for the preceding two stages of highlights. These highlights may be coming out chalky for you. This can take away from the creaminess you are after. If this is the case, keep applying more layers of the highlight OR use a less watered down pallete. Be careful though, if you apply too many layers or too much painter per layer, well, you know what happens...
In summary, the colors will be more vibrant and creamy for you if you don't wash them out with your washes, apply enough layers,don't water down too much (if you don't want to apply 50 layers).
Did u find this helpful?
I think strong highlights are what you are after. This is not just true of the final highlight of pure white or near pure white, but also for the preceding two stages of highlights. These highlights may be coming out chalky for you. This can take away from the creaminess you are after. If this is the case, keep applying more layers of the highlight OR use a less watered down pallete. Be careful though, if you apply too many layers or too much painter per layer, well, you know what happens...
In summary, the colors will be more vibrant and creamy for you if you don't wash them out with your washes, apply enough layers,don't water down too much (if you don't want to apply 50 layers).
Did u find this helpful?
Zab
New member
Hmm. Looks like an AB job to me. That said the one thing that sticks out to me is that none of that blending was done with white (except the flesh & NMM metal) Most likely there were light grey or cream colors used mixed with the base paints. You can do the same thing with reds and add a lighter flesh tone to the red to make a smoother transition than just adding white.
Hmmn, I'm kinda agreeing with ZAB about the possibility of Airbrushing being the primary application. But again this is 15mm blown up.
If you were asking about 28mm and above I'd say that a lot of effort to get smooth application is down to mixing paint water and retarder/medium and working over proper primer, not GW spray's.
For my own painting I tend to add a drop of Matt Medium to most of the paints I use, but that's just my way of working it may not be to your taste.
If you were asking about 28mm and above I'd say that a lot of effort to get smooth application is down to mixing paint water and retarder/medium and working over proper primer, not GW spray's.
For my own painting I tend to add a drop of Matt Medium to most of the paints I use, but that's just my way of working it may not be to your taste.
BloodFather of Kharnath
Active member
Yes, I believe this is what he is after. I use GW Lahmian Medium. On average 2-3 parts medium to 1 part paint. I'll introduce water to the mix if I am painting a larger surface area. But as has been mentioned this is all preference. Tool around with some stuff like thinners/glaze and matte mediums/retarders. I'm still discovering what works best for me and at what ratio. But I swear by lahmian medium.
Mr. Biggles
New member
If the painter was using oils, oil paints tend to have more vibrant colors than acrylics.
