Need help learning to blend....

[StarFyre]

Hello everyone,

I\'ve been struggling to learn to blend. I\'ve managed to get a few gradients I like on a couple minis, but those ended up either by luck (IMHO) or easier parts (such as a tail, where I wanted lighter at the end, and darker at the base...for which I painted on a few colours, then dry brushed areas near the edges, and finally did the washes over the drybrushes to make it appear nicer).

Currently, I have a new test mini for blending. It\'s an old ral partha D&D Abishai. I want to paint it in a blue theme (as a Blue Abishai Baatezu devil).

I have the vallejo colours so people can recommend via those names.

I have been reading http://www.paintingclinic.com/clinic/newhighlight.htm
for blending. Is what is suggested at the bottom there, how I should go about this? ie. choose a blue colour, and then mix white, etc as stated?

Any suggestion on which colours to use for a basic blue demonic creature in terms of blending it as per the tutorial?

maybe I just need to work at it a lot more...

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

*smiles*

Sanjay

 

[Ritual]

If you need general advice on how to blend I would suggest start learning to use layers, since that is the easiest way.

Keep your paint thin, semi-transparent is the best consistency. It\'s better to use many layers instead of trying to rush things, since that will mostly result in a rough colour transition. The more intermediate steps between darkest shade and lightest shade the smoother the transition you\'ll get. Remember to let each layer dry before you apply next, otherwise you can get a rough surface and uneven transitions. When you are finished you can smooth out the blending even further by glazing the surface with an intermediate shade of the colour you\'re using. Keep the glaze very thin and apply one or a couple of layers. You might have to re-apply some of the brightest highlights after this.

Hope this is helpful to you!

 

[StarFyre]

thanks....

I tried to blend one model..spent hours redoing the muscles on arms and chest but it didn\'t work out. I think I was choosing the wrong colours to use.

Should I use the GW blending chart that the site I linked has?

Can you blend ANY light and dark colours together? I figured you could, and it\'s prob. just that I suck, so I can\'t yet...

Hmmmm. Maybe my shades are too dark.

Sanjay

 

[Ritual]

It can be tricky with some colours. I\'ve found that brown colours are particularly tricky to mix, since they can consist of very different proportions of primary colours. If I chose wrong shades and mix them the result can look very awkward. It\'s a matter of experience, trial and error. Blues are easier. Just mind the warmth of the colour. If you\'re using a cold blue base colour you\'ll be better off using a cold colour for highlighting as well. If you find something that works, remember the combination (write it down perhaps...). After some time you\'ll know which colours work together and which don\'t.

 

[lahatiel]

StarFyre: you should find the GW highlight/shade chart at the Painting Clinic to be extremely helpful. But if, as you said, you\'re using Vallejo, then you might want to combine them with this Vallejo/GW equivalency chart, too.

 

[Valander]

StarFyre, if you\'ve got Vallejos, then you may find this article by Mario Fuentes very helpful.

Not only does it demonstrate some layering techniques, but it also includes a color suggestion chart.

I\'d say try layering first, and get comfortable with it, before you try wet-blending. Wet blending is a bit more difficult, and not quite as forgiving of mistakes.

 

[Ritual]

What about tweening...

:]
I was expecting to find at least a comment about it...

 

[Valander]

Originally posted by Ritual
:]
I was expecting to find at least a comment about it...

:bouncy:

Heh... I figured I\'d go easy, since most likely it could be overwhelming at first.

But, since you brought it up...

Tweening is my favorite word, and my favorite technique. It\'s basically layering, but then uses what\'s commonly described as glazing or toning (the Fuentes article briefly mentions toning) to further smooth out the transitions.

I\'ve posted about this several times (which is why Ritual called me on it).

So, here\'s a link to an excellent article by Juame Ortiz (over at planetfigure.com) that really explains the whole thing pretty durn well. I eventually plan on writing an article for CMoN on my take of this technique, but that won\'t happen until late March at the earliest, when I finish school.

 

[StarFyre]

GAH!!!

I am confused....

I thought I wasn\'t trying to wet blend.

Isn\'t wet blending when you have both paints on the model, and it\'s watery and you bring them together to have them mix in?

What I am doing is trying to follow that tutorial on feathering, layering, etc.

I do the gradients with thin layers of paint, then try thin washes over that small area, so that over time, it gradually changes the tones to make it appear more smooth.

Maybe my paints are too thin or not thin enough or i\'m just mixing in too much white/beige or too little so the change in colour is too steep for washes to be able to make gradual. *looks sadly at his minis and begins to cry*

Thanks for advice guys...once i primer this abishai, let me try it again, but more carefully and a lot slower and see if I can find what I am doing wrong.

Sanjay

 

[Valander]

Nope, what you\'re doing isn\'t wet blending. Sorry if I confused you by mentioning it.

From your last post, it sounds like you are basically trying tweening, anyways.

Definitely check out the articles I posted; they may help explain things.

One of the things with layering/tweening that really makes a difference is the number of transitions you\'re throwing on there. You won\'t get very smooth gradients if you only use 3 layers (base, shadow, highlight)--you need a minimum of 5 (base, shadow 1, shadow 2, highlight 1, highlight 2). Generally speaking, the more layers you use (and therefore the smaller the color change between layers), the smoother effect you\'ll get.

I normally use 7 layers, but in a pinch I can pull off 5, especially on smaller areas.

 

[StarFyre]

yeah....

I\'ve printed out both those tutorials/lessons. I\'ve seen them before. I am just either rushing it or making a fatal error that\'s not causing it to work out as I want...

*thwaps Valander on the head for confusing him*

=)

*smiles*

Sanjay