thinning paint and a wash question

M

mattdus

New member
I bought some series 7 brushes yesterday and noticed they were a "watercolor" brush, This combined with the fact that I think I finally got my paint thinned about right made me think. Would you say that the paint should go on in a way that makes you think its almost a heavily pigmented water color or is this too thin?

Also I have been working on getting my flesh right lately and was wondering about a "flesh wash" Which I see used a lot, I have most of the GW washes but I think the organ flesh is too dark, would there be a better choice or maybe I just need to thin out the organ flesh wash?

Thanks
 
P

phreak0

New member
when i wash skin i use a contrasting colour to add depth and "believability" the old GW flesh wash was just a warm brownish colour. for a warm base colour i use a cool colour such as blue or green as a wash to contrast and compliment the skintone. i have found that this actually makes it look better...
 
gohkm

gohkm

Active member
To wash flesh (well, human flesh, at any rate), you could also try washing first with a red, then evening it out with a green wash. Or any other sort of complementary colour combination. They cancel each other out, and you'll wind up with a natural looking shade.
 
M

mattdus

New member
Thanks for the input. I admit I am wary of trying this as I can see it not going right somehow. I assume that using the current line of GW washes that I should thin them down some?
 
gohkm

gohkm

Active member
Not really. But I tend to use diluted paints as shades, so I don't have a lot of input here.
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Staff member
mattdus said:
Also I have been working on getting my flesh right lately and was wondering about a "flesh wash" Which I see used a lot, I have most of the GW washes but I think the organ flesh is too dark, would there be a better choice or maybe I just need to thin out the organ flesh wash?
Click to expand...
Well I'd suggest forgetting about using the flesh washes unless you just want to paint armies.
Since the vast majority of miniatures are based on a Caucasian facial shape you need to emmulate the skin tone to match and guess what "White skin" ain't pink.
Manufacturers use a pink biased paint as skin tones based on the 3 foot rule which allows our eyes and mental capacity to adjust to the contrast level needed to appear 'normal', when in reality our skintone is a soft brown colour with tones of yellow, blue, red and Ivory.
A few years ago I got introduced to watercolour painting (again) and the best hint, I picked up from a Painter called Charles Allen, was to wash my skin tone on the back of my hand, when it dissapears then it's the right colour.
So I use Vallejo Model Colour Brown Sand as a primary colour to work around, mixing Purple for shadows, Vallejo Model Colour Ivory for highlights, VMC Neutral Grey to age, VMC Burnt Umber to add lines and VMC Beige Red for florid cheeks.
 
M

mattdus

New member
Dragon, Thanks for all that. There is a lot there to think about and I definitely will be thinking. I looked through your gallery and I am guessing this viking berserker is done that way http://www.coolminiornot.com/28703 ? is done this way or close to it? I notice a hint of the purples in the flesh there.
 
K

Kalidane

New member
Dragonsreach said:
A few years ago I got introduced to watercolour painting (again) and the best hint, I picked up from a Painter called Charles Allen, was to wash my skin tone on the back of my hand, when it dissapears then it's the right colour.
So I use Vallejo Model Colour Brown Sand as a primary colour to work around, mixing Purple for shadows, Vallejo Model Colour Ivory for highlights, VMC Neutral Grey to age, VMC Burnt Umber to add lines and VMC Beige Red for florid cheeks.
Click to expand...

Holy crap that's the best succint guide to caucasian flesh I can recall. Can't believe I never thought to paint on me to test... obvious now
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back To Top
Top