Books Patterson is Boss McCoy's accountant. Whoever paints for the Pulp Figures website gave this guy a pinstriped suit--far too ambitious for me! I'm happy I managed eyebrows.
I looked at that pinstripe suit. That's where madness lies. If you can do that, you have no more levels to level up towards. Still: I guess patience, thin paint, and a steady hand is all it takes. Do one line at a time and allow each line to dry completely before committing to the next so that you can erase mistakes without obliterating your previous good lines.
I think somewhere along the way I gave you a practice sheet of shapes and lines to paint to allow you to do warm-ups and gain xp. I need that sheet for myself, I have it around somewhere. No matter what, spending time practising that fine line work in a sheet of paper or primed yoghurt container or whatever pays off in the future.
I'm looking at the website. It makes me think that your primer is clogging with paint. Maybe you need a better priming technique, but it's hard to say without watching you paint. The Pulp Figures painter is using underpainting, which I don't see much in your figures. Their underpainting is very thin paint. The primer would soak that up so that the effect is like coloured primer.
Clogged primer makes paint go lumpy, you've overloaded it with pigment. It should soak the pigment in evenly and leave a pristine surface for the next coat.
After colouring the primer with the underpainting, the artist put on a base coat and then they are dry-brushing a complementary colour on top, just a shade darker or lighter than the base coat. The complementary colour doesn't take up all the space that the base coat does, so the base coat shows through.
I know how to do this in 2D, but not so much in 3D. Someday, I will have to buy some miniatures and try it for myself, no doubt that will be humbling. But that's the theory.
I'm using spray cans to prime, typically in matte black, white, dark silver, or pale grey. It's possible I'm using too much primer, because sometimes I see that I've missed spots and I turn the miniatures around to spray them from another angle, hoping to catch the un-primed spots. Is that a possibility?
I don't use spray primer, but it's just as possible to overspray as it is to overpaint. Spray primer is good! Painted primer is better, but it takes a lot of skill and way too much time. With spray you can get equally good results in moments. If you really miss a spot, you could touch it up with a brush.
Normally, I'd use a gesso primer and then sand it down to get the finish I want. With spray, you can just prime and there you go. Like painting, use thin thin coats, so spray from maybe a foot away - no closer than six inches, lightly sweeping in brief bursts from side to side. Tsst! Sst! Let the primer "glide" onto the figure in a mist. If you have a fly tying clamp, that ought to help you reach all of the angles without fuss. They are inexpensive.
All you need is for the primer to provide a medium for the paint to hold onto. It should not be a thick coating. For models, it can be so sheer that you see the plastic or resin show through underneath. For painting, you want more, but only because you're trying to overcome the limitations of canvas. For models, you want to see the model detail. Thin-thin!
A trick in painting is to use coloured primer. You can use more than one colour! Prime the lower, darker parts of the model with dark primer. The upper parts where light will normally hit, mist a fine white primer from directly above. Your model will automagically build in some shadows and highlights that way, saving you from having to use paint to do that. Then all you have to do is tint the primer with thin thin paints to give it colour and drybrush the highlights.
One way you can tell if you are overpriming is if you see it collecting in the crevices of details in your figure, that and bubbles. You can also mask your characters to prime different parts in different colours.
I looked at that pinstripe suit. That's where madness lies. If you can do that, you have no more levels to level up towards. Still: I guess patience, thin paint, and a steady hand is all it takes. Do one line at a time and allow each line to dry completely before committing to the next so that you can erase mistakes without obliterating your previous good lines.
ReplyDeleteI think somewhere along the way I gave you a practice sheet of shapes and lines to paint to allow you to do warm-ups and gain xp. I need that sheet for myself, I have it around somewhere. No matter what, spending time practising that fine line work in a sheet of paper or primed yoghurt container or whatever pays off in the future.
I'm looking at the website. It makes me think that your primer is clogging with paint. Maybe you need a better priming technique, but it's hard to say without watching you paint. The Pulp Figures painter is using underpainting, which I don't see much in your figures. Their underpainting is very thin paint. The primer would soak that up so that the effect is like coloured primer.
Clogged primer makes paint go lumpy, you've overloaded it with pigment. It should soak the pigment in evenly and leave a pristine surface for the next coat.
After colouring the primer with the underpainting, the artist put on a base coat and then they are dry-brushing a complementary colour on top, just a shade darker or lighter than the base coat. The complementary colour doesn't take up all the space that the base coat does, so the base coat shows through.
I know how to do this in 2D, but not so much in 3D. Someday, I will have to buy some miniatures and try it for myself, no doubt that will be humbling. But that's the theory.
I'm using spray cans to prime, typically in matte black, white, dark silver, or pale grey. It's possible I'm using too much primer, because sometimes I see that I've missed spots and I turn the miniatures around to spray them from another angle, hoping to catch the un-primed spots. Is that a possibility?
ReplyDeleteThat was me, Earl J. Woods.
ReplyDeleteI don't use spray primer, but it's just as possible to overspray as it is to overpaint. Spray primer is good! Painted primer is better, but it takes a lot of skill and way too much time. With spray you can get equally good results in moments. If you really miss a spot, you could touch it up with a brush.
ReplyDeleteNormally, I'd use a gesso primer and then sand it down to get the finish I want. With spray, you can just prime and there you go. Like painting, use thin thin coats, so spray from maybe a foot away - no closer than six inches, lightly sweeping in brief bursts from side to side. Tsst! Sst! Let the primer "glide" onto the figure in a mist. If you have a fly tying clamp, that ought to help you reach all of the angles without fuss. They are inexpensive.
All you need is for the primer to provide a medium for the paint to hold onto. It should not be a thick coating. For models, it can be so sheer that you see the plastic or resin show through underneath. For painting, you want more, but only because you're trying to overcome the limitations of canvas. For models, you want to see the model detail. Thin-thin!
A trick in painting is to use coloured primer. You can use more than one colour! Prime the lower, darker parts of the model with dark primer. The upper parts where light will normally hit, mist a fine white primer from directly above. Your model will automagically build in some shadows and highlights that way, saving you from having to use paint to do that. Then all you have to do is tint the primer with thin thin paints to give it colour and drybrush the highlights.
Thanks, Jeff--I will try those priming techniques!
ReplyDeleteOne way you can tell if you are overpriming is if you see it collecting in the crevices of details in your figure, that and bubbles. You can also mask your characters to prime different parts in different colours.
ReplyDelete