I'm currently working on the third model of Reapers Learn to Paint kit, and decided to go a bit off book. It's been a few months since I worked on the first few models, so I recently finished the base coat and a wash. I don't feel like the wash did much this time, and I'm not sure if I did it wrong, or it's just so subtle I don't notice. Next comes dry-brushing, and it says to use the original color for the base coats, but when I do that, it doesn't seem to do/add anything. Is it strange to dry-brush with the original color? Will it make more sense after I add the highlight dry-brush layer? Not sure if this is inexperience speaking, or a technique problem. I do remember when I was doing the first two minis, dry brushing felt like it added something.
#Struggling with dry-brushing
primal trail
twilit breach
it would be great if you could post a photo, but basically if the wash is almost the same colour as the basecoat then it won't be very noticeable. and consequently doing a dry brush on the basecoat colour also won't change the look.
primal trail
It was mostly a black wash, but yah, lemme post some photos
signal phoenix
It could be having you do an original color dry brush just in case the wash leaves some stains on large surfaces?
twilit breach
i definitely can't see the effects of a wash on that. where did you apply it?
the colours are quite bright so a black wash should be noticeable
primal trail
A blue/black wash on the sword, a darker brown on the leather, black everywhere else.
I feel like I see it on the leather, but maybe I didn't apply the wash well elsewhere/over diluted it?
signal phoenix
Probably just needs another layer of wash
twilit breach
then i'd recommend doing another coat of the wash so it has a more noticeable effect.
primal trail
OK, I'll start there, thanks
Should I keep the same dilution?
It said 1 drop of paint to 4-5 drops to water
twilit breach
are you using a "wash" or just diluting regular paint?
because that affects how much you should dilute it
primal trail
Uh... The mini paint + drops of water.
twilit breach
and what effect it would have
primal trail
I didn't know there's a diff wash paint?
twilit breach
that's all good but it has a different effect
in a nutshell, "washes" as a product sold on shelves come pre diluted with a different medium. this allows them to flow easily into the recesses.
you can dilute them a bit but you don't need to per say
primal trail
Ah, OK. Yah, in this case, it's not that.
twilit breach
when you add water to regular paint it still flows into the recesses like a wash but you need to put more effort into controlling where it goes
because it doesn't flow as well on its own
primal trail
I noticed that :/ I def screwed up some, wiped it off, then tried again.
twilit breach
yeah, also there's a fine line between a wash and a glaze
primal trail
Maybe I ended up with a glaze instead of a wash? It definitely looks darker, but not filled in like a wash.
twilit breach
so more experienced painters often use a glaze (which is usually homemade not bought off a shelf). this is also just thinned paint. it will have a very minor effect so you need to apply lots of coats to get the look you want
what i recommend might be a bit trickier but it should work well. i would thin the paint maybe 3 water to 1 paint or so, and apply it to the armour. then take a damp brush and wipe the excess paint off the raised areas where you don't want it
twilit breach
and i'd call that technique a mixture of a wash, a glaze, and feathering to get technical
primal trail
I'm sure I'll need a lot of advice when I'm done, heh. I just hope it's good enough for a first go.
twilit breach
it'll be fine. it's a useful technique to practice for any mini
and it's easy to correct if it goes wrong
but what's nice about it is it gives you a lot of control over the final effect. if the paint looks too strong you can wipe it off, thin it more, and try again
primal trail
I'll try the wash after I grab some dinner, maybe the dry brush tomorrow.
twilit breach
if it isn't strong enough you can dilute it less or apply multiple coats after it dries
twilit breach
the important thing is you want the "wash" to settle in the recesses and not on the armour plates. so you can ideally wipe it off the plates as you go with the clean damp brush. but don't worry if it starts to dry. you can always go back in with the armour colour and repaint the places that you don't want it
after its dried
primal trail
Got it, I guess that's where the dry brush comes in too
primal trail
Meh, all about learning right now.
twilit breach
yeah, every technique has it's quirks
the reason people like buying pre made washes is they tend to do the work for you so you don't need to clean up the flat areas as much
primal trail
I'm not even sure yet how much I like mini painting, but that's probably Perfectionism and self criticism
twilit breach
i've been painting a while and i still get that problem. but i enjoy seeing how each of my minis improves on something that i didn't like about the last one
and i like having a hobby where you have to put in more time to get a good result because it feels more rewarding when you do
primal trail
Yah, I'm hoping with this community and some positive feedback, I may enjoy it too.
twilit breach
welcome to the hobby! i hope you enjoy it
i have always had good experiences with the community
they are very helpful and supportive
primal trail
Not saying I expect everyone to love my work, I expect criticism, but hopefully tempered.
Thanks.
Alright, time for some dinner then I'll try the wash again.
twilit breach
make sure to specify when you want feedback and when you don't. sometimes it's nice to get encouragement and other times its nice to improve. but the feedback i see people give on here is always constructive and positive. we all started somewhere and my first paint jobs were terrible
primal trail
Yah, makes sense. Thanks.
twilit breach
hopefully the wash goes well. post a pic when you finish!
primal trail
I'll post all 3 (first two by the book, third kinda trying stuff out) when I'm done.
twilit breach
definitely looks better. it's up to you if you want to push the contrast more and make the shadows darker. personally i would as it think it makes the end result more striking but it's up to you.
the divots in the shoulder pad for example i'd make them darker
primal trail
I can't seem to darken them with a wash
I feel like it may have been a poor choice incolor there
Going for a darker yellow
Maybe mixing some yellow + steel and paint over
twilit breach
sorry i wasn't very clear. i was only focusing on the silver armour and i though that those indented sections would looks better if they were darker
primal trail
Oh, I can try to do that
Thanks!
Oh, you did say divots. I read "dots", sorry!
I'll keep working oni t
twilit breach
in general you want "contrast" so bright highlights and dark shadows
that is an area that is recessed so i recommend making it darker
while the drybrushing which is the next step will provide highlights
twilit breach
Oh, you did say divots. I read "dots", sorry!
all good
primal trail
I probably need to watch a video on applying washes too. I think the first time, I kept it very light, worrying the black would darken everything
This second time, I let a lot more sit
And it worked better
twilit breach
watching videos is always good
the yellow is a different story. there is an advanced technique called non metallic metal where people paint gold or silver using yellows or white/black respectively. i'm not sure if you were going for a gold look but that technique is quite difficult and i would recommend you try it when you are more experienced (i'm still new to it myself).
if you only painted it yellow to stand out, then i agree that colour differentiation is important but yellow is very bright and looks a little out of place.
primal trail
Oh, 100%
I wanted to try it
And it didnt turn out
I may try to strip the paint and go over with a mix of yellow and something darker
twilit breach
when it comes to applying a wash it's worth thinking about what colour to use. black is great for dark surfaces like steel but it doesn't work well at all on yellow
it makes it look "muddy"
primal trail
Yah, agreed
twilit breach
Maybe mixing some yellow + steel and paint over
you can definitely give this a try but i don't think it will work very well. if you want to get it to look like shiny yellow metal i recommend you paint it silver and then try to get a yellow ink to stain it with
primal trail
I appreciate all the advice. I don't expect this to look great. As I said, it's still learning. I can't expect to be great.
twilit breach
you can definitely give this a try but i don't think it will work very well. if ...
inks are similar to pre mixed washes but have better coverage
twilit breach
of course. sorry if all this is overwhelming or sounds like i'm attacking you. the mini is a great start and i already see an improvement with the wash. the dry brushing will make it even better!
primal trail
No no, not at all!
I really appreciate the advice
And the knowledge
I feel like you're giving me useful feedback 🙂
primal trail
It's definitely a lot, but I'll take what I can and store away the rest for later
Yah, had a lot of trouble with it so far :p
I just thought red+yellow would be a good combo
twilit breach
basically its famous for having weak coverage, so it can be hard to get a solid bright coat of paint without the paint being too thick
primal trail
Heh, yah
twilit breach
and it's can also be hard to shade
one option is to buy darker yellow of course. you can shade it with orange instead but that looks very orange
primal trail
Yah, I'm not gonna stress the yllow for now
twilit breach
the "colour theory" approach would be to add a tiny amount of purple to darken it
primal trail
If I can make a blend I like, great, if not, w/e
twilit breach
absolutely
it's fine to read about what works well and what doesn't but its much more useful to try it yourself
personally because the surface that you painted yellow is meant to be armour (i think) i'd probably re paint it either silver or gold
gold could be a nice way of keeping it a similar colour but making it fit better
as it's metallic
primal trail
I meant it to be a yellow over matte metal, which maybe should have been silver/metal under with a yellow coat or two above.
twilit breach
hmm, to be honest i actually don't think you need it to be silver under the yellow for it to read as yellow painted metal. unless you want it to be shiny yellow
twilit breach
give it a try but normally it's very hard to make darker yellow by adding black
primal trail
As we said before, try it out. Worst case it doesn't work 🙂
primal trail
Thanks
primal trail
Harvest Brown, Heartbreak Red, Mountain Stone, Polished Silver, Blade Steel, Leather Brown, Candlelight Yellow, Dragon Blue, Pure Black, Naga Green, Dragon White, Desert Sand
It was part of the Reaper Learn to Paint kit
3 minis and the above paints, plus a booklet on how to paint each of them
twilit breach
that's a bit odd, they didn't give you a red
primal trail
Heartbreak Red
twilit breach
my mistake
primal trail
No worries, I shouldn't have listed it as such
twilit breach
i just went to google to find the set to see the particular shades of the colours (since i don't use reaper) and they showed fewer paints
primal trail
Maybe the set has changed since
twilit breach
thanks
09030-Leather Brown
09037-Pure Black
09054-Polished Silver
09200-Harvest Brown
09408-Candlelight Yellow
09413-Naga Green
09432-Desert Sand
09433-Mountain Stone
09439-Dragon White
09452-Blade Steel
09472-Dragon Blue
but that's weird
primal trail
No red on that list
twilit breach
i can't see the red
twilit breach
even better
red is very important
so don't feel pressured to do it, but if you find that the yellow and black mix look too green for your taste i'd recommend adding a bit of purple to the yellow instead. and since the kit doesn't seem to have purple you just mix blue and red
primal trail
Yah, I got a color wheel in front of me 🙂
Thanks!
I'll try to mxi up some yellow tonight,a nd if it doesn't work, I'll just move on to dry brushing tomorrow
twilit breach
have fun mixing. when i paint i struggle the most when i can't understand why something looks off. that's why i'm mentioning some of the common problems that other people and i often have (like darkening yellow) so when you run into them you know what's going on
primal trail
Yah, I appreciate it!
It's really useful info
I can see how black + yellow doesn't lead to dark yellow
twilit breach
but as a rule of thumb sometimes just finishing a model and starting the next one is more productive than spending hours trying to make one perfect
primal trail
I can also see yellow + black layer or something else. But that's something to learn over time
Yah, I'm trying HARD to not be too perfectionist on this
I'm trying to work past it
twilit breach
definitely and issue i run into
as long as i feel like i've learnt something from a model i consider it a good spend of time so i can move on to something new
twilit breach
I can also see yellow + black layer or something else. But that's something to l...
not quite sure what you mean here
primal trail
not quite sure what you mean here
Haha, I'm not 100% either. Part of me wonders about yellow + a slightly thinned black over to give it a diff shade. But color theory says that won't work just as is.
twilit breach
that's kind of like glazing over a colour to tint it and people do it all the time. but the black and yellow will still have the reaction that makes them look green
primal trail
Yah, experimentation time :p
primal trail
Thanks
twilit breach
have fun with it, don't get stressed when it isn't perfect
i was wondering if you had a particular goal that you're working towards with painting? are they figures for a dnd game or something, or is it just because you're interesting in trying out painting for fun?
primal trail
I'm trying to build up non digital hobbies
twilit breach
that's a good idea
primal trail
I enjoy artistic stuff, and I've been in the RPG sceen for the last 15 years, so I went for it
And as I'm currently GMing an RL game, the mistakes can become BBEG :p
twilit breach
lol, seems perfect then
have fun with it and i'm happy to help if you have other questions (or just want to show me)
primal trail
Thanks
granite sluice
Hey, Late to the Party. I think it Looks already Good, particularly it Looks like the paint is properly thinned. Iirc reaper bones start out a bit Thun we already, so keep that in mind for water to paint ratios. There are a IMO two things you can do tk push it further if you want:
- Black line: use thinned paint and the very tip of your brush to separate some areas That would be separates by shadows. The different parts of the chest armor seem to be a Prime candidate for that. The cloth at the waste and between the Fingers could look nice (though that will be difficult).
Don’t be afraid of strong contrasts, getting rid of contrast later on is usually relatively easy.
Add more highlights: This is something the dry brushing will do but you can also do it “manually” if you feel That After dry brushing it needs a bit more contrast.
You set yourself a really difficult task with yellow 😅 if you cannot make the other parts of yellow darker you can try the opposite and try to make the complementary parts lighter. This is much more time consuming though 🙂
Anyway, keep it up and don’t be too discouraged if it doesn’t look like you want. It takes time (for most ppl). And when looking back in a few months or a year you’ll see how much you’ve improved 🙂