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Nevelon you're going to have so much fun with these brushes! I wouldn't have thought this might make such a difference before I got some W&N after using synthetics for ages. Right now I'm using Raphael Kolinskys because the hobby supply store didn't have W&N in stock last time I ordered, but the W&N might be a little bit more better.

Here's whats happening on my table:


Needs another round of highlights/cleaning up, then I'll have to wait for the inks + technical paints I've ordered ...

Thanks Chris, Warpig and Squidworth for the kind words. Squidworth, the base of the model is an easy to build Sequitor with the arms and head chopped off. The arms and weapons are from the non-primaris space marines. The whip, pouches and head is from the ork boys kit. The bells are from plague marines and the candles are from the chainrasp kit. The helmet, shoulder pads and servo arms are from anvil industry.

Basically, it's a mish mash of stuff in my bits box in an attempt to free up space

 Tyranid Horde wrote:
Thanks Chris, Warpig and Squidworth for the kind words. Squidworth, the base of the model is an easy to build Sequitor with the arms and head chopped off. The arms and weapons are from the non-primaris space marines. The whip, pouches and head is from the ork boys kit. The bells are from plague marines and the candles are from the chainrasp kit. The helmet, shoulder pads and servo arms are from anvil industry.

Basically, it's a mish mash of stuff in my bits box in an attempt to free up space

Perfect thank you, I think you've captured the tone of the era perfectly with that model, bravo sir!

Going to call my entry finished, never usually finished this early in the month but I felt pretty good and "clicked" with the style. Let me know what you guys think, always keen on improving on a new technique!

Inquisitor's henchman Siegmund of House Girard







Nev, for when you compile these for voting, I'm spoilering the large images just people don't have to wait to scroll through them:

No pic, but I put the first sloppy blue down on the autobolt intercessors.

One I did with the #2 W&N.

First impression was a firmer brush. Technically referred to as the “snap” I think. Better control of were it goes. Kept the point nicely, One little stray hair decided to stick out. Nudged it back in. We’ll see how that guy behaves. The barrel of the brush held a lot more than I’m used to. Normally, I’m used to there not being a lot of time before paint gets wicked up to the ferrule. The paint just hung out mid-brush on the W&N. Also when I rinsed it out mid coat and reloaded it, there was a LOT of rinse water still in the brush, which over diluted the next load of paint. Easy to adjust my habits, just learning.

It took a long time to get one guy done with the sloppy basecoat blue stage. Part of this is that I had to be very careful with my nice new brush. When using old crappy brushes, I just stab them into the nooks and crannies to get paint there. Generally you should avoid pushing your brush, and paint by pulling.

I did the remaining 4 marines with my #4 ZEM, which I could treat roughly and not care about. It has trouble keeping a point, is a lot more floppy, and the time for the paint to race up the brush was quite short. I did get the set of 4 for like $20, so my expectations are low.

The W&N is hands down better, deserving of the rep. But for sloppy basecoats, overkill.

Nice work Tyranid Horde, i would push the flames closer to yellow myself but it probably looks more blanche style as is.

I made a start on my nmm steel. Needs highlighting all the way up to white but what do you think so far?

 Nevelon wrote:
OP should be updated to this point.

Please be sure to check that your entry is labeld correctly, and you new trick is listed right. I know a few of you had stretch goals in mind. If you don’t end up doing those, please note with your final pick what tricks you want listed in the vote thread.

@Freya - Is the thing you are painting a Zorn, for which you are using a limited palette? Or is a "Zorn limited palette" an art term I’m just not familiar with? In which case, what’s the critter?

It warms my heart to see all the support and advice here. One of the primary jobs of this whole contest IMHO is to push ourselves as painters and foster a community. This thread is full of that. Keep working together everyone!

The thing I'm painting is from Mini Monster Mayhem - Woodland Stag Deer -
The Zorn Limited palette is the challenge. I usually work with blues and pinks and greens but Zorn Limited palette limits you to Red, Yellow, Black and White. So I have to mix every single color I use... and also I have to make certain colors look like other colors they aren't by superimposing them against opposing colors. Like the green of the grass is actually yellow and black but it looks green against the reddish earth behind them.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Chris56 wrote:
Looking really good, Tyranid Horde - great idea and great execution.

Thanks for the excitement, Freya - it is really helping me push through despite the rather steep learning curve!
Using oils is, however, helping me to kick my brush-licking habit...

Yeah I struggled with that learning curve a bit too much. So maybe we can compare notes once you get through it. Would be great to get your perspective.

Lol! That's like putting hotsauce on your nailbeds to quit biting.

Okay, I've put my first lot of colour on after primer and zenithal. Initial thougths on using strictly contrast are:

First the positives

1 - Its fast.
...err, no no2.

Negatives.

(I probably went to hard on the zenithal - it's new to me)
1 - I cant force my own highlights/shading with them ( I know the Zhighlighting should do it, perhaps I'm looking for something a bit more striking than 'real' colour from the Zhighlight coat.
2 - If you go over the lines its a complete ball ache to cover over
3 - I have a very limited pallet of contrast paints (my issue, not the paints)

I think I will stick to using it more as a wash or for pulling together tones of layers.

Probably using the completely wrong terminology as I'm a barbarian.

Edit: Added some dry brushing to the leather with Steel Legion Drab and Balor brown to try and give a bit more of a grain effect to the leather, will go over this a few times with a hugely diluted Gore-Grunta contrast. Not convinced on the red for the cloth, may have to just paint them normally with a navy blue.

11/01 - I've been back over my dry brushing with a diluted gore grunta contrast - I had to dilute this down 1:8 contrast medium to stop it killing the dry brushing.
- I decided to stick with the red and have dulled it down quite a bit and am now kind of happy with the colour.
- Messed about with washes between the leather and gilding and am now happy with that.
- Next task is to green stuff the mould lines along the shoulder armor as it looks pretty horrible at the second.

I was feeling quite unimpressed with the whole contrast paints but with a bit of extra work dry brushing/weak layering it's turning out ok in my very noob painting opinion.
Will upload the pics one I've added some colour to the hat feathers. Going to try for a peacock feather look I think.

Not sure if this should qualify as a new trick, but I'm going to use a new technique for painting Dark Angels power armor, and the subject is 5 of the Assault Intercessors from Indomitus:

The new trick in question: I'm going to do most of the armor colors using drybrushing, and the shading will be done with Contrast paint rather than the Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade I usually use. I've used drybrushing to edge highlight stuff many times before, but I've never done as extensive of a drybrush coat as I'm planning. Ran across the technique on YouTube and I really liked the results, so we'll see if I can actually make it work (or if it'll be a disaster!).

Here are some more WIP shots:


I'm working with a black-brown/ice blue/white mix, which gives a warmer sort of grey. This model has a lot of different surfaces, all curving in different directions, and I'm not entirely sure I'm lining the highlights up correctly. ANy thoughts?

It looks ok to me. I don't get too anal about my NMM. As long as there are no totally obvious highlights that don't fit with other light areas on the model for example, I generally just wing it.

Is the front of his torso tubular? Because if it isn't would change the vertical highlights. If it is then no worries.

Josh, that's pretty added so far! Only thing I'd say is a darker level of shading on those back plates. Where NMM really works is a white to black transition on each surface. IMHO

I have two things I may do for this. I've been collecting bits for a force of Fire Angels recently. I plan on trying NMM for the bulk of the armor. Also, I've never really committed to a loyalist marine force.

The other option is a Magma Elemental for a Chaos Dwarf KoW army. It would be the first unit I've painted for them and I want to try and paint each separate rock as an obsidion jewel effect with lava in the creases.

What say you, Dakka?

Gandalf basically done. Might go back and add some brighter highlights in his beard, hair and the rune stone, but I have 2 weeks so he can sit on my mantelpiece for a bit...

I think I'm done with this fantastic challenge. I had to really think about how to mix colors to make the tones I wanted. Very difficult for me since I'm used to just blending two paints and not having to worry too much.
Zorn Limited palette of Red, Yellow, White and Black only.

 Freya wrote:
I think I'm done with this fantastic challenge. I had to really think about how to mix colors to make the tones I wanted. Very difficult for me since I'm used to just blending two paints and not having to worry too much.
Zorn Limited palette of Red, Yellow, White and Black only.

Spoiler:

The hue's and colour trickery!!! Looks utterly amazing!

That is straight up black magic. The Inquisition shall be paying you a call shortly.

Squidworth wrote:

 Freya wrote:
I think I'm done with this fantastic challenge. I had to really think about how to mix colors to make the tones I wanted. Very difficult for me since I'm used to just blending two paints and not having to worry too much.
Zorn Limited palette of Red, Yellow, White and Black only.

Spoiler:

The hue's and colour trickery!!! Looks utterly amazing!

Thank you! You guys are super kind ❤

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
It looks ok to me. I don't get too anal about my NMM. As long as there are no totally obvious highlights that don't fit with other light areas on the model for example, I generally just wing it.

Is the front of his torso tubular? Because if it isn't would change the vertical highlights. If it is then no worries.

The front of the torso is angular (not rounded) where I put the highlights. How do you think the highlights should work in that case?

Wow, it's shaping up to be a great month already.
Some truly great work from JoshInJapan, Freya and QAR and only a third of the way through!

I am quite enjoying this challenge - it really is proving to be a genuine challenge for me.
I have never painted with oils before at all, so I am finding them quite counter-intuitive to use.

Lessons learned so far:
1. Do NOT use an oil-paint undercoat!!!! I undercoated my models with black and it took 5 days to dry...hmmm, glad I started early for a change.
2. Do NOT lick brush to shape the point...
3. Wet blending seems to muddy colours really quickly...getting lots of shades of brown!
4. Thinning oil paints with linseed oil works better than thinning with turpentine but takes FOREVER to dry.


So...I am learning a lot, which is good. My models look pretty terrible at the moment, which is not good...

 Chris56 wrote:


2. Do NOT lick brush to shape the point...

That sounds like a valuable lesson, and not likely to be forgotten soon (>.<

 Chris56 wrote:
Wow, it's shaping up to be a great month already.
Some truly great work from JoshInJapan, Freya and QAR and only a third of the way through!

I am quite enjoying this challenge - it really is proving to be a genuine challenge for me.
I have never painted with oils before at all, so I am finding them quite counter-intuitive to use.

Lessons learned so far:
1. Do NOT use an oil-paint undercoat!!!! I undercoated my models with black and it took 5 days to dry...hmmm, glad I started early for a change.
2. Do NOT lick brush to shape the point...
3. Wet blending seems to muddy colours really quickly...getting lots of shades of brown!
4. Thinning oil paints with linseed oil works better than thinning with turpentine but takes FOREVER to dry.


So...I am learning a lot, which is good. My models look pretty terrible at the moment, which is not good...

Yeah I ruined the headless horseman model the same way by undercoating and then everything went pear shaped. Also, cadmium isn't healthy for you so don't eat the yellow ones.

 Chris56 wrote:
Wow, it's shaping up to be a great month already.
Some truly great work from JoshInJapan, Freya and QAR and only a third of the way through!

I am quite enjoying this challenge - it really is proving to be a genuine challenge for me.
I have never painted with oils before at all, so I am finding them quite counter-intuitive to use.

Lessons learned so far:
1. Do NOT use an oil-paint undercoat!!!! I undercoated my models with black and it took 5 days to dry...hmmm, glad I started early for a change.
2. Do NOT lick brush to shape the point...
3. Wet blending seems to muddy colours really quickly...getting lots of shades of brown!
4. Thinning oil paints with linseed oil works better than thinning with turpentine but takes FOREVER to dry.


So...I am learning a lot, which is good. My models look pretty terrible at the moment, which is not good...

Yeah always do an acrylic basecoat for whatever oil colour you're using. This makes the process much easier. Give it time to dry before doing any blends with it. I would normally put a layer on, then leave it until the next day before adding blend colours, which can help avoid ending up with a swirly mess. You want to take as much of the oil out of the paint before applying too, which is why some people squeeze them out onto cardboard or paper and set them sit for a while to soak up some of the oil before applying. You can get drying accelerants too but I haven't used them. I would probably try them if I was doing a lot of oil work.

Dumb question to the oil folks - how do you deal with the odor? I've painted a little bit with oils (on canvas, but I *think* I used oil on my possibly first metal mini, a metal ork warbike) as a teenager and kind of liked it, but right now I live in a rather small flat and my hobby space is basically the second half of my home office desk which I spend most of the day at right now. So would I die, or would I be fine if I just don't leave all the stuff lying around open?

Open windows are generally best if you don't have a shed. I paint in the evenings at my home office desk and that is in it's own room so when I'm working with oils I work in short bursts as the smell is pretty potent, and that's even working with the odourless spirits.

Just make sure you leave the room when you're done and clear up any white spirits that may give you headaches, oils in general aren't too smelly unless you cover yourself in them.

I use a citadel pot full of white spirit for thinner. It's so small that I barely notice any odour or fumes. You shouldn't have a problem if you're only using tiny amounts.

WIP


So after the first pass for the blue, I switched to the W&N #1 for the first detail pass. They are not magic wands that instantly make everything better. My hands still shake the same, my eyes still suck. So there is still some slop. Would have it been better if I did this pass with the #0? Probably, but would have take longer. Running with the old advice of use the biggest brush you can for the space you are painting.

Point control was a lot better. Doesn’t help me when bumping the side of the brush against things, but was nice. Easier to use. Less of the feeling of trying to force the brush to get where it needed to be, or figure out how the mis-shapen point needs to angle to get into that corner.

Just one or two more colors and then I’m at the wash and drybrush stage. I will use the W&Ns for the targeted washes, but for the final blue glaze and the drybrushing, I’ll probably stick with the cheepos. Final edging and detail cleanup will be back to the nice ones.

My entry for this month will be this snake-person (Naga?) from Reaper's Bones line. This is a grey-coloured variant of the Bones material which I haven't painted before, and I'll be following some tips from the Reaper forums on how best to paint Bones figures (which principally involves base coating with Reaper's Brown Liner paint).

Proof Picture. New Tricks: New Material ("grey" Reaper Bones) and New Technique (Brown Liner basecoat, etc).


An early WIP: painted with Brown Liner.

Thanks for the advice Tyranid Horde & QAR - guess this could work if I paint in the evenings and keep the door closed & windows open, let's see if I find a suitable project in the next months.

Slow progress on Elucia Vhane, happy with the leather now, the frilly (is that even a word!?) collar stuff is quite a challenge to keep crisp and I'm going to have to find a pin to get the smaller detail going - I've used the tip of my glaze brush for this so far. The face is going to be the biggest challenge with this model (first flesh painted in 20 years and it's all hidden under shade and recesses. I've got no flesh colours as my entire SM force is wearing helms and has bionics rather than flesh so I'm going to have to order a fleshy contrast and probably some agrax? Any pointers when it comes to faces would be well appreciated.

I'm toying with the idea of adding some darker/lighter golds to the gilding, this is sidetracking me from coursework so I'm probably going to drop the project until the fleshy paints arrive as priorities and all that. I'm most certainly getting left in the dust so far as painting quality goes but that's to be expected considering the number of years since picking up a brush, I'm kind of happy with it personally, which is all that matters.

EDIT; I'll charge my actual camera for future pics rather than my iphone...

 Nevelon wrote:
WIP


So after the first pass for the blue, I switched to the W&N #1 for the first detail pass. They are not magic wands that instantly make everything better. My hands still shake the same, my eyes still suck. So there is still some slop. Would have it been better if I did this pass with the #0? Probably, but would have take longer. Running with the old advice of use the biggest brush you can for the space you are painting.

Point control was a lot better. Doesn’t help me when bumping the side of the brush against things, but was nice. Easier to use. Less of the feeling of trying to force the brush to get where it needed to be, or figure out how the mis-shapen point needs to angle to get into that corner.

Just one or two more colors and then I’m at the wash and drybrush stage. I will use the W&Ns for the targeted washes, but for the final blue glaze and the drybrushing, I’ll probably stick with the cheepos. Final edging and detail cleanup will be back to the nice ones.

I find it difficult going with dark colors on top of light ones like your blue over white... I've only just started really getting into Zenithal Highlighting this year and I'm not sure how I'd do ultramarines like the ones you're doing cuz I'd probably butcher the blue. I can't wait to see how they turn out.