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How do I make my painting better? Should I buy citadel brushes? (The ones I have right now are a cheap 10pk for $8 set from hobby lobby). Here is some pictures of a painted guy:
I based it with zandri dust spray, washed it with seriphim sepia, then drybrushed ushabti bone. The armor is based mephiston red with evil sunz scarlet highlight. I know I have some red spots on the skin because I didn't finish detailing it up yet. Also does primer make a difference? I used krylon black primer ($5). Should I get citadel primer ($15)instead?
well to start What dont you like about how you paint or what do you feel you want to get done better?
The models look fine for gaming.
for Primers. it will make a diffrence at the end. when you prime black the colors come out richer but in general its harder to build up lighter colors. while Whites end up very Vibrant where all the colors will pop hard.
so its ultimately down to what you are trying to get out of your models.
Personally id look into layering techniques over the dry brushing one.
Sure its quick and looks ok but it can look very sloppy at times.
Your Reds while clean look too soild. instead of Evil Sun Scarlet try the brown wash (agrax earth shade???)
as to brushes. If you are going to spend citadel money on brushes you might as well go get your self some rosemary co or WN7 brushes. or any other good sable brush. but with all of it you need to take care of your brushes and use them properly.
(dont let the paint get up to the metal bit, dont let paint dry on it. always rinse it off and use brush soap to clean it after you are done painting with it.)
There is literally no way you could paint 100 models, one at a time, and not get better. The comparison from your first and last models would be hugely noticeable.
There are obviously techniques that can make you paint faster, but they tend to come at a cost of quality. Dipping is the best example of this - paint 3 colours on the model, dip it, done. Drybrushing is probably the next example - if it isn't fur, drybrushing can be exchange for layering or feathering to really change the appearance. Washing is another example - useful for a lot of things, but often overused as an easy way to make shadow.
Your painting is actually pretty good, though I am interested in why you washed and drybrushed the body and not the carapace? That would make a pretty big difference to the appearance.
Cheap brushes don't seem to be hurting you yet, but I wouldn't really bother with citadel brushes. I can't give you an alternative as I don't know how well you will go importing rosemary and co or some other kolinsky sable brushes given they are banned there now. Regardless, really good brushes aren't going to be the magic bullet - practice will.
I didn't wash the red because the GW employee helping me said you don't need to shade the red for now. This is my 3rd figure painted. I want to know how to make my minis too look stunning on the tabletop and on the shelf. Thanks for the quick replies!
If its only for the table top you are going to have to think about the model looking good relatively from 3 feet away. so you dont have to scrutinize them right on your face.
as for a Top shelf look. you are going to be in for a LONG ride of practice
btw 3 feet away of fully painted good looking nids is absolutely stunning. so its a quality of its own.
I know I need practice but I was looking for tips, tricks, and techniques to make them look better. I was also looking for opinions on brushes.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also for the skin should I use ceramic white and sepia wash or zandri dust base sepia wash and ushabti bone drybrushed?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/13 22:53:24
#1 tip of all time...... thin your paints try to get them kinda milky in consistancy. and paint them in a few layers to get a good coat.
To avoid streaks make sure you always paint on wet to wet. this is more for tanks but can be useful for big guys. as well If you are gona wash try to as well go wet on wet or if possible on one go. if you go over the previous areas after it dries you will see streaks and stuff.
Try to learn layering. it looks better than dry brushing for most applications. it just takes a lot longer
Opinions in brushes. eventually investing in a good brush and maintaining it properly will save you some heart ache and even some money in the long run.
WN7 brushes are like 20$ to get and 4 dollars of brush soap. the tip on that thing if used properly will last you years. as apposed to most cheapo stuff that needs to be replaced constantly.
thats my opinion on brushes anyway.
I use P3 brushes for the time being. I have two that I've been using for a couple of years and all the others I buy I arts stores don't seem to have the longevity of them. Thay are very smooth with nice points.
If I may offer you one advice, when you tine your paint, do it on a wet palette. A wet palette is the single item, beside expericence, that had an impact to improved my work. The paint stays liquid and don't dry ultra fast like on a plastic palette. You can close the lid and continue the a few days later with the same paint in the palette.
With my Tamiya drying so fast I dont even use a palette! I just thin with bits of water on a piece of paper. I could not figure it out how to drop paint on palette from those glass jars. That makes me reconsider switching to Valejjo. Anyway, Wet palette is something that might help me with fast drying.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/14 13:30:52
I use citadel brushed....I cant find a good brush as they always get bent out of shape and the little "hairs" start to come off or get messed up. Painting seems to be a little more difficulty for me recently...I might need to try airbrushing, im not sure what im doing wrong :(
Wyzilla wrote: Saying the Eldar won the War in Heaven is like saying a child won a fight with a murderer simply because after breaking into his house, shooting his mother and father through the head, the thug took off in a car instead of finishing off the kid.
DaKKaLAnce wrote: I use citadel brushed....I cant find a good brush as they always get bent out of shape and the little "hairs" start to come off or get messed up. Painting seems to be a little more difficulty for me recently...I might need to try airbrushing, im not sure what im doing wrong :(
Cheaper brushes are cheaper for a reason
Just make sure you dont get paint up to the metal thing. and make sure you clean out your brush constantly
The second you get dried gak in there the whole thing will start splitting at the base.
Im gonna assume you are using the GW water pots. (well i know a lot of people that do)
Don't. You dont want your wooden handled brush soaking in water... its gona expand and contract constantly.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/14 17:21:07
So dipping the brush in a water pot is actually bad for it? man , Ive been doing it wrong for awhile.... Im actually a "dipper" I use the paint pot and don't pour it out, im not sure if that makes a difference but have read some people don't agree with it.
Wyzilla wrote: Saying the Eldar won the War in Heaven is like saying a child won a fight with a murderer simply because after breaking into his house, shooting his mother and father through the head, the thug took off in a car instead of finishing off the kid.
DaKKaLAnce wrote: So dipping the brush in a water pot is actually bad for it? man , Ive been doing it wrong for awhile.... Im actually a "dipper" I use the paint pot and don't pour it out, im not sure if that makes a difference but have read some people don't agree with it.
Err i mean leaving the brush clipped to the side in the water for long periods of time.
as well using the paint pots isnt that bad at all.
usually i have a brush loaded with water and use the little tab scoop thing under the cap as a small pallet for the color to thin my paints.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/14 17:31:53
Dipping it in water is not bad for it. It's hard to clean the paint out if you don't. You don't want to leave is soaking for a few hours. Clean it, gently dry it and reshape the tip. When you are done painting for the session, clean it with brush soap and reshape the tip. If you get paint in the ferrule (the metal tip), the bristles will splay out and you might as well buy a new brush.
"If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut." - Albert Einstein
ok, so maybe its the brushes that have made painting very difficult for me. I bought the brushes and they seem to be splitting up the hairs and making painting and detail a little difficult. Im almost thinking about trying airbrushing just to avoid all of this trouble.
Wyzilla wrote: Saying the Eldar won the War in Heaven is like saying a child won a fight with a murderer simply because after breaking into his house, shooting his mother and father through the head, the thug took off in a car instead of finishing off the kid.
DaKKaLAnce wrote: ok, so maybe its the brushes that have made painting very difficult for me. I bought the brushes and they seem to be splitting up the hairs and making painting and detail a little difficult. Im almost thinking about trying airbrushing just to avoid all of this trouble.
More brush tips
Clean with cold water. Hot will curl the ends.
Leave a little brush soap on the tip and form a point. Wash it off before starting again. This will keep the point trained.
DaKKaLAnce wrote: ok, so maybe its the brushes that have made painting very difficult for me. I bought the brushes and they seem to be splitting up the hairs and making painting and detail a little difficult. Im almost thinking about trying airbrushing just to avoid all of this trouble.
Airbrushing has its own monsters FYI
God if this isn't the understatement of the century. Standard brushing is a billion times easier, airbrushing is a great way to get large uniform areas of paint down and do interesting shading, but it requires a lot of work
Yeah, you're either making it battle damage or painting it again.
I painted a commissar the other week and managed to accidentally rip part of his cloak paint away with the liquid mask - can't decide if I am going to fix it with a brush or strip it.
I can tell you exactly the problem with the model. It's exactly the problem I had when I finaly started painting (been playing since 2nd edition, but only painting since 5th). Now, since I'm only a decent painter, I'm not going to comment on the quality of your technique, but I think I see the issue you see.
You have no colour separation. You have what basically amounts to 2 solid colours, washing and dry brushing with different shades aside, and nothing to break them up. That's why you're having issues with how your model looks. Again, to use myself as an example, when I started painting my guardsmen, I painted them basecoated green, painted the clothing grey and the lasgun was metallic grey and copper. Little details were done in metallic grey as well. So I ended up with a fully painted model that had large areas of the same colour. The spots that were broken up by a different colour, simply faded into the same colour again. Small areas of different colour scattered around the model bring it to life and add depth to it's appearance.
While practice with make you more proficient at painting, and your models will look more polished, they won't look "better" until you add more colour to break up the large areas.
For example, look at the areas on the arms or legs that are a different "texture". Those areas that look like muscle amidst all that bone. If you put a different colour there, then you end up breaking up the area and it improves the overall visual appeal of the whole model.
I started going back and doing just that to my guardsmen, now that I've done a lot more painting since I did them originally. I'll dig them out and post up two pics for you to see what I mean.
I took some pictures to show the difference in adding just a bit more colour on different parts to break up the main colours. I've been working out 12'000 points of Chaos Marines for the past long while and so any work on my Guard is on hold (since when I tried out adding a bit more colour to a few models), but when I'm done with the marines, I'm heading back to the guard to bring them up to the next level. Here's the link to the comparison pics. I'm bad at taking good shots, so you"ll have to zoom in. There are three different stages of added colour. http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-40466-47692_Ig%20Comparison.html
Automatically Appended Next Post:
DalinCriid wrote: With my Tamiya drying so fast I dont even use a palette! I just thin with bits of water on a piece of paper. I could not figure it out how to drop paint on palette from those glass jars. That makes me reconsider switching to Valejjo. Anyway, Wet palette is something that might help me with fast drying.
I love my Tamiya paints, but because of their... temperment, I just paint right from the jar. Line up ten models and 5 paints. By the time you do colour 1 on model 10, model one is dry and ready for colour 2.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2015/07/15 02:06:31
"He's doing the Lord's work. And by 'Lord' I mean Lord of Skulls." -Kenny Boucher
Prepare yourselves for the onslaught men. The enemy is waiting, but your Officers are courageous and your bayonettes sharp! I have at my disposal an entire army of Muskokans, tens of thousands of armour and artillery supporting millions upon tens of millions of the Imperium's finest fighting men with courage in their bellies, fire in their hearts and lasguns in their hands. Emperor show mercy to mine enemies, for as sure as the Imperium is vast, I will not!
- General Robert Thurgood of the Emperor's Own Lasguns before the landings at Traitor's Folly at the onset of the Chrislea's Road Campaign
"Pride goeth before the fall... to Slaanesh"
- ///name stricken///, former 'Emperor's Champion'
I had no idea masking fluid could do that, though. that's worrisome.
