Brushes and Space Wolves

[gilljoy]

Hey all,

Been a long time lurker and finally got around to registering, some of the tallent on here makes me green with envy, but I'm gona keep plodding on and practicing my painting.

I'm just wondering if you's could help me out with something. I need to pick up some new brushes and I was just wondering about what the general concencious is on which size of brushes to pick up. Coming form GW brushes mainly I'm not certain which sizes to order. Probably going to pick up Winsor and Newton or some Raphael brushes. Any advice would be brilliant.

Also second question, any tips for painting space wolves? I dont want to have them the baby blue style colour of GW but my own attempts at making them a dark grey with a blue-ish tinge just turn out very very bland

 

[BPI]

Roughly equate to...

GW Standard = No. 1
GW Detail = No. 0
GW Fine Detail = No. 00 (aka 2/0)

B.

 

[gilljoy]

Brilliant

So a 0 and a 1 would be a good shout for replacing some of my GW stuff? Or should I get a slightly bigger brush like a 2?

 

[BPI]

As they are finer and retain a superior point I'd certainly say a No. 2 was worth a punt. You may well find that you don't need to resort to the 0s very much at all for general work. But if budget initially only stretches to a pair then i think 1 and 0 are the correct starting point. Assuming you're painting standard ~28mm stuff. B.

 

[RuneBrush]

I tend to use a No2 for most of my "large area" bits (i.e. the bulk of the mini), and a No1 for the rest (i.e. face, details). As BPI says they retain a very good point if you look after them so it's only really fine detail I crack out the No0 (silly eye's and such like)

As for Space Wolves try using a thinned purple wash as your initial shadow and shade into that. I've found that it knocks off the grey edge with a tiny hint of warmth.

pete.

ps welcome to the site!

 

[gilljoy]

Thanks alot for the advice guys.

Just wondering wither its worth paying for Windsor and Newton after reading about some of the posts on here about there quality control and the fact I can only order online to get them

 

[Bloodhowl]

I bought mine from Dick Blick's online shop and they were fine. Generally though, you will want to see them before purchasing.

 

[Einion]

I need to pick up some new brushes and I was just wondering about what the general concencious is on which size of brushes to pick up. Coming form GW brushes mainly I'm not certain which sizes to order.

Brush sizing is a very personal thing - some people like to use teeny ones and other prefer to use the larger brushes and rely on the fine tip that a good round provides (it is one of the things we're paying for after all). There's a lot more on this in previous threads if you want to do a search.

If you'd like to aim for good like-for-like replacements to what you're used to, one of the under-publicised features on Dick Blick is that they give measurements for the brushheads.

BTW if you have a need for larger brushes, say above a 4, I'd generally recommend synthetics over Kolinsky or sable.

Also second question, any tips for painting space wolves? I dont want to have them the baby blue style colour of GW but my own attempts at making them a dark grey with a blue-ish tinge just turn out very very bland

Can you be more specific? To my mind blue-grey would be one of the easier colours to paint so I wouldn't be able to guess where the problem might lie.

Just wondering wither its worth paying for Windsor and Newton after reading about some of the posts on here about there quality control and the fact I can only order online to get them

You'll get a range of opinions on that, from "There are better options available," from someone who has seen too many duds (e.g. me) all the way to "Definitely, go for it!" from a Series 7 fanboy.

If you were ordering from Dick Blick anyway there are a few other brushes I'd recommend trying either instead of or as well as, including their own Master Kolinsky Sable, Raphaël 8404 or 8408 and the daVinci Maestro.

Einion

 

[Jbickley00]

I'll second enion's opinion, and disclose that I am a series 7 fanboy, and never had a dud (but know others have). I'll plug dick blick here because whatever brush you pick, Raphael or Davinci, Blick seems to have the best deals on high end brushes-even better than utrecht. W and N also does a kolinski brush that is not series 7 (and cheaper) I think they are just called watercolor brushes. I have had good expereince with them. If you are getting them online-I have had good expereince with blick, and I geet all my painting stuff through them because of that. They don't pay me (though they should!) so im just giving props.

I'd say space wolves are supposed to look bland, but then I'm a dark Angels kind of guy. Seriously, though, how have you gone about trying to get your blue gray thus far? I mean what colors are you mixing? I'd start with a dark blue and lighten it until you get the mid drey-blue tone you are looking for, but thats a very general approach and not much help to you I am sure.

 

[gilljoy]

Cheers guys for all the tips and advice.

Going to nip into town after work tomorrow and try and pick up some new brushes, Think my local art store had a size 0 W&N7 but not too certain (there not cheap though £9.99 for a size 0).

Hate living in Belfast we've not really got any good art stores at all

As for the space wolves, once I added some other colours the blue tint to the grey really stood out. Highlighting isnt the best but I'm still learning, really need to learn how to get smooth transitions on my highlights

 

[RuneBrush]

£10 for a Size 0 - ouch, that's more expensive than the one I bought in Hobby Craft :s

Post up a pick of what you dislike and I'm sure we'll be able to make suggestions. Grey is a bit of a bugger to highlight as it is generally pigment-rich and can go powdery if you're not careful which can make it difficult to achieve a smooth blend.

Another thought is to have a look on here/Google and find a colour effect you like, rather than keep experimenting.

 

[gilljoy]

Thanks I'll try and get a decent picture took when I get home from work. Yea £10 is abit of a rip off, I may order some online and just take the risk, might check what my local Easons has in stock brush wise, dont know if you's have them in the UK its an irish news-agents/ stationary place that has a decent enough selection of art stuff

Its not really got any blending done on it (I only figured out yesterday that you've got to remove some of the diluted paint from your brush when trying to do a glaze). So it only currently has some very dodgey line highlighting done on the edges of the armour.

Really want to try and improve my technique so going to paint another tomorrow and try some glazes.

 

[Einion]

Thanks I'll try and get a decent picture took when I get home from work. Yea £10 is abit of a rip off, I may order some online and just take the risk...

If you want to try an order online, this thread should help:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?43945-Quality-paintbrushes-in-the-UK

Eason aren't a bad source for brushes (depends a bit on the branch obviously) but while they don't tend to gouge on prices they won't be really competitive with what you can find online except during a sale.

Its not really got any blending done on it (I only figured out yesterday that you've got to remove some of the diluted paint from your brush when trying to do a glaze).

Yes, that is in many ways the 'secret' to glazing - having the brush damp but not wet. Thin paint applied in many sequential layers, feathering the edges as you go where necessary.

Einion

 

[gilljoy]

Bit of a thread necro.

Looking at picking up some Da-Vinci / Raphael brushes not 100% sure which one of them to get, series I mean. Each brand seems to have so many different models of brush .

Almost ordered W&N S7 but after reading up on here about some of the quality issues I think I'll hold off.

 

[Einion]

Broadly speaking it's the ones that are most expensive (in a given brand) that will be the cream of the crop. That doesn't mean any of the lower-priced ones aren't any good, there are a couple of cheaper ranges that are very decent, but you'll tend to get the best brush - best performance, finest tip, longest lifespan - from the cream of the crop.

Einion

 

[gilljoy]

Ended up getting quite a good deal on Raphael 8402 series brushes. Got a 0 + 1 + 2 for £18.50 delivered . Shall post how I get on with them.

Also thanks Einion

 

[Beamo]

A little late, but I'll echo that I also use W&N series 7 brushes. I hope your Raphaels work out for you, I've been thinking trying them myself at some point.

As to Space Wolf colors, here's what I do on mine:

Base with RMS Stone Grey.
Shade with GW Foundation Adeptus Battlegrey, with deeper shades of watered-down Leviathan Purple and Asurman Blue in that order, feathered into the recesses.
Highlight with VMC Pale Greyblue. I then run a very light glaze of Devlan Mud over the whole plate to mute down the blue, feathering the glaze toward the recesses.

I then do a final edge highlight of VMC Pale Greyblue again, this time focusing on certain spots that I want to "pop" more.

here's an example of the final result
http://www.coolminiornot.com/282562

I wet blend my colors, but you could achieve a good result using layering.

 

[gilljoy]

A little late, but I'll echo that I also use W&N series 7 brushes. I hope your Raphaels work out for you, I've been thinking trying them myself at some point.

As to Space Wolf colors, here's what I do on mine:

Base with RMS Stone Grey.
Shade with GW Foundation Adeptus Battlegrey, with deeper shades of watered-down Leviathan Purple and Asurman Blue in that order, feathered into the recesses.
Highlight with VMC Pale Greyblue. I then run a very light glaze of Devlan Mud over the whole plate to mute down the blue, feathering the glaze toward the recesses.

I then do a final edge highlight of VMC Pale Greyblue again, this time focusing on certain spots that I want to "pop" more.

here's an example of the final result
http://www.coolminiornot.com/282562

I wet blend my colors, but you could achieve a good result using layering.

Thank you I think they should be ok Les at APJ reccomends them so there not gona be rubish ( I hope)

That is amazing looking, how did you do the random bits of snow over the model? ?It looks amazing.

I'm going for more of a blueish tinge than that personally. I'll try and post some photos once I get my new brushes and can finish off my test model.

Wet blending is something I've always had problems with, gona see how glazing goes for abit and then possibly have a go at wet blending.

 

[Beamo]

For the snow, I just took some woodland scenics snow and brush on matte varnish. Dip the brush in the varnish, then the snow, and lightly brush it across the spot you want snow flakes on. of you get too heavy of a coat, just clean the brush and push the excess away with it. Make sure you seal the model after you've done all your snow work.

If you're wanting to draw more blue out of it, don't do the Devlan Mud glaze, and switch the Stone Grey for Codex Grey. Not sure how much blue you want, but those two things will bring it out more.

 

[gilljoy]

Thank you very much man for the advice, I'll give it ago when the new brushes arrive and post pics of the outcome

As for how blue I want it, about half way between the grey of your miniatures and the colour GW paints them