Painting, need help regarding painting red and other stuff

[Paintforfun]

so I've gotten back into miniature painting and I am frustrated by not being able to achieve a high contrast red armor on my khador warjack.
I've read alot of advices, recipes and such but I figured the people on cmon are my best bet,
because it's the standard I wish to achieve..

I've tried following techniques - one where I simply underpaint the highlighting areas with orange and work a thinn red/orange glaze in the transitions - which ended in disaster - lol
the other is where I use thinn layers of red orange over khador red highlight to slowly create a gradient, it took quite some bit of time but ended a little bit better

Does anybody here have any technique to share, any hints tips are welcome :/

/Dave

 

[MAXXxxx]

technique: not really. both you tried are good for the purpose.

tip:
- you need a broader range of colors for a high contrast red. So not only orange + red, but you could (and maybe should) go down to the darkness of VMC-HullRed / VMC(or was it VAC?)-TankBrown.
- also depending on if you like a more pastely highlight, forget orange and use a flesh color instead, with certain points getting even a bit of ivory.
- for high contrast: make the highlights small. Smaller than what normally you would do.

Also ask AndyG, as his WIP has a red SM painted atm, that is pretty much a high contrast one.

 

[EpicMiniArt]

what kind of red are you after?

I recently painted a red cloak on a mage but i always use the red i want to achieve as the highlight and i tend to use purples and browns in the shadows. but i start with a brown base.. red is a hard colour because any tints of red are actually pink (although small amounts of pink don't look unnatural) and using orange to highlight nearly always look unnatural

the cloak below is painted with a dark down base, wet blended up to red, then I glazed on a very thin red until the blends were nice and smooth and the final glazes were crimson and then violet. I don't really have a 'recipe' as such because I use a wet pallet and mix colours on the fly.

 

[Zab]

Wash or glaze the recesses with blue or green. You can get them almost to black like that. Use flesh tones to highlight or a tan/golden brown or orange/brown. If you really want to to push the limits of your sanity why don;t you try an imperial fists army next. Good 'ol yellow... so many memories *begins twitching under right eye*...

 

[EpicMiniArt]

second on green, another good colour as it creates beautiful rich shades for red, being a complement

 

[Paintforfun]

Thanks for replying you all, great advice there - I did check in on AndyG's wip and well.. I was impressed to say the least.
His red was very rich and nice -

Had a go myself but rather unsure on what colours to use, I ended up making it pretty pinky - not so good, really wish there were some warpainters around me here , getting frustrating learning everything self..
I just ordered some manowars and some Dettol - yeah, you heard me.... time to give that warjack a good bath, lol.

 

[Paintforfun]

Also is it possible to create a gradient by using thin layers of green over the red or will it become too muddy?

Dave.

 

[EpicMiniArt]

buy some practice parts ot paint red on, or on plastic card until u get it right but I would keep the green on the darker shades to make the shades more vibrant whilst being near to black and try using your final red as your highlight and u wont have any pink tint issues. I would recommend using A Blue-violet as a shade rather than a green, although I love using greens in my red, the violet will be easier to get a nice blend. might be worth investing in a very bright red if you haven't done so already. I quite like Game Colour bloody Red.

 

[Dragonsreach]

.......really wish there were some warpainters around me here , getting frustrating learning everything self.. .

Where are you based, we may have an "Agent" in your locality.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

AndyG got his current red recipe from this WIP by GlazedOne:

http://www.platoonbritannica.com/index.php?threads/finished-stuff.533/page-4

Follow this recipe, paying close attention to where shadows and highlighrs should be, and you'll be good. Also, whoever said minimize the size of your highlight area was right; this area should be very very small-almost, ALMOST like edge highlighting.

 

[MAXXxxx]

thanks for the link BoK. I always loved the red on that sm.
btw is "glazed over" a pro painter? I went through that thread and what he paints is amazing AND the number of minis/speed even more so. (so many beautiful minis, so fast)

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

I believe he started pulling in Golden Demons 3-4 years ago, maybe 2011 for the first time. The UK guys could probably speak more on it and probably know him personally. I do know that, if you look at his work on page 1 of that thread, then skip to page 4, there is a huuge jump in talent. But yes, I have found that thread very, very useful lately.

 

[Paintforfun]

Thanks alot for the link Bloodfather of Kharnath

I get the guide eventhough I'm just returning to the hobby
but one thing is a bit hard to grasp for me and is actually a key question to the recipe..

In the recipe there is actually 4 layers of highlights, I was wondering what ratio and how thin my paint should be when applying these hightlights?

 

[infelix]

It depends on what paint and what technique you use. I'm not a expert but for me, the paint:water (and some medium as well) ratio starts at 1:4 and goes up to 1:~20.

 

[MAXXxxx]

In the recipe there is actually 4 layers of highlights, I was wondering what ratio and how thin my paint should be when applying these hightlights?

actually he has 5 and ratios are written too:

Highlight:
- Evil Sunz Red
- Wildrider Red
- 1:1 Wildrider:White
- 1:7 Wildrider:White
- pure White

how thin... I believe pretty thin to glaze consistency (1:2-1:4 paint-water (thin) to something with even more water(glaze))
+ he wrote that he used quite a bit of glazing to improve the transitions

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Yeah I agree with a 1:2 to at most 1:4 paint:water formula. I am often surprised when I hear people putting layers on at 1:5 and more. That is very, very diluted, where the color shows just faintly when you rub your brush on a paper towel. I'm not saying that this isn't a means of painting-called glaze layering-I just feel that it's a bit much, and requires a patience that I will never have. I do paint with a similarly diluted consistency, but only to smooth transitions and fix mistakes.

Based on some of your questions, I think it's worth mentioning that you need to unload your brush, whatever consistency you choose. This means that after filling your brush up in your paint mixture, you need to rub your brush on a paper towel a few times so that only a bit of paint is released by capillary action. Otherwise, the paint will just spill everywhere on your mini. Also make sure that a layer is dry before applying another. Nothing further.

 

[AndyG]

PM me with what you want to achieve I will see if I can help