Same colors?

[beowulfthehunter]

Hi all. i was just sitting down to paint some figures tonight. And i was saddened to realize i was using the same colors again. The worst part is i was not even do a figgure for the same unit. I wonder if this happens to other people. Do you have a a set pallet of colors you always use. I mean i almost always paint boots black and belts Brown

 

[Sturmhalo]

Yeah that can happen. It can be hard trying to think up new colours when you\'ve onlt got the basics available. It\'s sometimes worth just mixing various colours together just to see what happens. Only thing is, if you come up with a nice colour, you may find yourself painting everything with it!

When I was much younger I went through a phase where every model had to have purple on it. I didn\'t have a red at the time so it was the only bright colour I had (NO RED? I hear your scream! That\'s what happens when you don\'t buy the basic colour paint set first!). When I got a red, purple went out the window and everything had red on it! That happens to us all at some point (and will continue to happen to us at various stages in our painting lives!).

Nothing wrong with black boots and brown belts! Far better than painting them red and green or something.

You could try buying a whole set of paints from a particular manufacturer. I tended to think that a lot of colours are pretty superfluous as they can be mixed from other colours, or that they\'re just useless (such as pink). But after actually getting a complete set it really helps give you many more ideas for colours, and potential mixing options!

 

[Flashman14]

ya, I do. My flesh recipe is pretty solid - (for humans). I experimented with another way of doing it and it comes out pretty much the same.

I have recipes for red brown (leathers) and a couple for Wood brown.

(by \"recipe\" I mean how much of what color to make the shade, the base, and the subsequent highlights to that base)

But basically I know what I have to do to get the colors I want - and I have a jillion paints to choose from so usually I can mix in something else into a dark color to get a new shade of it - but if I don\'t have to do that I\'d rather not - I\'d rather use paints right from the bottle . . .

 

[Flashman14]

whops . . . but to Sturms point - if the shoe fits . . .

(I\'d hate to see a flurry of day glo boots because someone got tired of browns and blacks)

 

[supervike]

I have noticed that all my minis seem to be painted in \'realistic\' colors. Lots of browns and blacks, especially, like you say, for belts and boots.

I like the natural look, but every once in a while I force myself to use very \'un-normal\' colors. I have to admit, it is very refreshing.

That is also what makes this site so valuable to me. Seeing some of the color combinations that I thought would never work, but yet somehow works wonderfully.

I recently painted a series of the old GW ogres (i love the little fellas) but after doing two or three in \'traditional\' fleshtones, I decided to go for a icy grey color. He turned out to be my favorite of the bunch.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Only thing is, if you come up with a nice colour, you may find yourself painting everything with it!

Ouch! Sturmhalo hit the nail right on the head with that one. Guilty as charged. I seem to have been spending all my time lately panting reds blends.

(Must try Blue...eyes fuzzzing... everything going Red...paint blurring.)

Sorry slight warped factor there, but it is true once you seem to get the hang of painting a blend well it seems that you want to use it every where. getting out of the habit of using the same colour palette is difficult but worthwhile as the top ten artists prove.

I\'m just coming to the end of painting up an army for my very first tournament. and it\'s b****y murder. I\'m desperate to paint to a competition standard once again. (I must admit though It\'s the first army I\'ve ever completely painted up.:wow

I\'m looking forward to the tournament, but I\'ll bet I get kicked to c**p by some spotty little 12 year old.lol

 

[Sturmhalo]

Originally posted by supervike
I have noticed that all my minis seem to be painted in \'realistic\' colors. Lots of browns and blacks, especially, like you say, for belts and boots.

I love neutral colours too. Just finished painting an old model of Thrud and there\'s not a bit of \'colour\' on him! All browns. Though it has taught me that the Coat d\'arms fantasy paint set doesn\'t have enough different browns in it for my liking! Maybe I should get their WWII set (hint hint Rev ).

 

[Impernouncable]

It is very natural for a painter in any medium to develop a prefered color pallet. It\'s one of the ways by which we make attributions of historical works. Sometimes a painter will use the same color pallet for practically everything for decades then switch without warning.
I find myself using browns alot.