Scherdy's Happy Place - WIP/paintlog

[Scherdy]

A Fossil Record of Scherdy's Painting...

So I have been painting a little bit on and off since middle school I suppose. Trying to pick it back up after several years off and would like any feedback or C&C to help me improve.

I much more enjoy a well painted army than one specced to annihilate everything that moves on the table and simply basecoated.

Trying to do ulthwe themed eldar and especially getting the bone to come out clean but with the depth I see others pull off with the softer-mid browns for the shading.

Not completely certain what I used on these guardians for the wraithbone but have yet to find what I want to stick with and improve. Have tried a darker color first (like GY earth or bestial brown followed by lighter highlight mixes of bleached bone, as well as bone with gryphon sepia wash and cleaning up with bone+white highlights.

The pics make me think my basecoat primer is a little grainy too. Will be more careful about distance I\'m spraying it on I suppose too.

These aren\'t even close to done, but I\'m feeling frustrated on the bone pieces and would like to work on that before I move on.

I know I probably won\'t spend as much time on my rank and file bullet catchers in my army down the road, but I figure I might as well practice technique on the cheap guys as I\'m trying to learn right now.

The photography and photo resizing/stitchhing panoramas together is also new so any tips there to help you better critique my minis I\'d be grateful for as well.

So, here goes... <covers eyes>

 

[CreganTur]

Yeah, they are grainy. You\'re either spraying too close to the mini or putting on too much primer. I think I remember someone saying you could use sandpaper to clean off the grit... but I\'d wait for confirmation from someone else before trying that.

Are you using washes to apply the highlights to the black armor?

For the bone look I would suggest paiting it a good midtone, then washing on some darker shadows. Then paint on some diluted highlights.

It\'s a very good attempt, expesially since you\'re tying a lot of new stuff. Others will have better advice to help you

 

[generulpoleaxe]

instead of trying to use the tip of the brush to paint edges, use the side of the tip and drag it along the edge.
it\'a quicker and neater. just make the brush side and the edge you painting create a 45-90 degree angle and you will be sorted.

 

[Jezz]

Try to water down your paints a bit more.

About the primer, either the paint is drying somewhere too hot or there is a problem with the spray can. Try to spray further away from the mini.

My 2 cents

 

[Scherdy]

Originally posted by CreganTur
Yeah, they are grainy. You\'re either spraying too close to the mini or putting on too much primer. I think I remember someone saying you could use sandpaper to clean off the grit... but I\'d wait for confirmation from someone else before trying that.



Are you using washes to apply the highlights to the black armor?

For the bone look I would suggest painting it a good midtone, then washing on some darker shadows. Then paint on some diluted highlights.

It\'s a very good attempt, especially since you\'re tying a lot of new stuff. Others will have better advice to help you

So too close for the primer? I thought grainy-ness was from too far away. Both extremes can cause a similar error then?

Also, I\'m confused when you ask if I\'m using washes for the highlights on the black...like just a thinned mix of a dark grey and black on the edges? Then yes. I usually use washes in the recesses to pool and darken areas so it\'s different for me to think of them the way I think you\'re asking about.

I really feel I am thinning my paints a fair amount. You can see on one of the masks (at least I felt) that there is very little coverage at this point but maybe I need to go with even more water in my paint:water ratio.

In the mask area the with very thinned bone I was fighting it trying to keep it from pooling in the edges where it should be darker. Just less paint on the brush, but keep it that thin (washlike?) consistency?

Thanks so far! I\'ve never hit refresh so many times in hopes to learn more!

 

[Chrome]

Something I have found from too many failed primings is that that grainy surface can also come from the air being too moist or cold when you spray.

And, depending on how high the pigment level is, how well you shook the can.

 

[obsidianpainting]

If your paint is thin enough that it\'s pooling, then wipe more paint off of your brush.

Also, i hold my mini 12 inches, if not more, from my primer can when im spraying. I start by spraying on the mini in bursts. BUT!!!!! before i finish the burst i flick the can away so that the spray stops OFF of the mini, so that the end of the burst doesn\'t hit the mini.

I hope this helps.

Gary.

 

[Scherdy]

Scherdy's Happy Place of Miniature work

I haven\'t touched the black yet really other than what was already done. I tried to redo the helmet and gun last night.

Here\'s my procedure. I basecoated using thing layers in commando khaki until I felt I had even coverage, shaded with gryphon sepia and delvan mud in the recesses/dark areas. Then about 50/50 mix of khaki and BB (again trying to use thin layers with little paint on the brush), then bleached bone, finally bleached bone with menoth white.

I feel like on the helmet especially I went too bright and too wide an area with the lightest highlights and didn\'t leave enough darker colors showing so it looks like it was basecoated in menoth and bb now from this angle. So it looks like I did very little, but I think I essentially erased all my work when I didn\'t leave enough of the darker colors showing to leave a gradient.

The \"mask\" I did try to feather the top shadow into the middle of the mask a bit and it\'s OK I suppose.

The body of the gun seems much smoother than before. Using the side of my brush more often and the tip only when I needed to really helped keep it cleaner I think. So thanks for that! :beer:

That helmet really has me boggled though. It\'s a funny shape so I feel like I\'m really guessing where to stop and start highlights. If anyone has close ups of a similar shaped piece or advice that may give me an idea to work from that would be radical. (Channeling ninja turtles there for a sec, sorry).

One suggestion was to build a model or find something shaped similarly and cover it with foil and put it under a light and observe it and where the lights/shadows are. This seems a great idea as soon as I find something similar around the house.

 

[Aldmhac]

ALOT BETTER! Looks great :bouncy:

 

[Jezz]

Originally posted by Aldmhac
ALOT BETTER! Looks great :bouncy:

I personally agree.

The gun really came out and the mask is looking much better. Waiting for more highlights! :flip:

 

[nels0nmac]

As an alternative way of painting bone I tend to use washes to create the depth. Start off with a bleached bone base and then add washes of brown ink and chestnut ink ( now I know these are no longer available at GW so maybe someone can suggest alternatives ). Once the washes have dried I highlight up with bleached bone and white. I find it a quick and effective way of getting a result that looks like clean, but old bone.

The link is to some wraithguard that I painted a while back that used this technique for the bone colour.
Link

Other than that with a bit of detailing picked out; eyes, gems etc will mean that you should have an nice looking tabletop army

 

[cleen X]

I agree, looks much better! When the model is finished you should paint the base black, you put some sand and stones on there and thats good, but you should paint it as well, makes it look a lot better in my opinion

Just a black basecoat and then some drybrushing and there good to go

 

[Scherdy]

A little more work done...

You have to believe me on that, I did do some more work on these...baby steps like Bob Wiley says.

Anyhow, did another edging on the armor of highlights but maybe too stark of a contrast or even too much usage of the last highlight. First was codex gray then space wolves gray. Need to get them straighter/steadier as well I think.

Would like to start getting the helmet smoother/cleaner looking as well. Weapons have been shaded but need a highlight or two and am going to try to work with more transparent layers to highlight them.

Any critique on highlight placement or colors used is totally appreciated.

 

[cleen X]

Wow what an improvement! If you think the egdehighlighs are to thick go over with black and thin the lines, I allways have to do this because my hands are so unsteady!

 

[A Luna]

Hello Scherdy familiar face :]
As said on differnt forum, looks really good, you should have posted a pic of before and after your improvement there. Would have been spectecular!

 

[Scherdy]

gem and eyes

Trying to get gem and eyes right so I can figure out what works best to do on the next 8 sitting by snickering I\'m sure as I repainted and kept trying to get these two fiddly parts to look good enough.

Any suggestions or pointers welcomed. I\'m almost sure this particular eldar was squinting just to frustrate me as I tried to paint his eyes. Or, maybe it was allergy season for him too.

Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions. I went back and touched up with black a few spots on the others too.

Still trying to figure out what distance is best for camera on macro to shoot from.

Better to shoot from minimum focal length distance of macro mode with NO zoom, or a little beyond that and use a bit of zoom? Anyway, last two pics are a little fuzzy as I try to figure that out too here.

 

[Aliengod3]

For the edge highlighting on the black I would say that you should use a thinner brush. The edging looks a bit too bulky. Other than that they are coming along very well, good job!

 

[Scherdy]

Originally posted by Aliengod3
For the edge highlighting on the black I would say that you should use a thinner brush. The edging looks a bit too bulky. Other than that they are coming along very well, good job!

Thanks for the tip. Speaking of tips... I try to use the side of the brush as much as possible like I\'ve seen those with much more skill do to get the thin line but there are parts where I just can\'t get the right angle to do that and am forced to display my lack of brush control and use the tip. And well...it gets much uglier, much quicker.

 

[redarmy27]

Very, very nice work on your Eldar there. It\'s amazing at the improvement you\'ve made from the first photo to the second. Great stuff, bud!

Might I recommend some Flow Improver? It\'ll help you really get some good blending going. Aliengod3 recommended some for me and it\'s awesome. Try it!

Jake

 

[exilesjjb]

I would second the flow improver it makes blending easier