ACRILICS FOR BEGINNERS

[oniria]

Hi folks.
As I said in the post of my first fig. painted (general forum), here are a bunch of ?s in acrilics for a begginer like me. I know your advices will be very helpful for me and all the other beginners.

a) Basic (1st) layer: Should it be applied in several coats of paint to cover the area better than in one? Do we have to wait for those coats (if so) to dry before appliyng the next one?

b)Highlights: Basicly the same ?s as before.

c) shading: should the paint be more diluted in water than in highlights? and again the "leave to dry" doubt.

d) Where do we have to profile ?(I don't konw if that is the correct english for extreme and very thin shadows (eg. a crossbelt over a shirt).

Well I look forward for your help.

Thank you very much!

Hasta pronto.

 

[Anders Heintz]

Hola!

Those are some good questions that I would like to see answered by others as well! Here is my take on the questions, remember that I am pretty new with acrylics as well.

a) For the first coat I usually dillute the paint 2 to 3 times with water and it usually takes about 2 to 3 coats to get a nice smooth solid base coat.

For highlights I dillute the paint more, something like 4-6 parts water to 1 part paint.

c) Shadows are very dilluted, almost like a wash, probably someting like 8-10 parts water to 1 part paint.

d) I think that you are referring to outlining where you use a dark color to accentate seam lines and belts etc. I usually do this everywhere as it really brings out the detail and it attracts little more interest to the figure.


Hope this is of some help

 

[gforceman]

I don't count how much water I add to the paint. Basic is layed on in 3 to 6 thin layers, depending on the colour. For highlight I dillute the paint till it runs like milk. I use between 12-25 highlight coats. For shading I dillute even more, till the paint is like limonade. This is laid on in between 5-15 coats, all depending on the colour. Now, where to lay highlights and shadows is more difficult to answer. it depends what kind of folds you have, what sort of source of light you want to depict, where the light is coming from etc.... Normally I place my figure under a lamp and the parts that get the most light are painted lightest, and the darkest darkest. Sounds simple, but I think only practise can help with this one. Or if you have a particular item that needs to be painted, post a pic of it and I'll try to help you.

I hope this helps at least a little.

Greetz,

Gino

 

[Anders Heintz]

Hola Angel!

Just thought about another thing, you can check out a great article by Mario Fuentes on painting with acrylic here:
Mario Fuentes Painting With Acrylics Article

Its a great read!

 

[Guy]

This article is also in our link section under "References"

guy

 

[frank h]

Hi Angel
I also recommend these two books.They contain painting projects
by Raul Latorre and Rodrigo Chacon colour mixes are also included.

Frank

 

[gforceman]

That are the two books that got me my basics for acrylics. Can recommend them 100%

Gino

 

[oniria]

Hi everybody!

Thanks a lot for your help.

The link to Mario's article on acrilics is great. The most comprehensive I've red till now.I've got the first book of Euromodelismo, but , in my opinion, appart form the pretty pictures and the stilish prose they don't really get to the point as clear as Mario Fuentes does. Well hard work and practise.

Adios amigos.