Basic Flesh Tones Tips, and Wood Effect Technique!
Again, thank you for your compliments, now let get to work…
Today discussion wills cover basic Flesh Tones tips, and Wood Effect!
I will touch on these here, but will go much more in-depth in my book. The reason for this is that I teach concepts that are interrelated to a larger system of painting; so that these techniques and principles can be appreciated as a whole. My techniques are driven by concepts, not the other way around. For example one of my concepts is Saturation, Isolation, and Containment, which I will talk about later.
The traditional way of painting miniatures is limited and dated, and in most cases wrong at the core! Even though there are many great techniques, the dots may not connect; the work may look disjointed and lifeless. Even after spending many hours painting and pouring your heart and soul into it you may not be able to achieve the results you are looking for. My techniques that have evolved over 30 years, connect the dots, and bring to life the realism that you see in my work. This is an art from, and should be treated and respected as one! By this I mean that this is more than a mere hobby, at this stage this is Art!!
Flesh ToneTips
Think of the body as thermostat and your job is to control or regulate the thermostat. We do this with colors –raising it or lowering it. The traditional way of painting is entirely dependant on shades of flesh and browns that will always produce warmth/heat! Our job is to visually regulate these colors and the way I do this is by adding grays and blues to cool down the figure. The point here is balance.
The way I apply the cooler tones is by using gray tones and ghost tones which are transparent washes of gray that allows you to tweak the tone in stages. The gray tones contain more pigment grays and less water; whereas the ghost tone contains more water and less pigment of gray paint. In a later article I will talk about how they are applied.
Note: It is the interplay between the cool grays and the warm vermilions that can make a figure appear old and cold or warm and full of life and energy.
For example Gallows’ (see posting) thermostat is slightly raised because once the tattoos are applied they will lower the temperature due to the fact that the tattoos contain blue. The addition of the tattoos will hopefully balance his appearance of warmth to a more balanced cooler one. These are the type of considerations that you need to take into account at different states before committing yourself.
In closing, don’t forget,
“The eye speaks a visual langue that goes directly to the mind.â€
Confederate Infantryman, Civil War, Bust, 1 9th Scale, From S & T Products, Painted by Alex Castro
Now for wood grain technique:
When you are painting an object that represents wood such as a rifle stock, table, etc., follow the following steps.
1. Prime the piece
2. Saturation: Paint the entire object with Testors wood paint (or use any brand to your liking) Depending on what type of wood you want you can use various shades of wood paint. This should be enamel paint. In case of mess-ups with the streaking, the streaking can be removed without affecting the base color, which should be enamel.
3. Containment: Using a brown (such as Tamiya FX10 or FX64. acrylics) with a #7 Winsor & Newton brush (these brushes hold a lot of fluid and come to an excellent point), brush the paint using a continuous backward stroke from one end to another. NEVER use a forward stroke. You may wiggle it a little for effect. This should be in a consistency of a wash.
4. Isolation: Continuous stroking from one end to another (backwards) reemphasizing on what you did in part 3. You may want to use a slightly darker tone by mixing in a little black. Note if there is object in the middle of the streak, go right through it. The stroke must also flow with the curvature of the object with an uninterrupted stroke. Lastly with this technique you are constantly going in the darker direction and must know when to stop!
5. After the painting is complete, spray with Testors Dull Cote to seal and mat.
6. If you want a sheen on the stock apply floor wax (mix with a little water to control the shine).
7. Please note that this does not cover trees, branches and wood found in the wild.
Happy painting
Alex
Again, thank you for your compliments, now let get to work…
Today discussion wills cover basic Flesh Tones tips, and Wood Effect!
I will touch on these here, but will go much more in-depth in my book. The reason for this is that I teach concepts that are interrelated to a larger system of painting; so that these techniques and principles can be appreciated as a whole. My techniques are driven by concepts, not the other way around. For example one of my concepts is Saturation, Isolation, and Containment, which I will talk about later.
The traditional way of painting miniatures is limited and dated, and in most cases wrong at the core! Even though there are many great techniques, the dots may not connect; the work may look disjointed and lifeless. Even after spending many hours painting and pouring your heart and soul into it you may not be able to achieve the results you are looking for. My techniques that have evolved over 30 years, connect the dots, and bring to life the realism that you see in my work. This is an art from, and should be treated and respected as one! By this I mean that this is more than a mere hobby, at this stage this is Art!!
Flesh ToneTips
Think of the body as thermostat and your job is to control or regulate the thermostat. We do this with colors –raising it or lowering it. The traditional way of painting is entirely dependant on shades of flesh and browns that will always produce warmth/heat! Our job is to visually regulate these colors and the way I do this is by adding grays and blues to cool down the figure. The point here is balance.
The way I apply the cooler tones is by using gray tones and ghost tones which are transparent washes of gray that allows you to tweak the tone in stages. The gray tones contain more pigment grays and less water; whereas the ghost tone contains more water and less pigment of gray paint. In a later article I will talk about how they are applied.
Note: It is the interplay between the cool grays and the warm vermilions that can make a figure appear old and cold or warm and full of life and energy.
For example Gallows’ (see posting) thermostat is slightly raised because once the tattoos are applied they will lower the temperature due to the fact that the tattoos contain blue. The addition of the tattoos will hopefully balance his appearance of warmth to a more balanced cooler one. These are the type of considerations that you need to take into account at different states before committing yourself.
In closing, don’t forget,
“The eye speaks a visual langue that goes directly to the mind.â€
Confederate Infantryman, Civil War, Bust, 1 9th Scale, From S & T Products, Painted by Alex Castro
Now for wood grain technique:
When you are painting an object that represents wood such as a rifle stock, table, etc., follow the following steps.
1. Prime the piece
2. Saturation: Paint the entire object with Testors wood paint (or use any brand to your liking) Depending on what type of wood you want you can use various shades of wood paint. This should be enamel paint. In case of mess-ups with the streaking, the streaking can be removed without affecting the base color, which should be enamel.
3. Containment: Using a brown (such as Tamiya FX10 or FX64. acrylics) with a #7 Winsor & Newton brush (these brushes hold a lot of fluid and come to an excellent point), brush the paint using a continuous backward stroke from one end to another. NEVER use a forward stroke. You may wiggle it a little for effect. This should be in a consistency of a wash.
4. Isolation: Continuous stroking from one end to another (backwards) reemphasizing on what you did in part 3. You may want to use a slightly darker tone by mixing in a little black. Note if there is object in the middle of the streak, go right through it. The stroke must also flow with the curvature of the object with an uninterrupted stroke. Lastly with this technique you are constantly going in the darker direction and must know when to stop!
5. After the painting is complete, spray with Testors Dull Cote to seal and mat.
6. If you want a sheen on the stock apply floor wax (mix with a little water to control the shine).
7. Please note that this does not cover trees, branches and wood found in the wild.
Happy painting
Alex
