Man Of Steel

[RKapuaala]

I started painting my man in tights sculpt a few days ago. I added the insigna today. I am thinking of a cloth cape, but I tried a test and didn't like the way it drapped so I will probably do a combo of resin and cloth over a form and paint it.

 

[arxo]

He turns up super!

 

[Meehan34]

Is this the one you designed and had printed? I could offer some advice for painting if interested.

 

[RKapuaala]

Meehan,,, Yes and Yes. I am always interested in advise.

 

[RKapuaala]

Meehan,,,, I'm still waiting for advise. I could use all the help I can get.

 

[Meehan34]

sorry about that sir. I forgot to check back. I like what you have going on here so far but your paint is still too thick. This is what is leaving behind the brush strokes and making the blending hard for you to do. A nice easy way for you to learn the acrylic way is to go ahead and use a thicker and quicker basecoat color (not straight from the tube though maybe 50/50 with water) that is going to be one shade darker than your true basecoat color but not the shadow color. Once you get this down begin with your shadows in a very thin paint and wipe your brush on a paper towel to (what you will think is completley) unload paint brush. This paint is so thin your first couple of strokes will seem like they leave no paint behind. After several strokes you will see the buildup. After all of the shadows are laid in go to your highlite color and do the same. The ideal way would be to go in with a midtone between the three (still very thin) and blend them all together. For simplicity you can use the same thin paint of what your true uniform color is to filter over all of your work. This will subtley blend and tie the two pieces of shadow and highlite together. Now this is not the most ideal way to do it but it will show you the value of the water thin paint and unloading of the brush. It seems like a lot of work and probably fruitless in the beginning but as you get the knowhow and see the results it becomes very fast and very effective. Acrylics dry so fast you will be able to paint a body like that in a couple of nights.

I hope this makes some sense for you.

 

[RKapuaala]

Yes, it makes sense Meehan. Thanks. It is pretty close to what I am doing now, but I think I am getting impatient and transitioning too quickly to the highlights and middle tones. My poor eye sight does not help since it looks blended to me until I take a close up shot.... I love close ups because they allow all the mistakes to be accurately described.
I also missed one step which you have in your proceedure and that is the shadow over the base coat. I went for a straight shadow coat similar to an overlay and then to a highlight. In other words my base coat was the deepest shadows and if I understand what you are saying, I should have made my base coat more of the mid shadows?
Anyway, thanks again.
One last question, I have been using matt medium acrylic inks and regular acrylics. Someone told me about another medium specially designed for inks to cut down the shine and to retard the drying, but I can't find that thread and was wondering if you know?

 

[Meehan34]

I sure don't know what thatmedium is, sorry about that. Why are you using inks and what parts are the inks on?

 

[RKapuaala]

I use the ink because it lays down flatter and lasts longer. I can use it straight or mix it with other acrylics to bring out or slightly alter the colors. Using it straight it comes off the brush a lot better better than the paints do. I did the insigna and the details around the iris with straight ink watered down slightly. I also did the highlights (especially in the face) with watered down inks. They are more transparent and like I said lay down very flat and thin.

 

[housecarl]

Reaper anti shine medium, or Tamiya X21 will kill the sheen Ray.
To delay your drying time, either Vallejo glaze medium, or Winsor & Newton water color blending medium.
This article explains what Mike said, but it does give diagrams. http://www.mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=49&sid=0e2b902c095e5f04ad1c42d590896ffd
A picture paints and all that.
Carl.

 

[RKapuaala]

Thanks Carl.