Painting seams and 'counterseams'

[Ferris]

Hi guys,

I am in bad need of a little of your expert advice: I am eager to learn how exactly you paint the seams on clothing. What I mean is the thin shaded line to indicate the seam, and the equally thin line right next to it to indicate a highlight. It's a great effect, but I find it frustatingly hard to get right

When I do this I have great difficulty to get one straight and even line, let alone two right next to each other. As a result I think it looks too wide and 'wiggly'.

One particular problem I am having is that on my minute 00 brush that I use the acrylic paint just dries faster than I can position the brush.... Maybe I should use oils for this step, but I note that some of you guys do it with acrylics so it must be possible somehow...

Anyway, long story (you can surely feel the frustration), I would really like to use this forum to learn how exactly you usually go about this job? 00 brush, or a bigger, but accurately pointed brush? Acrylics or oils? And maybe someone has a trick to keep the line regular and straight??

All comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Adrian

 

[housecarl]

Try masking tape Adrian. As for delaying your paint, either retarder or glaze medium.
Carl.

 

[Joe Hudson]

Adrian,

The first mistake is you are using to small a brush to paint lines. You need a bigger brush that can hold a larger amount of paint and then at the same time you need one that holds a good point. I use the same brush to paint the eyes as well as a piar of pants. The size brush I use is a "0" from Escoda. This is a really good brush. The first one given to me was my Jaume Ortiz, you argue with his results!

Next you can trim up any wayward lines with the base colors.

Joe

Here is a link to the brushes:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/escoda-kolinsky-sable-watercolor-brushes/

 

[renarts]

I was going to suggest you contact Joe Hudson and low and behold he posted!
Joe's technique is one of the best I've seen and his work is testament to his skill at it.

 

[dinovision79]

Hi Adrian,

Joe's very right about the brush size - you may even try longer ones (similar to liner brushes) with a good point, and also about trimming.

In addition, unload you brush on damp cloth or - especially - paper tissue, if dry, it seems to suck out more water than pigment, IMO this can double your painting time with one load.

Denes

 

[Einion]

...or a bigger, but accurately pointed brush? Acrylics or oils?

Yep, that's it.

Escoda and other brand recommendations in this thread from 2005 (with tips on how to pick a good one):
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16734

...or a bigger, but accurately pointed brush? Acrylics or oils? And maybe someone has a trick to keep the line regular and straight??

Practice is really the best way, but you could try using a Post-It or some low-tack tape (like the Tamiya yellow tape) to help as a guide. These can cause other problems though if paint wicks under the edges, even if it's feasible on the irregularities of a sculpt.

It might help to practice off the figure, which is something we tend to do too little. If you do it 20 times on a flat surface you'll have a lot better chance of doing it on a curvy surface like a bent sleeve!

If you do need to do this in oils then do it in oils, no shame there. And with better results under your belt after a few figures you may become confident enough to try it again in acrylics; confidence is an under-appreciated element in successful results (nerves can make your hands less steady or you're just too hesitant, and some things can't be done hesitantly).

Other than using a brush that's more suitable and practice you might want to also look at how you're holding the figure. If holding the model and the brush steady might be part of the problem have a look at these:
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16035
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26350
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?p=336604#post336604

Einion

 

[Ferris]

Carl, Joe, Mike, Dénes and Einion,

Thanks so much for your time to reply! Time is rare and painting time even more so, so I really appreciate your typing all these tips here.

I do have some good brushes and I will try the somewhat larger ones for the task. I think Dénes had a good point; I noticed that the water seems to get selectively absorbed by paper. So out the paper goes, in comes the damp cloth.

Einion it makes sense what you say about holding the figure. I use a rather wide rectangular wooden block on which I secure my figures with wire, so I guess I'm OK there. The point is to cancel out the relative movements of hand and figure, and securing the grip against your own body makes sense.

Actually, one problem I have is a lot of 'floaters' (eye doctor word) in my eye, which means that one second you have good focus on the 'brush impact point', along comes a 'floater' and blurry it is. Very annoying and when focus returns my acrylics are dry. So the larger brush andpaint load will help here.

Right. On to seam practice! Thanks again guys.

Cheers, Adrian

 

[Ray]

I wonder if lining pens would work for this? These are the kind with the needle down the center of a small tube, originally for drafting purposes. They work great on flat surfaces for pin striping.

Something like this, though these are different from the old ones I have and use they look and are described to be much the same, who knows?;

http://www.dickblick.com/products/staedtler-marsmatic-700-technical-pens/

Ray

 

[dinovision79]

Adrian,

I might wasn't exactly clear, damp paper tissue works well for me, actually I prefer that, depending on the material cloth doesn't always absorb well and simply tissue is more convenient.

Denes

 

[Einion]

Actually, one problem I have is a lot of 'floaters' (eye doctor word) in my eye, which means that one second you have good focus on the 'brush impact point', along comes a 'floater' and blurry it is.

Ah, I get those too (more so now that I'm older). Darned annoying they are too.

I wonder if lining pens would work for this? These are the kind with the needle down the center of a small tube, originally for drafting purposes. They work great on flat surfaces for pin striping.

Don't technical pens clog very quickly with vinyl paints? It happens often enough with Indian ink specially made for them!

Einion

 

[Mark Yungblut]

There are several companies out there that make perminent opaque ink in white and other colors. I have used a tech pen with some great success the secret is to not press to hard doing that causes the clogging.

Cheers,

Mark