What step do you dread when painting figures?

[montythefirst]

hi guys,

had one of moments tonight where you ask yourself "why am I doing this hobby it's supposed to be fun?"

This happens to me more times then i care to count when I start to paint flesh tones. I struggle with this step on every figure I do lots of stripping retrying ensues, I have spent lots on trying to find the best paint sets with easy to follow steps to no avail, follow steps on here given by superb painters like gothicgeek and many many more and then finally settle for a finish that I am not happy with but stops me tearing my hair out.

So it got me wondering as I reached for my laptop for distraction what step do you guys fear dread loathe when painting figures?

cos maybe we can help each other

cheers

Simon

 

[housecarl]

Nothing figure related but the pronoun I in lower case is somewhat irritating.

 

[montythefirst]

better

 

[housecarl]

Much, thanks a lot Simon.
I'll be able to sleep now.

 

[Gra30]

It's the auto text on these new tablets, i get it all the time unless i check and change manually after

 

[Ferris]

I dread final assembly the most Simon. It's so easy to mess things up at that stage.
And spraying matt varnish. When you spray too much and it whitens....

Adrian

 

[montythefirst]

I dread final assembly the most Simon. It's so easy to mess things up at that stage.
And spraying matt varnish. When you spray too much and it whitens....

Adrian

with you there the amount of times I have dropped pieces.

 

[Mark S]

The step I dread most these days is the initial step when I pay for the figure......

 

[montythefirst]

The step I dread most these days is the initial step when I pay for the figure......

lol

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

Hello Simon, For me, on certain figures/busts, its the mouth and lip portions of the face. If the face is one that is yelling, or smiling, with the teeth showing, I have a hard time getting the teeth shadows just right. Also, depending on the climate, hot or cold, lip colors can be hard to do, without making the figure look like he's wearing lipstick. Action and expression in the face helps tell the story your trying to portray with any certain figure/bust, especially laughing, or yelling, so I'll keep practicing on them, and hope I improve. Regards, SG

 

[ghamilt1]

Groundwork! I absolutely loath having to do landscaping, in real life and in miniature. As a consequence, I have a couple of finished figures awaiting a suitably landscaped base. One of them is a full diorama requiring a base that is 6 inches wide and 14 inches long. I am not looking forward to that!!

 

[gothicgeek]

Feet! Specifically shoes and boots!
So boring!
;-)

 

[megroot]

White clothing.
My nightmare.

Marc

 

[montythefirst]

Hello Simon, For me, on certain figures/busts, its the mouth and lip portions of the face. If the face is one that is yelling, or smiling, with the teeth showing, I have a hard time getting the teeth shadows just right. Also, depending on the climate, hot or cold, lip colors can be hard to do, without making the figure look like he's wearing lipstick. Action and expression in the face helps tell the story yotur trying to portray with any certain figure/bust, especially laughing, or yelling, so I'll keep practicing on them, and hope I improve. Regards, SG

I don't know if it helps but I tend to start my teeth by basing in them in a khaki like colour then working in from there as the average joe does not have perfect white teeth without significant whitening also if its a smoke figure there will be yellowing of the teeth.

Had the lipstick problem more times than I like to admit lol

I think practice is defo the key

 

[tonydawe]

Eyes. If the eyes don't go we'll first time, I start to lose interest straight away.

 

[swralph]

Feet! Specifically shoes and boots!


same here

 

[swralph]

Feet! Specifically shoes and boots!
So boring!
;-)

same here

 

[pte1643]

I'm still learning the "Dark Art" of figure painting, so to me it's the fleshtones that I find most tricky.

But I if I had to pick a stage that I loathed most it would definitely be the cutting and sanding of the casting blocks... Nasty stuff is resin dust.

 

[Colin_Fraser]

Shading bland uniform colour on large busts.....using acrylic.....so many transitions and so boring.

Colin

 

[housecarl]

On a more serious note, I hate doing buckles/buttons as inevitably end up getting metallic paint on the surrounding area.
Then that's a paint to cover.