There are Some Very Good Painter's on the LAF.........How D You Do It?

[Blackwolf]

 There are some very good painters on the LAF; The Prof.,Admiral Benbow,Michi et al,how do you get such a smooth finish? My painting is I think average,tho' I love doing it,one of my friends Konrad Hawkwood suggests I have a 'muddy style' and up close my work looks like an impressionist painting,not smooth at all, very rough.
      So chap's how do you do it?

[bc99]

Great question to ask actually.

I have to say I am frequently amazed at the skills displayed here. I've got my own humble skills and often times wonder what it takes to "step up" to the next level so to say. I've seen the online videos about "blending" and all the other really advanced techniques. I've not neither the hand control or the patience. I'm much more a gamer so I try and get good quality gaming figures out and finished as quickly as possible.

Practice and more practice, plus the patience, thinning paints (trying this myself for smoother effect) with water, and trying new colors and techniques.

I'll let the true masters chime in though as I'm not up to their level!

[rob_the_robgoblin]

I'd guess the key would be patience, which very few (including me) have!

Thinning paints properly and studying how others have painted a model through looking at it close up?

[Blackwolf]

Some recent examples so you know what I mean,and know what standard I'm at.



     





       

[joroas]

Well, that's better than my standard for a start............

[Orctrader]

A recent example so you know what I mean,and know what standard I'm at.
    

Not sure if my level of "smooth" is what you mean, but if it helps...

Black undercoat.
Apply thinned paint in layers from dark to light.
Intermix colours, experiment, have lots of FUN.
I often - but not always -  use "extreme" highlighting.
Patience.
Never forget that the MOST important thing is neatness.  Get that perfected and all else flows from it.

And if you already enjoy what you're doing, why change it?

[Hammers]

I think most of the people you mention do not blend nor feather but thin their paints and use the method of layering.

[Blackwolf]

Orctrader thats brilliant! As for extreme highlights I'm somewhat of a realist...I'm also colourblind,Mrs Greywolf gets fed up (tho' she doesn't show it ,bless her) about my colour questions. And Hammers I'm a layerer with a side line in blending (all those naked women I do);


     

[Hammers]

Never forget that the MOST important thing is neatness. 

I am a believer in this to, not that I always achieve it.

What a great example! One of your best, Malcolm. It is not relevant to your painting, but those WWI haversacks were really unattractive. Great square humps.

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

Hey, I get praise and complaints about my paint work in equal measure.

Im not patient.
You dont have to be neat.
Its all about finishing the model.



Essentially, I undercoat in grey or orange, then slap on the base colours with gusto and disregard for tidyness. They I do a wash in dirty colour, then after that another to cover any drying issues and to balance the contrast. Then its onto hilights, which I paint on then "feather" with spit. Final highlights and detail is the penultimate step, and this has to be very neat and tidy. Concentrate most on the face.

Finally, and most importantly, do the base. MAke that neat and paint the edges. If you dont do this final stage your models will never look good. A good neat base makes a figure, in my opinion!

[Blackwolf]

Hmmmmm,while you are a competant painter Ramshackle Curtis,it's not my style,perhaps this is more of a question of one's style,more answers chaps.........?

[Ray Rivers]

Seems to me that really good painters are also really good photographers.

That is 0 for 2 for me.. 

[Silent Invader]

Very interesting thread with lovely examples of work. 

I'm a sucker for a nude on a bonnet (on reflection, am not so sure I phrased that very well!).

@Orctrader
The staff officer is beyond words.  You describe yourself as an extreme highlighter by which I presume you mean there's a wide distance between your lightest and darkest shades BUT, for me, the colour shift on that officer is really, really smooth, it kinda draws the eye to flow with the folds of the material.  Beautiful.

[Orctrader]

@Orctrader
...You describe yourself as an extreme highlighter by which I presume you mean there's a wide distance between your lightest and darkest shades...

I don't always use the technique, but often.  With the officer I used less highlighting than, say this

In the main though, when I think a highlight is finished, I go up another notch.     As varnishing will affect the appearance.

If you browse my gallery, take a look at WW1 Renegade Germans.  I went extreme on those.  Some don't like it.  I do so that's how I paint.

[Silent Invader]

Thanks OT.

Yes, that gent is highlighted! Much more so than the WWII gestapo officer in your gallery, whose black leather coat is, to my mind, absolutely perfect.  Obviously you paint to please yourself and so I was wondering, if you put the gent and the gestapo side-by-side, why did you adopt what I think are slightly different approaches?  Here's me asking questions when my paintjobs are mere blobs of paint compared to your artistery but I am intrigued by how you 'see' these.

As a point of note, your approach to painting leather is jaw-dropping.  The doublets on your border rievers are outstanding.  The leather coat and the DM boots worn by the following figure from your Haslefree gallery are, as I have said, jaw-droppingly good!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/orctrader/General/HarbyII.jpg