Oz Painters

something that i would like to add is that i have found it is rather important how you use your pallette to get this techinique to work properly.

seb has mentioned a few times that he uses a pallette with depressions to hold the paint, and premixes all colours before painting. after a bit of experimentation with wet pallette and flat pallettes i've found this works the best for me as well, although i would be keen to hear if anyone has got good results with other methods.

basically the paint doesn't dry up as quickly in the depressions (especially with a little retardent) and the organised colours means you can focus on getting a good consistency and smooth finish rather than trying to match a mixed colour that has dried up. if you screw up, it's easier to fix with premixed colours as well. i usually have a moderately thinned paint in the depression, then use a flat surface to thin the paint to the consistency i need for the job at hand.

i hope this is relevant and/or useful to someone, perhaps a new pallette thread would be good?

I never said you ALWAYS do that, but molar was saying that highlighting was causing problems. I was trying to say "juice down" but thinking of when I've mucked around with juicing myself. I found having your highlight colour on first worked better because in practice (once again my view only) it works a lot like watercolours with the semi-transluscent layering building up the darkness of a colour so to speak.

So sorry about the confusion but I don't think you had to react the way you did seeing as I never said to ALWAYS do it. Besides I'm running off Seb's article in WD for metallic juicing which did start off with the lightest colour first.

Ive actually wondered if that would work in my hands. I tend to do better with juicing with darker shades. Maybe because im sloppy. But i tend to get the cracks and crevices looking nicely shaded. Perhaps i should start with a white undercoat and base colour with my highlight? Then shade down to a mid tone , then dark. Could be fun to try.

_________________
Have website, will pimp.
www.dentalserenity.com.au
www.cosmeticdentistmaroubra.com.au
www.kurtdean.com.au

Worth a try. Just test it on something with lots of cracks and crevices

Oh and on my previous post, hungover, sorry about the narkiness of it

No problem mate! didnt even notice it was narky.

_________________
Have website, will pimp.
www.dentalserenity.com.au
www.cosmeticdentistmaroubra.com.au
www.kurtdean.com.au

I've been practicing blending for the past few weeks (not regulary, though, I'm a student and final exams are coming up ) and I've been using a wet pallete. I tried searching for a pallete with depressions, but I've only managed to find one with depressions which are too wide for the ammount of colour I use for painting miniatures, so it wouldn't actually make a difference.



I'd like to see one. I'm really interested in what people use for pallets. (photos would be nice, ey?). I've also heard some people use white ceramic tiles, but I don't know why?

_________________
"When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else."

- Joseph Campbell

I used to use a tile myself - I simply found it easier to mix and work with, due to the incredibly smooth surface it provided.

This is what I use, with white paper sitting underneath. I use the paper to wipe brushes before application. The cavities are good for mixing washes. It is ceramic so it is easy to clean.

Jamie, what dimensions are the palette? (Just so I can get an idea of the size of the depressions)

Cheers
Andrew

This is just a quick photo of one at work (science lab). They are dropper trays. The one I have at home is only about 12cm by about 8cm. The depressions only have a diameter of about 1.5 cm.

I tried making a wet pallete using a tutorial I found and you know what, I might do it again soon. The premise is to find a container (not too big and fairly shallow) in which you place a wet sponge that's cut to the shape of the container. On this you sit a piece of baking paper or something similar. The idea is that the water comes through the baking paper and keeps the paint moist. Didn't work too well my first go but I'll probably give it another attempt sometime.

Anyone else tried a similar wet pallete?

EDIT: Just realised, maybe we should start a new topic on wet palletes? I'd be interested to see what other people have used/are using.

I've been using exactly that. A sponge with some baking paper on it. Holds the pain wet for a decent amount of time, but I've encountered problems when trying to mix the colours on it; the baking paper tends to break while mixing because it's wet and not as strong as when dry.

_________________
"When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else."

- Joseph Campbell

Yeah I have something like this that I "borrowed" from my mol biol lab at work. Seems to work well for me too.

_________________
"Practice. It's a no lose situation.

Except for that poor little pewter bastard who keeps getting dunked in the acetone. Probably sucks to be him."

Its frustrating me. I feel like im on the verge of "getting it" I get my paint consistency right. Ive been using depressed wells to hold my paint which helps. I wipe the brush on a cloth to get the excess off.. all going well. Thin coats that dry immediately as i wipe them. I can do a shade/ mid tone and highlight, but thats it...the lighter i start to go i either lose the colour im going for, in this case red. or it starts to look chalky. Great for table top, but no good for display. I can shade red/ go up to blood red, but as soon as i use either/ orange/ yellow/ or even a pink like dwarf flesh, i lose the redness. if i glaze over with the red again i lose the pop!.

I keep trying at red to get better, but i feel like im hitting a wall. Any one in sydney feel like having a sit down tutorial going through a colour to extreme highlights with me? I think I need a hands on to get this last part> i have a feeling if i can get this skill down, i can move on to more advanced paint placement.

_________________
Have website, will pimp.
www.dentalserenity.com.au
www.cosmeticdentistmaroubra.com.au
www.kurtdean.com.au

I'd be intrerested in this sitdown tutorial, as I'm currently trying this method on my blood angels with very little success.