Thursday, January 29, 2015

More bark than bite...


Here we have some finished images of the bases!


The view from above.


And the massive base, prior to the application of the water effects.


I had to wait a very long time in between layers for it all to set.  I will post the images in a few days.


The smaller variety, still very fun!  I look forward to applying the tufts of grass as well.


Stay tuned!


Don't get washed away...


So... shaded basecoat phase is complete, and out come the Secret Weapons.  Yes, Secret Weapon washes are brought out to glaze in the darker shades.


I also used some of the Vallejo shades and Reaper liner paints, which I frequently mix into those Secret Weapon washes.  You can see that I lay out as many different colors as I can, so that I can mix them together...


It's important to have them out in your line of sight like this in order to encourage a free flowing use of the glazes, and not be timid (or limit yourself in color choices).


I tend to use the watercolor approach of negative painting... that is, painting around the lighter areas, putting even more dark in that boundary line where the rocks will meet the water effects, for instance.


The #8 round craft brush I am using here is a little less distressed than the one that I used for the Shaded Basecoat phase :-)


You can see in this image just how much certain elements of the rocks are starting to stand out.  Be sure to vary the colors as you move from surface to surface!


Once I have all the colors as dark as I want, I will start to go back into the middle tones to bring out certain colors or details...


In this case, I am going back into the middle tones with various grays, so that the greens of the moss will stand out even more.  Since I have lots of nice warm colors in the darks, the grays will have a blueish appearance, which is what I want.


Those cooler gray colors mean that the skulls will also stand out nicely (also from Secret Weapob, by the way!).


OK!  Bases are ready for flock, grass, water effects... and miniatures!  Can't forget those.