2022 Monthly Painting Challenge February

[Brushgit]

Sooo, pledge for this month is finishing my mercs (Vanessa, Jake, Student, Taylor) furthermore I got Cooper Jones still waiting to join my tri-chi and the weird science box built and primed (first crew ever bought, never played so far...)

Furthermore I need to finish my bloody valentine project and have plenty of Backlog do go through - with basically the whole plague keyword arriving at my doorstep in 2 days and a good deal on redchapel that wants to be built.

Anyways after painting the golem for ages I just did a one shot to finish my first work of the month in a single session.

 

Talking paints - started with a mix of Vallejo and Citadel,afterwards bought into the NMM set from Scale and additional scale colors after learning how awesome the gel medium is for blending and the desaturated /pastel palette is just perfect for my taste.

Oils started appearing in my hobby space after watching Marco Frisoni and wanted a speedy Iron Warriors Army, but so far I stuck to using them as washes (but am really tempted to try more with em).

Nowadays I am slowly but surely replacing everything with Ak47 third Gen and can't recommend them enough. In my opinion the best colors on the market, by a rather large margin.

 

[Brushgit]

And for whatever reason my post was made twice and I am unable to delete it 😅

 

[Spitfire]

3 hours ago, Gheist said:

[...]

My biggest issue is: i bought Kymera Artist Acrylics and a S******* of oil paints, but i can't for the life of me make a start on new techniques. Also i get a headache or simply get pretty drugged from most Oil Colour solvents 😕

so to sum up: never refrain from mixing stuff from different brands, you can always learn a lot and EVERYTHING does go through an airbrush eventually if you are pigheaded enough

Kimera is something that is heavily on my agenda to be done too but didn't quite get around to order them yet.

[feagaur]

I’m hoping to get these finished by the end of the month. (Actually bu the end of the week so I can use them in a tournament).

May also get time to make a start on the chihuahua, canine remains and a flesh construct.

[wobbly_goggy]

First dude done!

[TimH]

First base of whelks is done, will post a better picture at another time once there is actually a complete unit. As they are the only unit with 50mm squads of 3 I thought I'd try doing the squad trays such that they connect up with the bases of the models. Also while the rest of the company has been being done in a turqoise I really wanted to do the whelks and karkinoi in a red/orange crab looking colour. So to try and keep them looking unified with everyone else the whelks got some blue shells.

 

Paints talk, I use Citadel paints and that is pretty much entirely a comfort thing. Got into the hobby with some GW games and so I (as I'm sure many others have) naturally gravitated to the paints that were made by that company. In the time I have been painting a lot of other citadel specialist paints have been released nut I was never taken with any of these (contrast, texture, etc.) as many of the effects they are designed to cover can be emulated with regular colours and some creative thinking (I got very good very quick at doing oxidization on brass). Somewhere down the line I can definitely see myself trying some other paint brands but I like the comfort factor of knowing how my paints mix, how different materials take them etc.

[Brushgit]

So, next evening next mini. Love those one-shot-sessions. Big Brain Brin is done.

One thing that comes to mind when I compare colors from different manufacturers is that most brands have their treasure colors (gw is rhinox hide for me, Vallejo has got tinny tin, dark sea blue, sunny skintone etc) which work like a charm from coverage, consistency etc.

Now AK has not a single colors (!) that I've used so far (own roughly 40) which has that "odd consistency" or "chalky texture" or "no matter how much I apply its still not covering". Even their intense yellow covers quite opaque on a black primer.

[Kogan Style]

Just posting my pledge and others are already finishing? You fiends!! I have a varied collection of Cadmus to work on this month, with the archivist already under way ahead of a game day this weekend with the lovely @feagaur and @Strangely Brown! 

On paints:

I have quite a few from the usual suspects - GW, Vallejo, Scale 75 and depending on the colour needed I can find something from that mix. The companies themselves seem to lack consistency in paint. I really like the Scale 75 and matte finish I get from most of their paints but the coverage on some of them..... I don't get it?! I feel like I have bought a shake-a-weight rather than a dropper bottle when using some of their colours.

I have both Vallejo Game Colour and Model colour and I think I prefer the model colour as it is more de-saturated or to my eye, natural colour than game's are. But then game colour is for those more fantastical paint jobs so it makes sense. 

GW paints are on the whole, consistent with the exception of their pale colours (Wych flesh, White etc...) those are just awful! chalky, thick, unusable gloop! 

Paints that I think everyone (who isn't an NMM guru) should own - Vallejo Metal Colour. Those paints are amazing for covering metal with any undercoat. Great coverage, lovely and smooth, and can be mixed with other colours to get those different armour shades. Love them! 

Topic suggestion for future months - people's Favourite/Crutch paint colours. Which colours do you find you use in every paint job? Is there a certain unviersal paint that you use to highlight/mix/shade? I know I have a few I always return to!

[OctaBit]

Pledge for this month is continuing with Lucius' crew, and finishing up some Apex models that were half finished. I'm also going to try some freehand work on the witness' scarf, and the lawyers shirt.

I've also got doppelganger finished. 

For the monthly topic I'll try and do a write up for scale 75. I just finished getting the last couple pieces for the range and it's been my go to for the last few years.

[LinenMusician]

This month I’ll paint finally arrived December crew starting with Rasputin a and wendigo for 18ss total. If I will finish it fast enough I’ll start painting rest of the crew.

About paints - Usually I use paints from vallejo, few GW colours, washes and technical paint, but recently found out AK 3rd generation colours and fell in love with them (tried only 4-5 colours so maybe not everything is so great). If I need to dilute paints I use Vallejo flow improver for airbrush or just water for brushes.

 

[Brushgit]

And the first test subject is done

[Gheist]

This is jessie who might have looked better before i did my impression of OSL.... calling her done before i ruin her more

[Butch]

58 minutes ago, Gheist said:

This is jessie who might have looked better before i did my impression of OSL.... calling her done before i ruin her more

Do you want some feedback on the OSL?

[Gheist]

1 hour ago, Butch said:

Do you want some feedback on the OSL?

Sure i think that's why we are here

[Shock & Awe]

19 hours ago, Gheist said:

This is jessie who might have looked better before i did my impression of OSL.... calling her done before i ruin her more

Can I ask one quick question, is the light source the object in her hand? 

[Gheist]

5 hours ago, Shock & Awe said:

Can I ask one quick question, is the light source the object in her hand? 

Yep

[wobbly_goggy]

Good golly miss molly, I’ve finished my February pledge already! Time to start rooting around for some more minis to paint!

[Diddick]

Hi there! 
 

my february pledge will be the Bloody Valentine entry, so it’s secret, i will post it here and fill up the form as soon as the voting is closed and the works can be public.

if anyone else is participating, good luck!

about the paints, i use mostly vallejo model color, and quite recently started using the new AK, and i m loving them, good cover and last usable on the palette for days.

i thin them with water, and sometimes use retarder medium for the whites, bc they dry sooo fast

[TimH]

Progress update

The Armoured Whelks are now complete

As are a pair of Egg Clusters. My remaining clusters to paint at a later date are the totem and young nephillim from the nightmare box. The 5 of them should be plenty which is just as well as nowhere seems to have any stock left on the regular eggs (a shame as it is a nice model).

Next to be painted are the Karkinoi and the Frenzy. The bases for the Karkinoi are basically done, they'll get some flock added once the Karkinoi have been painted up and attatched I just don't like adding the flock until after the model is completely assembled and painted (in part to avoid getting paint on it and also to make sure I can position it well around how the rest of the model is looking). The Frenzy I am still unsure on exactly the paint shceme I want to use (a while back I'd been planning to do them as a great white a tiger and a whale shark due to the nickname of "Street Sharks" that I've been using for them) but it probably won't diverge too far from what was done with Horo. If all that get's done I have plans to start on my Tidepool markers and some of the specialist squads (Yarazi or Barbed Crawlers).

[Butch]

On 2/4/2022 at 5:28 PM, Gheist said:

Sure i think that's why we are here

OSL is IMO more about painting light than painting color.

Generally speaking OSL is battling against the overall light (normally zenithal lightning). If the miniature isn't stand in the dark OSL will be more visible in the shadow areas. And in reality we don't have such stark colors like on a lit stage in a concert room. Nice lighting on open airs happens after the sun has set. And the reflected colors depend on the surface (black absorbs all color for example).

So my go to painting OSL is first to paint the zenithal light and then paint the areas where the OSL hits lighter too. Lighter but not more colorful. And only when IÄm satisfied with the values I might add some color to the OSL. The values are correct if it looks correct on a black and white picture.

I checked your pictuers and in b&w you don't see much of lightend areas. You painted a lot of green but not the corresponding lighter values. IMO htere should be less areas lightend but those lightend should be stronger, and less green from the OSL.

Hope that helps.

(If you have some questions I will answer them via PM in german. Much easier for me).

 

[Hawkoon]

On 2/4/2022 at 2:41 PM, Gheist said:

This is jessie who might have looked better before i did my impression of OSL.... calling her done before i ruin her more

If I may supply feedback on OSL, you need to take into account fall-off and intensity of the lightsource. Think of the light as a sphere with the source in it's centre. The light will be most intense close to the object and less intense far away from it. The most intense light should be near pure white with a hint of the lights colour. The true colour of the light will only show when you get a bit further from the source, and fade to the real colours of the model. (worth noting though is that metals distort reflections, and even though the barrel of the gun is far away from the source it will still have a quite strong reflection of the OSL light.)

Looking at your photos I think you have too saturated light near the object, that doesn't cover enough of the model either, so it appears more like a paint smear than actual light from the object. The fall-off should also be shortened on her right arm and gun as well as her left leg and the ground.. Doing brush-only OSL is very hard, so I would highly reccomend using an airbrush just to get a good lightmap for the fall-off.

Hope this helps🤞

Apart from the OSL the rest of the model is looking really good, so I hope I'm not contributing to messing up the work already done...

 

Edit: If you would rather listen to the pros, Squidmar has a good explanaition here: https://youtu.be/4DR573EnCSU?t=546

 

[Gheist]

1 hour ago, Butch said:

OSL is IMO more about painting light than painting color.

Generally speaking OSL is battling against the overall light (normally zenithal lightning). If the miniature isn't stand in the dark OSL will be more visible in the shadow areas. And in reality we don't have such stark colors like on a lit stage in a concert room. Nice lighting on open airs happens after the sun has set. And the reflected colors depend on the surface (black absorbs all color for example).

So my go to painting OSL is first to paint the zenithal light and then paint the areas where the OSL hits lighter too. Lighter but not more colorful. And only when IÄm satisfied with the values I might add some color to the OSL. The values are correct if it looks correct on a black and white picture.

I checked your pictuers and in b&w you don't see much of lightend areas. You painted a lot of green but not the corresponding lighter values. IMO htere should be less areas lightend but those lightend should be stronger, and less green from the OSL.

Hope that helps.

(If you have some questions I will answer them via PM in german. Much easier for me).

 

I think i get what you mean to be super honest i spend like 10-15 minutes on the Lighting and for that it looks okayish when on the table. it was sort of a tryout for a model i want to paint somewhen this year when i have more time, so the Feedback is very welcome, thank you.

 

1 hour ago, Hawkoon said:

If I may supply feedback on OSL, you need to take into account fall-off and intensity of the lightsource. Think of the light as a sphere with the source in it's centre. The light will be most intense close to the object and less intense far away from it. The most intense light should be near pure white with a hint of the lights colour. The true colour of the light will only show when you get a bit further from the source, and fade to the real colours of the model. (worth noting though is that metals distort reflections, and even though the barrel of the gun is far away from the source it will still have a quite strong reflection of the OSL light.)

Looking at your photos I think you have too saturated light near the object, that doesn't cover enough of the model either, so it appears more like a paint smear than actual light from the object. The fall-off should also be shortened on her right arm and gun as well as her left leg and the ground.. Doing brush-only OSL is very hard, so I would highly reccomend using an airbrush just to get a good lightmap for the fall-off.

Hope this helps🤞

Apart from the OSL the rest of the model is looking really good, so I hope I'm not contributing to messing up the work already done...

 

Edit: If you would rather listen to the pros, Squidmar has a good explanaition here: https://youtu.be/4DR573EnCSU?t=546

 

Now my language barrier is finally kicking in: so let's see if i get you:

a) the light near the source should be more white, or much whiter than any major reflection

b) light near the source should still cover most of the lighted object while still not being saturated as much as the areas further away

c) i don't really know about the fall off: you are saying the light should cover less space on her left leg right arm and the ground?

i watched some videos about OSL, but i should have watched one before painting. i am grateful for the feedback and not terrible sorry about the model, she still looks allright. i don't think i will change anything about her now, i'll just Carry over the experience to the next model where this might apply.

I purposefully don't airbrush now because i airbrushed before i painted with a brush, i am trying to develop a sense for using brushes

 

[JordiFort]

Hi all!

I'm new here so I hope to be able to enjoy my passion with you, which is to paint these little beings ;)), and thanks to my dear colleague and great painter diddick who showed me the way.

Well I would like to start being a little brave and finish materializing my Jezda gang with the models of The Damned, Grave Goo and a Moorwraith. I will send photos of the evolution

This past week I finished a Surveyor, but I understand that this one is not going to count...;)

I basically use SCALE 75 Artist paint, I just love the colors and how they mix on the models.

https://www.instagram.com/jordifort3/

[Gheist]

22 minutes ago, JordiFort said:

Hi all!

I'm new here so I hope to be able to enjoy my passion with you, which is to paint these little beings ;)), and thanks to my dear colleague and great painter diddick who showed me the way.

Well I would like to start being a little brave and finish materializing my Jezda gang with the models of The Damned, Grave Goo and a Moorwraith. I will send photos of the evolution

This past week I finished a Surveyor, but I understand that this one is not going to count...;)

I basically use SCALE 75 Artist paint, I just love the colors and how they mix on the models.

https://www.instagram.com/jordifort3/

Aw damn mate, that looks great

Last week was February, so for me it would be allright to count that model for February.

[Shock & Awe]

57 minutes ago, Gheist said:

I think i get what you mean to be super honest i spend like 10-15 minutes on the Lighting and for that it looks okayish when on the table. it was sort of a tryout for a model i want to paint somewhen this year when i have more time, so the Feedback is very welcome, thank you.

 

Now my language barrier is finally kicking in: so let's see if i get you:

a) the light near the source should be more white, or much whiter than any major reflection

b) light near the source should still cover most of the lighted object while still not being saturated as much as the areas further away

c) i don't really know about the fall off: you are saying the light should cover less space on her left leg right arm and the ground?

i watched some videos about OSL, but i should have watched one before painting. i am grateful for the feedback and not terrible sorry about the model, she still looks allright. i don't think i will change anything about her now, i'll just Carry over the experience to the next model where this might apply.

I purposefully don't airbrush now because i airbrushed before i painted with a brush, i am trying to develop a sense for using brushes

 

If you watch Squidmar’s video that Hawkoon shared, he covers this at about the 10:30 mark

the idea is that as you move away from the light source (the object in her hand) the light will quickly lose intensity. 
 

so the light near her hand and up her arm should be brightest, but by the time it gets to the ground - or even near her head - it should be much fainter. 
 

Marco’s paint job here is … god level … and he really lays this point out well

What I wouldn’t give for half of Marco’s talent