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Tutorial - Blending without Mixing


EricJ

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Eric,

I've been trying to blend an area of one of my minis for months now without success. And to be honest I was considering giving up painting because I felt I was wasting too much time. Anyway, I read this clear and easy to follow tutorial article this morning and put it into practise later in the day. What can I tell you? I've finally got my mini looking the way I wanted it to. There's no way I'm going to give up now! Thanks!

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  • 5 months later...

Eric, I also would like to say thanks for this tutorial, this has definately improved my blending technique. I followed this on my most recent mini and Ill post pics soon and I think its a great improvement, especially on my earlier work. I would like to add the following:

Definately water down the paint a lot! Sometimes, for speed I watered it down probably 2 to 1 ratio and initially when applying it looks like it gives the same results but when I compared it to the other leg I had completed previously using much watered down paint the comparison was completely different legs! For smoothness the thinner the paint the better. I did thin it down too much at one stage though and after 20 or so applications there was no difference in colour change, although most of the colour had run into the grooves of the mini!

Also, do not overload the brush as is also stated previously. This is the sole reason I ended up with some tide marks and had to re-do. If you add a small blob of runny paint then blend it through until dry there will be a "crater" effect on the mini, the outline of the blob will take most of the pigment and both inside and outside the outline will be a darker shade, prominent enough to see. Then, if you try and cover it up with lighter layers the paint "sticks" to the ring and makes it even more prominent! If this happens to you I advise covering it up with the mid-tone and start again!

Anyway, I dont know if these points have already been exposed but I thought I would do them anyway, that way hopefully people can relate and maybe if they are having problems can use this to solve them.

I love this technique and will be using it to blend for the foreseeable future.

N.B If your interested, I was using a mid-tone of GW scab red, shading with dark flesh and highlighting with blood red. I am using this technique on a fairly large surface of the GW striking scorpion armour. I have also tried this technique with greens (mid tone goblin green, highlight scorpion green shading dark angels green) and found it much harder to get a smooth blend so I may need to re-think my choice of greens.

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  • 1 month later...
If you add a small blob of runny paint then blend it through until dry there will be a "crater" effect on the mini, the outline of the blob will take most of the pigment and both inside and outside the outline will be a darker shade, prominent enough to see. Then, if you try and cover it up with lighter layers the paint "sticks" to the ring and makes it even more prominent! If this happens to you I advise covering it up with the mid-tone and start again!

I have the crater problem regardless of how much paint I use - how thin paint are we talking here? I tried 7 to 1 almost maybe more. I always wondered if the paint you use counts too - I may try adding some kind of slow dry to my paint and see what happens....

>_<

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When people pull the paint away from the originals like do they do down the line of paint (imagine a horizontal line of paint then with the 2nd brush they pull the brush down the same horizontal line to one side if it)

or do they pull the paint out from one side to the other?

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