Mako's Crew(s)

[dgraz]

they all roost in sight of my big bay window..

You lucky dog.

That said, I can't decide whether the austringers should have Harris hawks or harpy eagles. Or one of each, but I think that may look a bit odd given how ones brown/black and the other is black grey and white!

Big fan of Goshawks myself........that would fit with the harpy scheme. the russet color of the harris hawk would be nice too though. good luck with that choice.

[Mako]

Yeah, theres far too many pretty ones to pick from just on looks!

I reckon it'll have to be the Harris hawk, since that's the one I had the most time with. And there's a hilarious photo where me and the hawk seem to have the same suspicious expression on our faces. I do adore those little critters...

And the colour should be vaguely close to the red splash on lady J visually, so that fits with the scheme if I keep almost all of the handler in the sort-of black and white. But usually, I changed my mind over and over until I start painting with this kind of decision!

There's a massive owl near my parents place, I tried to work out what it might be but the blasted thing hunts at random times day or night so I never had a clue! I'm sure they're supposed to pick one time of day to hunt in, and not wake me up by crying from the fence near the house at night, and do the same thing in the afternoon the next day!

Mind you, the austringers need prepping first, and Cassie is ready for paint, so that might work out nicely.

[dgraz]

There's a massive owl near my parents place, I tried to work out what it might be but the blasted thing hunts at random times day or night so I never had a clue! I'm sure they're supposed to pick one time of day to hunt in, and not wake me up by crying from the fence near the house at night, and do the same thing in the afternoon the next day!

damned inconsiderate if you ask me

[Anger Worm]

Yes, guide us, please! Amazing monochrome. Awesome stuff.

Also that little motor in your lego casting chamber is damn clever.

Edited March 29, 2012 by Anger Worm

[CloudFang]

how do you get into a thing like huntin with birds of prey?

[Mako]

Always wanted to try it, and there's a falconry place about half an hour from me. Spent a whole day there, just me, the birds, and an expert. Brilliant fun.

Wanted to get training, but then had to spend my time finding a new job instead so couldn't. Still planning to go back to it and learn all the bits. Including the leatherwork for making gloves, hoods and jesses.

[CloudFang]

awesome... the leatherwork on that stuff is mint.. ive always liked that strange aesthetic.

hey also quick question... ive messed with greenstuff before but im working on some canine remains doggies now of some different breeds..

when you get to the molding phase and you realize some things are better casted in separate parts.. how do you the cut apart your model without creating gaps? or do you sculpt separate pieces from the beginning?

Edited March 29, 2012 by CloudFang

[Mako]

I generally sculpt in parts to avoid the knifeplay, but if you need to cut all I can suggest is to use a thin, very sharp blade, and to do it in as few smooth passes as possible. And try not to do it through very complicated areas or along the thin edges of things, it makes life difficult!

When you test fit it back together you might find you need to tweak a few of the edges, but if you're careful and use a new blade then you should be ok. It'll push the putty aside rather than cutting a layer away.

[Whiteorca]

Most impressive, and of a rare quality... Beautiful, in a word :Smug_Puppet1:

[Mako]

Ok folks, here's the monochrome painting guide! You should be able to download it if you want.

http://db.tt/LCImukqs

In other news, there should be a sculpting update relatively soon. If I can get this other project out the way in the two weeks I have left to finish it!

Edited May 13, 2012 by Mako

[Viruk]

Amazing stuff, thanks for putting it all together in a nicely written article. Will definitely have to try it one day!

[Demonn Agram]

this is cool! thanks!

can't wait to try it out... (maybe even in the round 3 of IP... depending on the theme )

excellently written...

[RotatingPanda]

You're ridiculous. Truly ridiculous.

I adore your Kirai! The face make-up and the subtle markings on her kimono are just fantastic. I mean, the Ikiryo is good but the Kirai is a 10!

The robes on the Onryo are just gorgeous.

The Datsue-Ba is good but I'm not personally a fan of the model so you did a great job with...well...with that.

The Gaki may be my favorites of your collection (so far).

Your Lady J is awesome but it leads me to ask how you did her white hair? I have a whole Rapsy crew coming up (likely in white) and I'm looking for any white painting tips I can get. I mean, it won't come anywhere near yours but a man can dream...

And the scultping is just sick. I hope you're a really bad player because no one deserves to be this good at painting, sculpting and playing

I don't know what the internet equivalent to a standing ovation is but you deserve it, sir. At length.

[Mako]

Cheers panda, and just to reassure you, I really really suck at playing. And i only rarely get chance to play so i wont be getting better any time soon! Which suits me fine, as long as things are funny I couldnt care less who wins!

I actually did a full step by step for Lady J, it was supposed to be in the fanzine but since that seems to have died, I'll post it up here later on if you like?

[RotatingPanda]

That would be super, Mako. I'm a terrible painter (I paint using only washes for cheap, easy effects) but so far, white has me stumped so every little tip and trick I get can only help.

[Mako]

White is a real tricky one to paint right, so is black but it's harder to notice it! I'll fish it out when I get back from work and link it here, but the main trick to good painting is to thin your paints. I tend to paint the midtone, then paint an almost wash-thin shade into the recesses and smooth the blend out, then repaint the midtone to neaten the join more, then start highlighting with really thin layers. To get my colours to show up fully, I need abut two or three coats. If I want them to cover the layer beneath without it showing through at all, it's more like five! Slow, but does work.

[Mako]

Here you go folks, the full step by step for Lady J, including some stuff on colour choice and theory. But you don't have to read that bit!

http://db.tt/I0Enh9yA

I was also writing a basic guide to the beginnings of colour theory, but that's not finished and it's probably a little bit dull for most people (even I struggle to care sometimes!).

Have had one of those weeks where everything seems to go wrong, so there'll probably be a pic update soon as I relax over the Easter break.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Mako

[Demonn Agram]

another great tutorial!

thanks

(and keep 'em coming! )

[Lord Shaper]

Thanks for the Tutorials Mako!

[Mako]

No worries folks, I actually quite enjoy doing step by steps as they make me think through how things will work together and layer up.

I realise this is a rubbish small update, but despite a huge pile of stuff to get sorted out for Salute next weekend I've started working on Cassandras skin. I'm still trying to sort out my new skin methods, they give me a lot more freedom than the way I used to do them, but of course part of that freedom is the ability to mess it up more!

[vitriol]

The tone of her skin is exquisite.

I would be obliged if you would give a quick run down on the methods you used with the skin.

But not before you've "sorted them out" of course

[WarmasterOJB]

This is absolutely great! Thank you for sharing this. Had some nice time reading this stuff instead of painting my own stuff :-)

[Mako]

It's always good to be doing something other than what you meant to do, I spend half my painting time on here looking through other peoples stuff!

The tone of her skin is exquisite.

I would be obliged if you would give a quick run down on the methods you used with the skin.

The photos are basically how I want it to look, but the real thing is very slightly off. She really only needs a few glazes of flesh tone here and there, maybe a little tweak of other colours, and then she'll be sorted. But once I get it fixed, I'll post up how I did it (I think I can remember!)

[Synthet]

Fantastic stuff you got here. Your paint job on Lady J are amazing:) Show us more of your work!

[Mako]

Tings have been somewhat hectic round here, but now that Salute's out of the way (good day that was, had a chat with CunningStunt, bought yet more stuff I'll never get round to painting, helped out a few mates with their stands...) I was planning to get down to some serious painting. And then I discovered last week I have to move house. And country. And in fact, continent! I have a new job in Toronto, so getting all that sorted out will take up a lot of my painting time. But I'll try to update every so often.

Here's the latest progress on Cassandra, I think I'm getting the skin almost sorted out now, she needs a little more makeup, and obviously her hair, gloves and boots are just base colours. That said, I'm pretty pleased with how she's going so far. The skin looks a little better in the flesh, so the recipe so far is under the photo. I don't really recommend anyone follows it though, as it's a bit of a botch job! When I get it sorted out I'll post a new one that's a bit shorter *wink*

The initial midtone colour for the skin was 40:60 VGC bronze fleshtone: VGC bonewhite

Shaded by adding in small amounts of VGC charred brown + GW scab red (which is of course no longer available, any dark crimson red will do. Or just use dark fleshtone instead of both)

I then reworked the midtone back on to smooth the blends

Highlight up to almost pure VMC deck tan in several thin layers

Wash with ogryn flesh and leviathan purple mix, to warm the skin tones and give colour contrast. This was where the first photo from earlier in the thread was taken.

I glazed the mids and shadows with VGC bronze fleshtone to bring in more colour and life

Then glazed the mids and highlights with VMC deck tan + VGC bonewhite + VGC bronze fleshtone (the original highlight colour, to reduce the yellowyness of the fleshtone)

It was still a little yellow, so I glazed a wide area of the midtone with VGC to smooth and mute everything.

I plan to go back and glaze in some deck tan for the final highlight again, just to make her paler on the shoulders and such.

Ridiculously long process really, which would have been shorter if I'd got the colours right first time round, but I'm still learning how to get skin just right after I changed from my old simple recipe!