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Post by Harr0wed on Apr 4, 2017 4:38:06 GMT
I figure since it's about painting this might be better then the Resources area. My painting skills are abymisal, and one day they'll be better but for now can anyone point me at a tutorial for thinning paints? Like, one for children or idiots? I can't seem to get it right. It either cones out way to watery or not thin enough.
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Post by goblinchow on Apr 4, 2017 9:03:42 GMT
It's just like getting to Carnagie Hall. Practice, practice, practice!
Seriously, there is no stock answer to thinning your paint. Some paints like to be thinner than others. Fine details need to be thinner than base coats. Layers need to be a bit thinner than base coat so that they are a bit translucent. The brand and type of paint matters as does the color. To complicate matters, every brush holds paint and water differently. Here are a few tips and steps I use, and I still don't get it right every time!
I am not an expert. I am sure somebody who is a much better painter than I am will chime in with a better answer, but this is how I do it.
I always use a palette. I dip my brush into the paint jar and transfer a drop to the palette. Sometimes I do this a couple of times if I am going to need some extra paint. If I am using Reaper, or Vallejo, with the dropper bottle, I just put a drop from the bottle onto the palette. I pull a tiny bit of paint out of the drop on the palette into a small stripe with my brush. This gives me a feel for what I am starting with. Usually it is a bit too thick. Vallejo game color is very thick and I will discuss it in just a moment. I just barely touch my brush to the water. If I am using a flat or angled brush, I just touch one corner of it to the water. Then I take the wetted brush and pull a tiny bit more paint out of the drop. I twist my brush a bit if I am using a pointed brush, or flip it over and get each side a couple of times if it is a flat. I am dragging it through the paint stripe on the palette and working a bit of water into the paint. I am also loading the brush with paint. If it is still too thick, touch the brush to the water again. If it is too thin, touch the brush to the unthinned part of the drop and pull a tiny bit more paint into your stripe. With Game color, I use a lot more water to thin it out, but the basic idea is the same. Sometimes with Game Color, I will take a toothpick and pick up a drop or two of water and use it to stir up and thin out the drop of paint before I even dig in with the wetted brush. I am still leaving it thicker than I am going to use it. All the time I am doing any of this, I am watching the paint on the brush. I will drag another tiny line across the palette. If it is too dry, touch the water VERY lightly and touch the paint again and re roll the tip of the brush. If it is too wet, just work a bit more of the paint stripe into the brush, or touch the unthinned drop again. The paint on my palette is never exactly the right thickness, but I use that to adjust the paint on my brush until the brush is right. Usually, the very end of the little (1/2" or so) stripe is a bit wet from touching the wet brush to it and the drop at the head of the stripe is too thick (Straight from the jar). Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot. I personally never touch the water without going back and touching a bit more paint. It seems like if I go from the water pot straight to making a stripe and then painting, I get some inconsistent flow off of the brush. If I am painting edge highlights or other fine details, I want the paint to be thin and really flow off the end of the brush. Slapping half a jar of Khorne Red onto a desktop full of primed Chaos marines takes slightly thicker paint. (Just make sure you aren't covering up details) Painting the eye lenses onto those same marines takes a smaller brush and really thin paint. If they aren't bright enough after one coat, come back and give them a second or third coat. You will have a lot more control with two or three thin coats than you will with one thick coat. If your fine detail paint is going all over the place and running, it doesn't necessarily mean the paint is too thin. It could mean you have too much on your brush. I always paint a little stripe on the palette to wipe off the excess paint before taking the brush to the model. When the stripe feels right, the brush is ready. I also only paint a few strokes on the model before touching the paint on the palette again. There is a sweet spot where the brush is full enough for the paint to flow off of it, but not too full to control. Once you have painted a few strokes, you will want to touch a bit more paint onto the brush. Just touch the wetter part of your stripe and do a quick twist and drag on the palette. When your line is right on the palette, go back to the model.
I hope this explanation helps a bit. If you ask 20 painters, you will get 25 different answers, but almost all of them are using the palette to tune their brush before taking it to the model. I don't try to mix my whole puddle of paint to the right consistency on the palette either. I just need the paint on the brush to be in the sweet spot. Once you get the feel for it, you will have much better control over the paint on the model. I have gotten to the point where it is pretty much second nature. I have also been playing with paints since the disco era! About 10 years ago, I made the switch from solvents to acrylic water based paints. I had to relearn the whole process over again. the feel of the paints and their behavior was totally different. I still feel a bit lost with acrylics, but I can't really stink up the house with lacquers any more.
Just a few more tips and warnings... Never let paint get up into the ferrule of the brush. It will ruin your chances of the brush ever holding a point again. When using the brush to mix up the paint on the palette, never push or grind the brush. Pull the brush and drag or twist it to even out the paint on the tip. If you are using a big mop or flat brush to basecoat several figures, the brush will start to soak a lot of moisture into the top part of the brush as you keep wetting your paint. Eventually, the brush will start leaching water back into your paint making it perpetually too thin. This is a good time to take a break, wash and dry out the brush and grab your next brush to complete the job. I have several big brushes, and I will switch them out when they get too waterlogged. Some brushes are worse than others. I have some Chinese hair brushes that lay the paint down perfectly for about two models, then they turn into mops. I clean the brush, and grab the next one and it is fine for a couple more models. By the time I am on the last brush, the first one is dry and ready to go again. they were cheap enough to buy half a dozen of them in a pack, and they work well otherwise. Make sure your brushes are in good shape. Starting with a clean, smooth brush will help you get the paint flowing off if it better. You don't need to buy fancy sable brushes at the start, but don't buy the little Testors plastic brushes next to the model car paints either. Experiment a little, find brands and styles you like and stick with them long enough to really learn them. Every brush will behave differently when it comes to thinning your paint. Every brush has a purpose. It seems like I have a favorite brush for eye lenses, and another for edge highlights and another for picking out emblems and insignia. Lastly, make sure your paint is well mixed before taking it to the palette. I use 6mm stainless ball bearing in every jar of paint and I shake them vigorously before opening them up. (Make sure the lid it tight before shaking!!!!!) (Don't ask me how I know that)
Another tip on brushes. those 10/0 and 20/0 brushes are very hard to paint acrylics with. (For me at least) They hold so little paint that they run dry before I can even finish an eye lens on a marine. I prefer a 000 or so with a really nice point. I find that I can paint fine details more smoothly with a slightly larger brush. The body of the brush holds just enough more paint to make a consistent, smooth line. I prefer a brush that lets the paint flow off of the tip as opposed to one that I have to drag and rub the paint off of. (Unless I am drybrushing raised details, then I want to have to drag, rub and grind with the brush a bit.)
If there is interest, I will try to explain this again when it is not the middle of the night and when I am not dealing with a sick family member! I hope it's not too disjointed, but I had several interruptions while writing it.
Good luck and keep trying. You will improve as you keep practicing.
Dave
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Post by Harr0wed on Apr 4, 2017 13:30:47 GMT
Oh no,I hope your person is better soon. Not hard to follow at all. I usually try to mix it on whatever I'm using as a pallet. I'll try this way out and see how I do after a few times. Thanks!
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Post by HeadHunter on Apr 5, 2017 5:09:27 GMT
Lately I've been using a wet palette. It takes a little getting used to, to make sure the sponge is sufficiently saturated without soaking through and turning the paints into glazes, but once you've got the hang of it you'll never need to mess with thinning again.
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