Three Clerics - a W.I.P.

Hey! Looking good so far. I've painted one of these sized figures but it was a LoTR set. I noticed that even with the smallest brushes I would often find myself, having started with the base colors and moving forward to chainmail then forward to gloves/helmet and etc, that I would end up extending the paint too far. For example on your figures from what I can see anyway, the middle one I would paint the cape first as it's the farthest back, move forward and paint the legs (getting paint on the cape) repaint the cape (which would most likely get on the legs) I think you get the gist of it.

I guess I wanted to know if you had any tips or methods to improve painting control? Is there any kind of need for masking? My brush control has drastically increased with practice, but there are still times (I'm primarily an armor modeler/dio figure painter) where I have fully assembled a drop in engine kit or a soldier with a fully loaded vest, with a weapon drawn in close to the body, and I still find sometimes that my painting can quickly turn into a cyclical game of fix this paint that fix this paint that.

I'm sure it's something that can be fixed with practice more than anything. But just curious. I actually use that style craft acrylic paint for most of my detail work and a rattle can for the big picture. I only use enamels or model master acrylic for metals (silver or aluminum/rust)/specialty colors (like ODs or military greens/tans) that need to be brushed on.

Looking good so far though! Great job on that filled base, blends right in seamlessly as far as I can tell.

Thank you.

I don't really have any advice concerning brush control, other than the old "practice makes perfect" cliche. I try to draw the brush along the transition line, rather than perpendicular to it, if that makes sense. I also use some tricks for "blending" the transitions that can help disguise any subtle mistakes. I'll demonstrate them here.

Thanks for the support - CJ

EdGrune:

First thing I thought of when I read the thread title " Three Clerics" was ... A Rabbi, a Priest, and a Minister walk into a bar ....

  So then what happened?

Ok, time for paint. I always paint from the inside out; skin first, then clothes and finally gear and equipment. That means the face and eyes are first.

I start by painting the face w/ a base color, in this case Apple Barrel Flesh. It's a little dark, more of a peach color than a flesh tone, but that works for reasons that will become clear. Once the base coat is on, I move on to the eyes.

To paint the eyes, I begin by mixing two parts White w/ one part Flesh to get an oyster color. This will be the color of the "whites" of the eyes. Pure white would look too bright, and would give the figure a pop-eyed look.

Carefully, I paint the eyeball, leaving a little flesh in the creases around the edges. I kind of like the effect on the middle figure, and for a while, almost left it at that. Almost.

Next, I had to paint the irises/pupils. This is the hardest part of painting a figure. If the eyes aren't lined up right, the figure will look cock-eyed. I went slow and careful.

Once I was pleased w/ what I had, I went to shading the face.

There's two schools of thought about figure painting. On the one hand, many people like a more "realistic" look to a figure. This is particularly popular amongst us modelers.
On the other hand, there is the more exaggerated "high contrast" style of painting used by wargamers, and often featured in gaming magazines like White Dwarf.

I come from the modeling world, so I'm more comfortable w/ the "realistic" style, but since these are gaming pieces, and the high contrast style shows up better in pictures, that is what I will (try to) do here.

I next use Apple Barrel Toffee color to paint the shadows of the figures face; under the brow and jaw, along the hairline and in the ears, and anywhere else there is a crease of some sort.

Then I mix the Flesh color 50/50 w/ Apple Barrel Azalea Blush (a sort of pink/red color) and paint the lips.

It looks a little sloppy at the moment, but I'll clean that up in the next step.

Gently and carefully, I drybrush the face w/ the base Flesh color. This blends the shadows a bit, and makes them a little less harsh.

Next I mix one part White w/ one part Flesh, and carefully paint the highlights of the face. I could drybrush this step too, but by painting normally I get a stronger contrast, which is sort of the point for these figures.

They still need eyebrows, and the guy on the right w/ the quarterstaff could use a little more work, but it will do for now.

Ok, now I can start to paint their gear.

Ok, so I began w/ the quarterstaff armed figure. For the color palette, I decided to go w/ earth tones, especially warm browns. The character was of peasant stock, and these colors suggest someone of the land.

I began by painting in all the base colors. To make the figure visually interesting, I put dark colors next light ones. By alternating dark and light, I give each area a clear boundary from the next, which will help define the details.

Notice that I jumped the gun a bit, and added highlights and shadows to the leggings/sleeves...

The colors I used and the order they were applied:
Leggings / sleeves: Nutmeg Brown
Under Tunic: Carmel Candy
Over Tunic: Country Tan
Pouches / Bedroll: Brown Oxide
Backpack: Moccasin Brown
Scabbard / Staff Leather: Earth Brown
Staff: Nubian Linen
Mug: Steel
Hair: Toffee

I wasn't happy w/ the Country Tan color. In the bottle it appeared to be more like a neutral beige, but on the figure it seemed to pick up a little green. That happens sometimes, but rather than try to change it I just let it be.

Next I began painting in the shadows. I mixed in varying amounts of Burnt Umber w/ the base colors (usually around 50%) and started painting in the folds, creases and overhangs, including in the hair.

Because the over tunic had a greenish tint, I used Black to make the shadow color.

Once that was done, I painted the base Wedgewood Green.

Here's what it looked like:

For the next step, I applied spot and pin washes.
First I took the Testor's Burnt Umber enamel, and put one drop in the palette. Then I added five drops of thinner and mixed it very well. I wasn't trying to get properly thinned paint; rather I was trying to get very dirty thinner.

Once mixed thoroughly, I carefully painted this mixture into any area on the figure where two separate objects touched one another. This simulates the hard shadows that occur when one thing sits on top of another.

I use enamels and oil based thinners for this operation because the pigments in the enamels are ground extremely fine, and because thinners will flow into creases and folds much better than acrylics will. You get much richer, more consistent lines.

Like so:

This trick really causes the different areas to define themselves. Notice the effect on the wood grain in the staff, along the "collar", and around the rope belt.

For the green base, I mixed Olive Drab enamel for the wash, and applied the mix over the entirety of the base (black or burnt umber would have given too strong a contrast).

The next step is to paint the highlights. I mixed the base colors w/ varying amounts of Antique White to get a lighter shade of each color (usually around 30%). Then using a combination of drybrushing and careful painting, I applied these colors to the high parts of folds and any hard edges, especially where two colors meet.

Also at this point, I painted the rope belt and the stitching on the figure. I used a combination of Toffee and Antique White to make a sort of parchment color, but once I got it on the figure it looked almost white. Another one of those instances where something looks different once you get it on the model. In this case, I was not displeased however, I kinda like it.

I went ahead and painted the metallic parts of the sword, and the buckles on the figure's back. The sword parts are Copper w/ a Gold highlight, and the buckles are Steel.

Oh yeah, and I gave him some eyebrows.  :)

Lastly, I coated the figure w/ Testor's Dullcote, straight from the rattle can. Dullcote is a clear, matte lacquer; this helps to even out and unify the colors, and protects the figure during handling.

Then I popped him off the base.

Next up, the armored cleric w/ the holy symbol.

On to the armored cleric.
 
This will be painted mostly w/ metallics. I'll use warm metallic colors for the holy symbols , and cool neutral colors for the rest. The idea is to draw the viewer's eye to the face and the symbols, to give the figure a little drama. At least that's my hope, let's see if it works.

I started w/ the plate armor. For metallics I use Testor's Model Master enamels. Metallic enamels will "snug down" better than acrylic versions, and they are more durable when applied. Also, acrylics dry much faster, so drybrushing w/ them can cause a "glitter" effect on other nearby surfaces, something I want to avoid.

For the most part, the painting process is the same as on the first figure: Base coat first, shadows, pin washes and then highlights. I started w/ Steel for the armor, Silver for the disk the hand held symbol is on, Gold for the sun and Copper for the sun's rays.

For the shadowing effect, I used Graphite Metallic on the armor and the disk of the holy symbol. The Gold and Copper I left as is.

At this point, I sprayed the figure w/ a thin layer of Dullcote. Since the washes I use are enamel based, they could mess w/ the underlying paint; the Dullcote acts as a buffer between the two.

Next came the spot washes. Black for the armor, and Burnt Umber around the holy Symbols. Because I was using enamels, I had to allow 24 hours between each of these steps to allow the paint to dry. (This is one of the main reasons I prefer acrylics for regular colors when painting: as soon as acrylics look dry, they are. The process goes much faster.)

Next, I drybrushed the armor w/ Silver, the suns w/Bright Brass and the sunrays w/ Gold.
I then sealed the figure w/ another thin layer of Dullcote, and set it aside to dry for 24 hours.

The clothing and cape were next. Because the character belongs to a mercenary group that uses grey as its primary heraldry color, I wanted to paint the cloak a medium neutral grey, w/ the gloves being a darker grey. I also wanted to do the light/dark/light thing that I did on the last figure again, to help define the different areas.

< I somehow missed taking a picture of the base coating step before going on to the next, but I think y'all can keep up. Please forgive the error. >

I used Charcoal for the cloak, and Pewter Grey for the gloves. Despite the names of the paints, in the bottle the Pewter color looked significantly darker. As it turned out, that wasn't the case when I got them on the figure.
The Charcoal color was very transparent, and it required about 7(!) thin coats to get complete coverage. This is probably why it looked so light in the bottle. I was in no hurry, so I went slowly, building up the density of the color a little at a time.

The base colors are:
Gloves - Pewter Grey
Cloak - Charcoal
Mace haft - Nubian Linen
Mace head - 50% Black, 50% Charcoal
Base - 50% Country Grey, 50% Burnt Umber
Flagstones - Country Grey

Next, shadows were painted by mixing the base colors about 40% w/ Black. For the head of the mace, the shadows were straight Black, and the haft color was darkened w/ Burnt Umber.

Lastly came the highlights. Most colors were lightened by mixing them w/ about 30% White.

After a final layer of Dullcote to seal the figure, I thought the holy symbols looked a little bland, so I went back and touched them up w/ Gold. The final results:

I left the sculptor's signature on the base. Seemed like a professional courtesy.

Now, w/ the next figure, I'm going to try use all these tricks, and maybe give him a more interesting base...

Cosmic J wrote:

Next came the spot washes. Black for the armor, and Burnt Umber around the holy Symbols. Because I was using enamels, I had to allow 24 hours between each of these steps to allow the paint to dry. (This is one of the main reasons I prefer acrylics for regular colors when painting: as soon as acrylics look dry, they are. The process goes much faster.) Next, I drybrushed the armor w/ Silver, the suns w/Bright Brass and the sunrays w/ Gold. I then sealed the figure w/ another thin layer of Dullcote, and set it aside to dry for 24 hours. The clothing and cape were next.

Very Interesting, this was done opposite the order I would have thought to do it. I think your way makes more sense going from the skin, base clothing, outer clothing order. I think one of my problems was trying to go from the back of the figure forward... almost like I would in a two dimintional painting. I guess back to front only works on that plain, it'd make sense for the 3D plain to go from inner to outer "core"

Cosmic J wrote:

I left the sculptor's signature on the base. Seemed like a professional courtesy.

I like the idea.

Cosmic J wrote:

Now, w/ the next figure, I'm going to try use all these tricks, and maybe give him a more interesting base...

 Looking forward to it!

Very impressive.  Watching the progression of pictures is like watching the figures come to life.  I look forward to the next installment.

Cosmic J wrote:

Mortality has begun to creep up on me...

LOL! Wait to you get to be my age!

psstoff995 wrote:

Very Interesting, this was done opposite the order I would have thought to do it. I think your way makes more sense going from the skin, base clothing, outer clothing order. I think one of my problems was trying to go from the back of the figure forward... almost like I would in a two dimintional painting. I guess back to front only works on that plain, it'd make sense for the 3D plain to go from inner to outer "core"

Yeah, I find it easier to do that way. Sometimes there are spots on a figure that are hard to get a brush down into w/out getting paint on nearby details. If you start w/ the innermost layer, there is (usually) less clean-up during painting.

The other reason I do it this way has to do w/ how the face and eyes turn out. No matter how good the finish on the rest of the model, if the figure is cock-eyed then that's all anyone will notice. So I always start w/ the face and eyes, and if I can't get those right, I usually won't bother to finish it.

Cosmic J wrote: Now, w/ the next figure, I'm going to try use all these tricks, and maybe give him a more interesting base...  Looking forward to it!

I hope I do not disappoint.

padakr wrote:

Very impressive.  Watching the progression of pictures is like watching the figures come to life.  I look forward to the next installment.

Wow. Thank you, padakr. That's like the nicest compliment I've ever gotten. Seriously, thanks. 

minimortar wrote:

Cosmic J wrote: Mortality has begun to creep up on me... LOL! Wait to you get to be my age!

Heh! Well, I guess that depends on how old you are, and how old you think I am...

SkullGundam wrote:

Man this is awesome.  I'm gonna try and use some of these techniques (I've already saved some bottle caps) but I think they will be even better once I get some human figures instead of WH40K guys with no skin.  Very cool tutorial/WIP and really a big help.  Keep it up man.

I'm glad you liked it SG. One of the things I hoped to do was show how easy it is. I hope you get a lot of use from it.

fantacmet wrote:

Lookin good.  I too have done one of these.  I stained a small wooden box from Michaels, glued it on the top, put some turf on the metal base of the fig, and on the top of the box, and gave the setup to my wife for her earings or whatever.  She loves it.

That's cool. My wife likes minis too. She's always trying to get me to paint some for her. Your idea sounds like a good solution...

Thanks for the support guys.

Excellent work! The contrasts in the armour look very convincing.

My wife is currently painting me a trio of Warhammer Squig's at the moment, plus two Night Goblin herders.

Cheers

Mike

I am blown away... not only by your amazing figure painting talent, but also because you are getting this quality out of Anita's and Apple Barrel acrylics. I never considered them for anything above Celluclay toner and rubble paint. Just fantastic work, CJ!

Steve

Thank you guys, you're very kind.

SteveM: Yeah, I gotta say, for painting figures, I prefer Apple Barrel paints to just about everything else out there. They have to be thinned correctly for the best results, but most paints do. You should give them a try, see what you think. They're so cheap, you really don't have anything to lose. 

The drawback to them is that they don't come in standard military colors; no dunklegelb or olive drab.

smeagol the vile wrote:

When are we gona see a WIP for the third figure?

When I get around to it.

 Seriously though, looking at the time stamp on your post, I was working on it just as you were posting the above. It's a complicated figure, so it may be about a week until I get some more up. The holidays and all...

The first two look really good, I could never paint those small figures.

Thank you. I think you might be able to, if you gave it a try. If not, these same tricks work on larger scale figures too. If you want them to be a little more "realistic", use less contrast on the shadows and highlights.

On a side note, I know really konw my dnd, I know my fantasy though, and the first two (not the guy with the staff) seem more like paladins then clerics.

You're right, you don't. The first figure is a monk (as in Shaolin monk), the second is a cleric (blunt weapon was the giveaway), and the third is a Sidereal from the Exalted RPG (I have no idea what that is either ).