Help New painter

Hi everyone.

This is my first post on Lustria and it looks like an amazing community from what I have read.

I used to do warhammer when I was a kid and now I want to get into AoS and Seraphon seemed the only way to go. I'm trying to take more pride in my painting by using dry brushing and shading, and I have seen videos from GW on how to do them.

I am just confused about the process with different parts of the miniature, like claws, teeth etc. Would these undergo shading and dry brushing, and if so do you do all the basing, then all the shading then all the dry brushing? Or complete one area at a time?

Thanks
JD

 

Well... I guess that's really up to you... and a bit depending on the model you paint...
Personally I like to finish the biggest areas first before moving to the next smaller one... or I kind of move form the inside to the outside...
On a saurus for example I'd finish the skin to a certain point before I move to the scales... then come the claws and other details... usually metal parts go last for me...

But that's all just a kind of guideline... as I apply some washes on the whole model for example... then it's useful to at least have these parts basecoated first...

 

Like Tom says, I try to focus on the larger areas first, then move on to smaller elements (like Claws) later. This is mostly since I use different color washes on different areas, and if you are using a dark shade (like Blue), it can stain lighter areas (like Claws) so that they have a weird tint to them once you are done.

For example, if I am painting a Saurus Warrior blue, I'll base coat his body blue and wash it with a blue wash. I'll then drybrush once the wash is completely dry. Then I move on to the claws, which I base coat beige (Baneblade Brown), and apply a brown wash (Agrax Earthshade) with a drybrush coat of a lighter beige (Ratkin Flesh) making it heaver at the tips so that you have a nice gradation between the colors. This makes them pop nicely and not look so flat.

But for a good, quick result, base coat, wash and drybrush, starting with the most prominent areas and working to smaller and smaller details. (You might occasionally have an exception to this, depending on the model, if there are areas that are simply difficult to reach without getting lots of paint on other, previously painted, areas. Hit those first so that you won't have to go back and touch up as much.)

 

I would advise watching some more YouTube videos, if you search for a painting guide and just watch some, even if you're not planning on painting those models. It'll give you a better idea of the processes used and the order they're used.

 

I recommend this site for all beginners.
http://www.how-to-paint-miniatures.com/

 

Thank you for all the advice, it is really helpful!

I will look at more videos and go on that website. I will use what you have all said but I suppose it will still be trial and error, especially if I am using a different paint scheme.

I was thinking of using a more natural look for my seraphon, with pale'ish' green for the skin and a darker green for the scales. Then using an orange/yellow for decoration etc.

What colours do you all paint your weapons? I am unsure about making them gold, it just doesn't look right to me

 

I use a very dark coffee brown and copper for my weapons, In some I paint he spiky bits white to make them horns or teeth.

Spoiler: Example:

 

I try to make the majority of the weapons simple metallic grey with a few little details gold. (Since they are Jungle Dwellers, I like to imagine that they are guarding secret locations like El Dorado - thus they can afford all the gold.) On bigger, weapons (like those wielded by Kroxigor) or magical weapons used by characters, I like to make them look like marble or granite.) Depends on the weapon though.

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the quick replies. What do you all think about having Seraphon that aren't blue? I'm still undecided as everything seems to say that they should be blue

 

http://www.lustria-online.com/threads/ye-olde-interactive-saurus-painter.4555/
Might be worth a few ideas. also check out the gallery of the old ones in the painting section.

 

I painted lizards in many colors... but no of them was blue... if I remember correctly...

 

Thank you again. I think I will try a green colour scheme and see what happens.

One last thing if I can take any more of your time, I am using the citadel paint app to figure out what paints to use as base, shade and dry but it doesn't show an edge paint for the dry brushing process.

How would I figure out the best edge pain to use?

Thanks

 

is that similar to the base or the dry brush?

Does it not need to be an "edge paint" then?

 

My basic option on gw paints: usually it's no problem to use base paint as layer and layer paint as a basecoat... you will have to thinn base paints a bit more when using them for layering and use one or two more coats of a layer paint as a basecoat... also both work for drybrushing...
for shading usually you will use a wash but a glaze can do the job, too. Though the wash will flow much better and the glaze will leave a stronger tint of its own color...

In your case I'd use the paint used for drybrushing and mix some white in it to do the edges... can't say if it's possible to mix a dry paint with a layer or base paint cause I don't have any dry paint...