Zenithal Highlighting

One of the great joys of owning an airbrush is being able to achieve nice, smooth blends.  Or at least, I imagine it will be a great joy once I get the technique down.  I've been using the airbrush to do some preliminary shading on my models, establishing a zenithal highlight like you would expect if the model was lit from above by a fairly strong light source.  As an example, here's my current project, a Reaper sorceress:

This isn't the greatest photo, but you can see the way the gray progresses from dark to light towards the top of the model.  The orb, the hat and the top of the cloak are especially bright, since they have surfaces facing directly upwards.  The airbrush is great for this because it works like a paint flashlight: you point it down, and the paint goes exactly where the light would go if the model were lit from overhead.

I'm not usually keen on posting work in progress, but here are a couple of shots of the sorceress as she's being painted.  Of late, I've started to work on one color at a time, beginning with the most recessed parts of the model.  So here you can see I've put most of the highlights and shades on the skin.

This close-up shows the face a little better.  What I think it really needs is some more contrast around the eyes and lips, to make the most prominent facial features really stand out.  I'll post more as I paint more, but the basic plan is to paint her in simple colors, and try a sourced highlight coming from the orb in her left hand.  But that's another technique for another post...

Prepare To Be Boarded!

A fine model which I bought from Reaper to get free shipping on my order.  I think his actual name is "Rumscratch, Dwarf Wereshark," but my wife dubbed him "Pirate Shark" and it stuck.

 

Though I bought him on impulse (because pirates are cool and sharks are cool), it's a really well-sculpted model with lots of neat details: the hermit crab parrot, the key to the treasure chest on his belt, the pegleg.  This is also the first time I used my airbrush to basecoat a model--I airbrushed him grey and gave him a zenithal highlight before I put all the colors in with more traditional methods.  I also thinned my paints much more than usual, and tried a little harder to make the metal parts seem to reflect light in a realistic way.  It's an ongoing process, but I'm happy with the result.  Painting single models is great because you can focus a little more on trying new techniques.  If you have a 20-model squad to paint, you usually want to stick to tried and true strategies that you can apply quickly.  In the future, I plan to alternate between single models, squads and larger models (tanks, dragons, and so forth)--each type of project teaches you something different. 

Learning to Shoot

My camera, that is.  I leave the rest to the Space Marines.  Since I was having trouble getting my images properly focused, I poked around a bit on the internet.  I started with this:

Not a bad photo, but the giant cannon looks a little fuzzy.  By messing with the f-stop, I managed to get this:

Much better.  I do need to get a more dramatic background, though.  The white armchair isn't the most dignified setting.  Perhaps in another post.

New Blood Angels

Here are some photos of a recent project, a GW Space Marine assault squad painted in the colors of the Blood Angels chapter.

My photography skills are improving, though you can see I'm stil having trouble getting the whole model in focus sometimes.  As far as the paint job goes, these guys are nothing special, but the bright colors and dynamic poses make them look pretty nice as a squad.  Besides, they have jetpacks and chainsaw swords--would you tell them they don't look good?  Thanks to Mom for supplying the squad as a birthday gift last year.

Return of Red Snail

So, my little girl destroyed the original drawing of Red Snail shortly after I created it.  After spending a while browsing images of snails online, I made a slightly nicer one to replace it:

I keep telling myself I should learn how to draw properly, but you know, I think snails work for me.

The Art of Procrastination

I should have been working on my dissertation today.  But I got an airbrush for Christmas, and my first batch of paint just arrived.  So I played around a little.  I was practicing with a stencil, thinking about making my little girl some custom t-shirts. 

This came about when I decided I liked the look of my stenciled artwork, and added some colors with a set of watercolor pencils my mom bought me for Christmas.  Not my usual space marines and dark elves, but the colors came out nicely.

Later, as I was feeding my daughter, I happened to see her red snail bath toy:

Since anything is better than work, this humble snail became Red Snail, Scourge of the North:

No surprise, my violent child was thrilled.  So, keep your eyes out for the Red Snail webcomic!