Starting out part XI

Wow, it's part eleven already. It seems to me I just started this blog not too long ago.
Well as promised it's time to work on the highlights on the models. This isn't the end, as the very final highlights and shadows will be applied after the models have been attached to their bases and the bases have been decorated with turf and the like. Collectively this process is referred to as basing. I will handle basing in the next post. For now let's do some highlighting.
Watchout this is going to be quick and possibly dirty as I am one post behind schedule. For this reason i am showing both models together. A this point they are receiving the same treatment, albeit at a different time.
So here we have both of them.

I intend to make the highlights a bit on the bright side, simulating a midday sun. So I have to be a bit careful about how to handle the less pronounced highlights. Some knowledge of how light reflects and refracts can be useful in this endeavor and thankfully there are tutorials out there for those of you that are willing to spend an extra ten seconds looking for them. ( Actually the amount of time it takes is entirely dependent on your internet connection speed.) Now, those orange areas are actually three layers. Layer one is a 2 part Khador Highlight, 1 part Khador Base, and one part water. You may want to thin the mixture to suit your tastes. Layer two is just one part Khador highlight and one part water applied after layer on has dried. I didn't go all the way to the edges of layer one. I painted a smaller area over layer one. Layer three is a two part Khador Highlight and one part Cygnus Yellow. I was tempted by Sulfuric Yellow (sometimes labeled Sulfuric Acid) But decided against it. This was a tricky layer to apply as I used a new technique for the very first time. This is a two brush technique and requires a lot of practice and patience. It is more evident on the shoulders which is where I used it. What I did was to paint a line with the paint using my main brush, and then to drag it out with a dry clean brush. I used my dry brush for this second part. you have to be careful to touch and drag just the edge of the line.

Did it work? not too well? Ok, well neither did mine.
See? Don't worry with practice we will get better. And there are ways of fixing that anyway. This is also a base highlight if you can believe that. So we will be shading this a little later and after these models get their bases and final shading we can apply the last and finishing touches of highlighting. So to mitigate this extra bright orange we are looking at, I clean my main brush, load it with Khador Red Base, smear the paint on my palette and with a different and clean brush I dilute the paint to a wash like consistency. this is usually three to four parts water to one part paint ratio.
So why did I use a clean brush to add water? Well it's because I don't have an eye dropper. Yet. They are rather cheap and I really don't know why I haven't bough one or a dozen thus far. I suppose it just slipped my mind. More useless facts at no extra charge.

At this point i am starting to think that I am missing the picture that illustrates what the wash did.

There, nothing a 5Mpx Phone camera can't fix. Well that and Photoshop... Is the contrast good enough? I hope so. So the wash evens out the tones without removing the effect of the highlight. This is a low level highlight. Think ambient light. The direct light highlights will come later as I have mentioned before. A long with them we will also play with a little bit of reflected light as well. So what do we do Next? Well the axes got a nice treatment of quick silver on the "cutting" edge of the blade. i had watered that down to a one part paint and two parts water. It ended with a nice pattern on the Juggernauts axe that gave it a frosted look. Rather appropriate for an Ice Axe if you ask me. I will have to do something to add to that and enhance the frost look on it. the edge on the Destroyers axe was a little more muted. There are a few parts that also will need to be highlighted but they will wait untill the models have been attached to their bases.

Now, i hope that you remember when i painted the eyes white? I will give you a  quick recap. What I did was to water down one part Morrow White (any white will do) with two parts water. Then using the fine detail brush I gingerly, as gingerly as I could considering how much coffee and Mount@in D3w that I had consumed, painted the eyes white. Wait the coffee comment applies to this next bit, so please copy and paste here. Next I thin down Cygnus Yellow 1:2 ratio of paint to water and after the white has dried I gently wash it over wit the yellow. To the thinned yellow I add a little bit of Khador Red Highlight, this is an arbitrary amount so add as much as you think suitable, but not enough as to constitute one part. Now this part is a little tricky as well. And a little messy. I wash the yellow a little with the new darker mix, this gives it a nice fiery appearance. As for the edges of the face plates that I hit with the brush? Well I give them a gentle highlight with a little extra yellow and get the effect of the inner glow reflected on the outsides of the face.

Well that is it for now. In my next post I will attach these bad boys to their bases, turf them and finish the highlights and shadows. After that I will move on to painting Sorcha. She has a different feel as she is both a character model and thus deserving a little extra love. And she is a living model and as such has a different approach, human skin isn't shiny like robot skin/ armor. Exciting isn't it? I can't wait.
By the way, on the to right of this page you may have noticed a poll. Well I post these to get a better idea as to who you are and why you are reading this. I hope that you find it helpful, but i need your help. Please take a few extra seconds and click on an answer to the poll. Thank you.