Glazing How To - From Start To Finish

[morning]

From looking at the golden daemon competition, several seem to do this tecnique. Now, they also do a bit more, but I think this would be a great way to shade and have them be competition quality, if you maybe used vivid colors, and a sharper glaze?

[slah]

What about metals?

 

If you do NMM it seems fairly straightforward to apply this technique, but what about truemetal? When the colors are diluted this much will truemetal colours even work?

[mario]

What about metals?

 

If you do NMM it seems fairly straightforward to apply this technique, but what about truemetal? When the colors are diluted this much will truemetal colours even work?

Yes, sort of, instead of starting with a white base-coat you could start with a Vallejo metallic medium on top of a white primer (it's even brighter than mithril silver) and treat this as your white primer base-coat and glaze over it until you have something you like. Although you probably should not thin it too much (be it mithril silver or metallic medium), just start with a 1:1 (water to paint) ratio and add some more water. The paint should not be unpaintable (as it can happen to metallics when you add too much water) but thin enough to give you a nice, smooth, and workable base-coat after a few (two to five, depending on your paint consistency) layers.

 

Here is a link to an coolminiornot.com article that explains a similar technique.

 

The essence of all these related techniques is not that you have to use white primer but that a lot of very thin layers do create visible results that can be used for a lot of things. From Highlighting and shading to weathering, repairing a messed up blending, hue corrections and other stuff; it just takes time and patience if the layers are very thin.

[Sigismund Himself]

Published. Many thanks, Lunchbox :yes:

[LunchBox]

What about metals?

 

If you do NMM it seems fairly straightforward to apply this technique, but what about truemetal? When the colors are diluted this much will truemetal colours even work?

Yes, sort of, instead of starting with a white base-coat you could start with a Vallejo metallic medium on top of a white primer (it's even brighter than mithril silver) and treat this as your white primer base-coat and glaze over it until you have something you like. Although you probably should not thin it too much (be it mithril silver or metallic medium), just start with a 1:1 (water to paint) ratio and add some more water. The paint should not be unpaintable (as it can happen to metallics when you add too much water) but thin enough to give you a nice, smooth, and workable base-coat after a few (two to five, depending on your paint consistency) layers.

 

Here is a link to an coolminiornot.com article that explains a similar technique.

 

The essence of all these related techniques is not that you have to use white primer but that a lot of very thin layers do create visible results that can be used for a lot of things. From Highlighting and shading to weathering, repairing a messed up blending, hue corrections and other stuff; it just takes time and patience if the layers are very thin.

 

 

Right you are...for metallics, you can create some very neat effects by glazing many layers, and many colors over a smooth basecoat of gunmetal, chanmail, or even mithril. You really don't want to thin your metallics too much, as they will separate.

[slah]

What about metals?

 

If you do NMM it seems fairly straightforward to apply this technique, but what about truemetal? When the colors are diluted this much will truemetal colours even work?

Yes, sort of, instead of starting with a white base-coat you could start with a Vallejo metallic medium on top of a white primer (it's even brighter than mithril silver) and treat this as your white primer base-coat and glaze over it until you have something you like. Although you probably should not thin it too much (be it mithril silver or metallic medium), just start with a 1:1 (water to paint) ratio and add some more water. The paint should not be unpaintable (as it can happen to metallics when you add too much water) but thin enough to give you a nice, smooth, and workable base-coat after a few (two to five, depending on your paint consistency) layers.

 

Here is a link to an coolminiornot.com article that explains a similar technique.

 

The essence of all these related techniques is not that you have to use white primer but that a lot of very thin layers do create visible results that can be used for a lot of things. From Highlighting and shading to weathering, repairing a messed up blending, hue corrections and other stuff; it just takes time and patience if the layers are very thin.

 

 

Right you are...for metallics, you can create some very neat effects by glazing many layers, and many colors over a smooth basecoat of gunmetal, chanmail, or even mithril. You really don't want to thin your metallics too much, as they will separate.

 

It was exactly the seperation when thinning I was wondering about.

 

So to summarize: the metallics should be done like when doing NMM - BUT with watered down colours (same washes as with the non-metallic parts), and with a metallic color as base?

[mario]

It was exactly the seperation when thinning I was wondering about.

 

So to summarize: the metallics should be done like when doing NMM - BUT with watered down colours (same washes as with the non-metallic parts), and with a metallic color as base?

Yes.

 

Edit: Well, the metallics do not have to be done like when doing NMM. There are many other ways to paint metallics but this technique works and can be adapted for basically everything. For armies you would end up with something that is similar to traditional washing just more controlled while the very high quality works is done more like shown in the tutorial(s).

[CarbonCopy]

Actually, there is an excellent tutorial on metalics using extensive glazing over on CMON. Find it here.

 

P.S. Excellent tutorial LunchBox. I've been fallowing your progress for a few years and it is very inspiring (maybe I'll do that well some day).

[asmodai650]

Thanks again for the tutorial. I've been looking for something new to try to make my armies look better. Time is not an issue, so I'll have to give this a try. I do have one question for you though. How long should I wait in between glazes? Does the first layer have to be completely dry beofre going to the next, or does it need to be a little wet in order for the blending to work? Sorry if it sounds dumb.

 

Ok, I just thought of another question. How do you glaze figures that are mostly white or mostly black?

[Cl4d]

Your glaze should dry in a matter of seconds or else I'm pretty sure it's way too thick.

[LunchBox]

Thanks again for the tutorial. I've been looking for something new to try to make my armies look better. Time is not an issue, so I'll have to give this a try. I do have one question for you though. How long should I wait in between glazes? Does the first layer have to be completely dry beofre going to the next, or does it need to be a little wet in order for the blending to work? Sorry if it sounds dumb.

 

Ok, I just thought of another question. How do you glaze figures that are mostly white or mostly black?

 

That doesn't sound dumb at all...the purpose of a tutorial is to learn things we didn't know.

 

You generally want your glazes dry before applying another one, or it will quite literally peel the old glaze off, and leave a hole in the color, and an actual, textured pit on the spot. Over time, you learn where you can get away with it. For now, Cl4d is right...glazes generally dry in seconds.

 

As to your question about white or black...that's an interesting one, and most painters will probably differ. Personally, I like to build black over a light gray primer (for a dark black), or white primer (for a daylight, fantasy black), and add browns, greens, purples, blues, pinks, reds...anything I can think of to add some depth and life to the blackitude. However, when painting a black mini using this method, I still rarely use black paint. White is a grueling task...spray white, knock it down, then build it back up...I hate it, and I don't do a true white (personally). You can, however, create the illusion of a "white Marine" by using tans, blues, yellows, creams, and having true white be the brightest highlight.

 

Really though...we're kiiiiiiiiiinda starting to open that door called "color theory and light". For that, my own personal little Yoda would be better suited to answer those questions.

 

YYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA????????????????????????

[Starks333]

:( ive been sent for ...

 

 

for white:

 

start with an offwhite, ivory or beige, as white is onyl white in light, this allows you to belnd up to pure white...for whites you can play with contrasts, and tones to achieve different types of whites...to shade, its best to mix colours...i like to mix in a grey...and then to further shadow mix in a brown and a colour

 

for black:

 

start with an offblack...so a dark brown, blue, green and so forth...highlight up by adding a brighter colour....shade by building up blued tones with other colours...using pure black only if you need to

 

same process used for any other colours, and all types of blending...you can add nuances(like the red he used in his tutorial) to spice up the white or black...the colours you pick depends on the final appearence you are after

[Cl4d]

Just as a side note, I've always had problem with pooling since I started glazing, and god knows these stains or terrible. Do you have any tips to prevent them?

[Starks333]

Just as a side note, I've always had problem with pooling since I started glazing, and god knows these stains or terrible. Do you have any tips to prevent them?

 

it comes down to a couple things:

 

-touch towel to remove excess water

-when applying the paint, be quick with your strokes but still precise you dont have time to play around long before paint dries

-be gentle...the harder you press on the brush the more paint comes out, so press lightly, and you shouldnt have a problem with too much painting pouring off

-if you let some pool...with a damp clean brush, you can wipe away the edges of a layer or "stain" as its drying while its damp, once its dried around the edges and wet in the middle DO NOT TOUCH IT, you will tear and create an even bigger pain to clean up stain

-dont let the paint pool

-dont let the paint pool

 

thats pretty much it

 

to recover from a stain...simply glaze over a bunch of times and it should disappear, just dont do it often

 

 

getting used to the brush will allow you to continue to improve contorl over this type of thing

[LunchBox]

*I told ya'll the force was strong in that one...

 

 

Side note; if you do a white Marine...say a White Scar...they are white with red trim, and a little yellow. You can incorporate those colors in to the nuance glazes in you transitions. But, you wouldn't want to paint a white Marine with red trim, and glaze too much red into the armor...the eye will trick your brain into seeing a pink Marine. Try complementary colors like an off-green, but not a dark one, because green can be a very strong color and will naturally shade.

[mario]

For the white black thing: Just to add a bit to Starks333's post: Paint white and black with off-whites and off-blacks, like he said. That give you room to define the form with highlights and shading.

 

But you have to keep the whole miniature in mind. If you have an Ultramarines army, lets say fourth company (green trims) then you paint these guy as you want (let's say you used goblin green for the trims) but for the white apothecary you would paint the white with off whites and pure white for the highlights (as explained by Starks333). But for the apothecary's trim you could use snot green (darker than goblin green I i think) mixed with some little bit of dark angels green (to add some more darkness).

 

That should make the white armour look whiter in itself and especially if next to some marines with lighter green trims.

 

Another example would be a black armoured marine: anything that you paint not black on it should be painted even brighter than you would on average greens or reds (blues, or oranges). That will make the black look blacker in comparison as our eyes have no absolute colour perception. It is always relative to surrounding colours.

 

You can do this with any colour. If you have (for example) just one blue in you collection then you could make it look darker by using only bright colours on the rest of the miniature (instead of just adding darker colours to your blue), and if you want to appear brighter just use mail dark colour around it.

 

But this only work to a degree. You can't, for example, make sunburst yellow look black. You can only shift the viewers' perception a bit and adjust it so it looks a bit darker, or brighter; or less or more saturated if you were modifying saturation.

[HF Catoblepas]

I dont know if he said it in the tutorial, maybe I missed it. But when painting like this, is he glazing right over a white primer or did he to a basecoat of white first and then glaze over that. Sorry if this is a dumb question but i need to know, haha.

[Starks333]

Lunchie likes to go right over the primer...it takes patience and discipline to build an even coat

 

i myself usually tend to basecoat...hwoever there are many techniques, its whatever works for you

 

neither are bad, as long as you get that smooth even finish

[LunchBox]

I dont know if he said it in the tutorial, maybe I missed it. But when painting like this, is he glazing right over a white primer or did he to a basecoat of white first and then glaze over that. Sorry if this is a dumb question but i need to know, haha.

 

 

At the beginning of the tut, I showed the first set of glazes used for creating a basecoat...just a personal preference of mine.

[HF Catoblepas]

Okay, I thought that was it but I wasn't sure if the white you started the glazes on was a basecoat or the primer. Thanks for clearing that up. I usually do the same thing but thought maybe there might be some advantage to basecoating some extra white on there. I just started trying to paint this way after attending the golden demons in Toronto. My model didnt make the cut so I brought it to the painting table to ask suggestions and randomly ended up talking to Vincent. Haha, I didnt even know who he was at the time, but i recognized some of his models. He showed me how to work this way to get cleaner transitions and what not. Hopefully next year, I'll be a bit more of a contender.

[Starks333]

ah, you might of been talking to me too <_< I was sitting next to vincent for one of the sessions...did you have the tyranid big bug?

 

 

but yes, same basic concepts, just applied differently...the techniques work, the application varies...i myself even change up now and then how i do things

 

im moving into different ways to apply them currently, its fun!

[HF Catoblepas]

Haha, yeah that was me! You popped while I was talking to him and started giving some tips, too. I wish I could have sat there all day, I was learning so much. Been trying out the techniques and trying to get a feel for them.

 

I had another question, he showed me how to do the wet pallet thing while I was there and I also read a tutorial on it here, I think its yours, Starks. So I got the parchment and a rectangular container thing, I think its Ziplock. Put the wet paper towels in there, put the parchment on it, made sure the edges stop curling up. After about an hour of working the parchment starts bubbling up raising the paint away from the towels. Is there anyway to prevent that?

[Starks333]

Haha, yeah that was me! You popped while I was talking to him and started giving some tips, too. I wish I could have sat there all day, I was learning so much. Been trying out the techniques and trying to get a feel for them.

 

I had another question, he showed me how to do the wet pallet thing while I was there and I also read a tutorial on it here, I think its yours, Starks. So I got the parchment and a rectangular container thing, I think its Ziplock. Put the wet paper towels in there, put the parchment on it, made sure the edges stop curling up. After about an hour of working the parchment starts bubbling up raising the paint away from the towels. Is there anyway to prevent that?

 

when you apply the parchment make sure to smoothen out the air bubbles and eliminate as much as you can

 

keeping the towel damp will prevent it drying...parchment tends to shrink, so if it dries up it will shrink and air pockets under will be created

 

thats pretty much it from what ive experienced

 

(PS feel free to join up on canadian-team.com...you can post bugs and non power armour there and get critique and comments from fellow canadians, and some dirty texans too!)

 

and hey lunch have you tried the wet palette again? or still using hotel desks? :P

[Chainaxe_of_Khorne]

Hi there, I'm quite new to painting miniatures, and i'm trying out the technique in your tutorial. I'm working on painting the Power Armour in red though, and have come accross some difficulties:

 

When i thin the paints, the reds (I've got Vallejo model colour Black Red, burnt Cad. Red, Vermillion, GW Red Gore, GW Mechrite Red GW and Blood Red) tend to turn either a dark brown (the darker ones) or have a pinkish hue to it (Vermillion and Blood Red). Is there a way to get around this?

 

The Base colour i am applying is a mix of Vermillion: Burnt Cad. Red (1:1) also on a white Primecoat. what mixtures would you suggest for highlighting and shading?

 

cheers,

 

Chris

[gralph!?!]

very informative lunch box. i do have a little question though. more of a confirmation really. when glazing armour and such on marines, would you normally glaze one tone until you have it pretty smooth then move onto the smaller darker glaze in the shadows. to make it clearer, would you start a darker glaze over a lighter one when the lighter one still hasn't covered full in the darker area.

 

i ask since i have done this a little (damned impatiance) and i have haid some reasonable results with it. however if it is something to try not to go for then at least i will know about it now instead of ruining a nice model.