Painting: Interactive NMM Tutorial

[CRasterImage]

From what I read in Boltman's tutorial, it sounds like he is doing both layering and wet blending. He says he lays down several intermediate stripes "layers" in the gradient. He just goes the extra step of rubbing each layer into it's neighbor. This probably keeps the layers from looking like stair-steps into each other and makes the gradient blend more smooth.

 

One day I would like to try painting a mini using oil paints. They are very good at wet blending on a canvas. Maybe they would work well on a mini?

[PsychosisPC]

Like Willowwing said this is a very good technique to apply to other colors also, not just the so-called NMM. I think the neatest thing about playing around with the so-called NMM on miniatures is that it teaches you how to paint other colors better, whether you layer highlights and/or wetblend or feather or whatever. Boltman's reds are just as impressive as the golds and silvers.

 

---PPC

[maxxim]

I have a Quick Question B....

 

Your starting with the medium color over a black undercoat?

 

Just from the first impression the medium brown dosen`t give very good coverage. Are you using serveral coats to get a solid base or do an initial base with a bit darker brown and then move up? Hard to explain.... In my try I`m using the dark flesh and the vermin before I can get good coverage with the leperous...

[Boltman]

I usually cover up with vermin or leprous, though 2 thin coats are often needed.

 

I do not wet blend, I've only had marginal success with it and the feathering works well for me. When I apply a line of color, everything around is dry. I simply use what little remains in the brush with a little moisture from the freshly applied line to blur it'S edges. My blur does not involve another wet color (that would be pure wetblending). SOmetimes I do ahve to adjacent "moist" colors and I blur them together. But my understanding of wet blending is that you can use to colors fairly apart in shade and blend them perfectly with no intermediate colors. I'm not there, yet. I feather my way, blurring the layers I apply. But with practice, I need less color mixes than I used to...

 

If this thread get enough success (post experiments!) then I'll se about talking about other surfaces. I'll require CReasterImage's help for those too thoug :D

 

 

Boltman

[Legacy40k]

Definatly the best tutorial for NMM gold I have ever seen!

 

Definatly worthy of my 1000th post! :D

 

-Legacy40k

[CRasterImage]

Sure, I'll lend a hand. If possible, it would be nice to continue using a real-world photo of the result to base the tutorial on.

 

Until today, I had never heard of feathering. Is this a new term for "wet on dry blending"? This is the technique I always use, though I don't get as anywhere near as good a result as Boltman, Bushido, CommanderY or any other competition-level painters. Part of my problem is that I only use 1 shade difference. I am too impatient to do 3 or 4 or more intermediate shades.

 

For example, I am finishing up on a squad of Ultramarine terminators and I:

- based with VMC ultramarine

 

- added shadows by washing the recesses with Citadel's Black Ink mixed with Future Floor Finish and water.

 

- Highlighted the edges by feathering Delta CeramCoat's "Periwinkle" (a light blue that does not lean towards cyan like "ice blue" does). Using acrylic paint extender, to keep the stuff wet enough for me to move it around.

 

- Highlighted further with a strong, hard line of periwinkle on the edges since the feathered highlight isn't as opaque as a strait line of paint.

 

One of the hardest things, I have found, about feathering is: I either push the paint around too much and get it into places I didn't intend. Or I end up erasing the paint by soaking it up into the brush itself. Its tricky. More often then not, I end up liking things that happend by accident, than I do the things I try to do on purpose.

 

I think I am still searching for the right paint-to-extender mix and the right brush for the job. I havn't found it yet.

[Legacy40k]

Apparently "Feathering" is something I have always done, wetting the edge and drawing the new colour over the old, allowing it to become more transparent as it goes.

 

The problem I find with pure wet blending is I often end up with streaks or overwork the paint which is not a risk with feathering.

[maxxim]

Errrrr.... Not quite as smoothe as I`d like it....

 

I don`t like the over lapping effect I`m getting when I try to blend the colors togather. I think I need to get the paint even thinner. Ahhh... didn`t you say something about a damp cloth to take away excess paint while keeping the brush wet? Or was that someone else... :D

 

Anyhow here is my first results... I`m sure with some more pratice I can get it better tho.... But I still need the cloth...

 

http://www.figmata.com/grafx/bmtest1.jpg

 

My angle box is recessed so I can`t get the corner line very well....

[Graypaint]

Thanks for posting pics maxx, helpful stuff. Good to see people get inspired by other work.

[Toddler on a Leash]

You are definitely on the right path maxmim, it will smooth with practice and patience. Manipulating wet paint is very difficult to achieve on minis, and thanks for the great tutorial, this should definietly go to the archives.

[VtrAxX]

Whoa, Not as Smooth as Boltmans Maxxim But EXCELLENT!

 

I must get tips from you as well since i have gotten all i can get out of Vincent :lol:

 

Anyways Please do share how the wet blend/ feathering is used properly..

 

Vtraxx Out

[maxxim]

Here Is my try with silver which I have been working with alot lately.... ;)

 

http://www.figmata.com/grafx/bmtest2.jpg

Color is just VMC Greman Luff. Blue with white added. I think I may start using something a little darker at first and then go to the greman and then a lighter grey with no blue.... Although this dosen`t look bad...

 

I can see now why it is good to use the interim colors for keeping track of where you need to be at in the blend. You don`t want to run out of room before you reach your final highlight and you don`t want to start to early and have a large area with no transition.

 

I could prolly do a better first job if the rivets were not in the way causing the brush to move.... :lol:

[CRasterImage]

Max, I think it looks great! I think it looks plenty smooth. Smoother than I could do...

 

The only thing that looks a bit off is: If the metal plates all lay on the same plane (all face the exact same direction), they should probably all share the same gradient angle.

 

In other words, if your gradient is going diagonally for one plate, they should all go diagonally. If you are going horizontally, they should all go horizontally.

 

Edit: I like the hint of blue in the greys used for the silver version. Spot on!

[maxxim]

I did the 2 different angles on purpose.... It was just a test....

 

Of course on a mini they would both face the same way.....

 

Thanks....

[CRasterImage]

I still vote that you keep the blue in the silver mix.

 

Or maybe, keep the blue in the middle shade but leave it out of the darkest and brightest shades?

[SeanSullivan]

The only thing that looks a bit off is:

[Elenaria]

One day I would like to try painting a mini using oil paints.  They are very good at wet blending on a canvas.  Maybe they would work well on a mini?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Considering the time it would take to dry, I know at least I wouldn't have the patience. But I heard someone who got at good result with acrylics, lost the link though. Anyone know more of this?

 

(ad the obligatory thanks to Boltman for the tutorial, it shall be used often from now on I think)

[CRasterImage]

Standard paints used (Citadel, Vallejo, Reaper, etc..) are acrylic paints.

 

Ya, oils take a day to dry well. But the blending abilities they offer are incredible.

 

I also wonder if you can paint oils over acrylics...

 

I wonder if drybrushing with oils produces a less "dusty" appearance than acrylics do...

 

I need to experiment one day.

[m3ntor]

This thread is good news. I was just about to start pestering you for your colours.

 

I hereby vow that I will Boltmanise my upcoming Chaos Lord to the level of (or beyond that of) the great Boltman. You, the internet community may hold me to this.

 

Would you be able to give [or hurry up with :lol: ] a rundown on your red....except...uh....blue? Similar method to the metals?

 

 

<Arbitrary complements to Boltman on the models and associated winnings>

 

 

Side Note: Don't you hate it when you get inspired at night, when there's stuff on tv, you're tired, and don't have time to paint until the weekend? *sigh*

[SeanSullivan]

I also wonder if you can paint oils over acrylics...

 

Yes. Acrylic undercoating of oil paintings is a very standard method. Blocking out the basic composition and underlying tones of a painting with fast drying acrylics then overcoating with oil glazes is a common way to approach working with oils.

 

The reverse does not hold true however as you should never paint acylics over oils.

 

Regarding using oils on miniatures I've tried it and like it for large areas that need smooth blends like cloaks, vehicles and terrain. If you don't have any practice using oil paints you most likely won't be immediately too happy with your results but when you tweak with them long enough you can get some really smooth and soft blends in no time. Which I think is the real benefit of oils over acrylic is time. If you come prepared you can get a blend on a mini that would take hours with acrylics in literally minutes with oils simply by laying the shade, midtone and highlights down then blending them together. Way faster than layering/glazing but it takes a feel for the consistency of the paint.

 

That being said I wouldn't recommend using Oils for detail work personally but for large areas that need smooth blends then painting detail over the large areas with acrylics.

[SkinofGod]

Dammit! :lol:

I can understand that!

Now I've got no excuse!

 

Thanks Boltman, this will help muchly... now wheres the button to keep this thread watched for me...

[JMcL63]

Freakin' heck Boltman, not only are you a great painter, but you must also be a mind reader! Only the day before you put this thread up I was thinking that an NMM challenge thread would be a good idea. Not only that, but I was thinking that your Magmatrax tutorial was one of the most informative I have read because you go into such minute detail about how you did things. And here you go with the best account of NMM I have ever read. The basic principles of this technique now actually make sense to me. :lol:

 

Thanks very much man, and keep up the good work. ;)

 

PS. One for the archives?

[undertow]

Hey boltman, great work there. It's always great learning from the master.

 

Lemme ask you this: how would you go about painting a black metal surface? I'll soon start work on a land raider and I was wondering how I could use the NMM technique to make it look like it's made of polished onyx or obsidian as the rest of my army has black armour. What colours would you use?

[Baffy]

Ok, i understand "Where's the light source and apply appropriate paint in the right places to represent this" theory to make a model look real.

That's essentially what model painting is supposed to do after all :lol:

 

But say you have the light source "top left from behind you", how do one go about the backside of such a model and make it look believable?

 

What i'm really asking is:

Do you keep the light fixed and swivel the model around so that the backside would get "top left from behind you" too? From what i can understand this is how Boltman has done it with his sword winning dread.

 

Or

 

Do you turn the entire world (model and light) around so that the light would now come from the upper right and towards you? This would make the backside be in shadow and you are supposed to paint it with a monochrome like pallette.

 

[edit] Given ofcourse that we are just having one light source in our "world". In reality there would be no such thing because light reflects in every surface it shine upon and create a multitude of weaker light sources. Kinda like how moon light works.[/edit]

[Boltman]

Do you keep the light fixed and swivel the model around so that the backside would get "top left from behind you" too? From what i can understand this is how Boltman has done it with his sword winning dread.

 

A slight correction Baffy, My Dread did not get Slayer Sword this year, that honor went to Bushido's "Knights of the Crimson Lily". I did not win the Forgeworld Prize either, Maxxim did. Good thing they didn't see you forgot to paint a spot, eh Maxxim? :lol:

 

When I paint a model (well the dread is the first one I started doing this with), I pick a light source. In fact, since this is a 3D model and you want to light up more than just one side, I picked 2 light sources. One on the right side, slightly back, and one on the left side, lower than the right side (though both sources are higher than the dread). The imaginary light sources should stay anchored at the same place relative to your model. That way, when you look around the model, it will look like it's illuminated from the same direction. Imagine your model in a dark room, with light sources as flash lights aiming at the model. When painting, you apply more light than just flashlight beams, but this image may help you figure out the direction the light is coming from.

 

@Maxxim: Hey good job! Well after that Tau Piranah I knew you could easily pull this off, but it illustrates it very well. I'm glad you grasp the reason why I use "out of the pot color" reference points, so you know hom much room you're supposed to blend your colors in, else you run out of room to do the complete color transition from dark to light. This way you know where you're supposed to be at for the greater picture.

 

***RESUMING TUTORIAL****

I forgot to mention the wet towel trick. This is a little discovery I made which greatly helped my color transitions:

 

Apply the line of paint for your current color transition (say, vermin brown), making sure the brush isn't too full. Now, you want to blurr the edges of this paint line with the "feathering" technique.

 

Keep a moist piece of paper towel closeby. Not dripping, just very moist. When you dilude your paint to the consistency of 2% milk, dip your brush, dab it a bit on your palette to remove excess, then drag it brieftly on your wet towel, pulling towards you, in the axis of the paintbrush. This will soak more paint from the brush but replace this paint with moisture, so the brush will not act as a sponge when you put it on wet areas of the model. Your bristles should look pretty much empty of paint, a bit like drybrush. But the difference is that when you apply the paint, the traces left by the brush are thin layers. Paint consistency is low (meaning the paint used was dilude a good deal), and paint quantity on the brush is low. Drybrush, in comparison, has low paint quantity but high paint consistency on your brush. I must stress out again that your brush must be practically completely empty, you want to apply the tiniest bit of paint with each stroke.

 

Go and blurr the edges of your paint line (vermin brown), putting the brush barely loaded with paint on the adjacent Dark flesh zone, and "feather" your way towards the pure vermin brown line which is still wet. Because you used a wet towel to keep your brush loaded with moisture, your brush isn't empty so it won't soak up the wet paint. But since it's moisture and not paint your brush is mostly loaded with, it will insure the layers you apply are thin and easily dragged around the surface. Feathering means lightly brushing against the surface. It's like very localized, very gentle drybrushing, but your brush is moist and leaves a transparent layer of paint. Apply perpendicular strokes of the brush, moving from dark flesh to vermin brown.

 

This is hard to explain, and there's nothing like trying a couple times with various paint consistencies and paint quantities in your brush to get the hang of what works for you.

 

Try this out Maxxim and touch up your example!

 

 

Boltman