Planning a paint job

These are the stages I should ideally go through, to get ready for a new paint job.  It does take a little time, but as I generally take at least 10 hours to paint a figure, it is worth it.

 

1.  Overall Concept

Who ? (what sets the character apart)

Where ? (basing content, colour connection to base, OSL from base,...)

When ? (intensity of light, intensity and importance of OSL)

Why ? (general mood of the figure and lighting direction)

2. Paraphernalia

What objects and trinkets is the figure carrying ?  What are they and what is their purpose ?

This makes painting the smaller objects a truly pleasant experience; the studio paint job can help to identify what they are meant to represent

3.  Colours and motifs

What are the dominant colours ?

Are there any hand-painted motifs, and which ? (remember the shield, in this context)

4.  Textures

Which parts of the mini require textures ? (worn or dirty cloth or footwear, leather, chipped armour or weapons,....)

How to achieve those textures ? (techniques : dry-brushing, stippling, hashing, colour shift; colours,....)

5. Battle damage

Is the mini showing battle damage ? (scars, wounds, blood, rents on cloth, armour, shield, weapons...)

6.  Special effects

NMM ? (and if so, associated technique - standard or colour shift ?)

Neon or inner glow ?

OSL ? (and its importance, given the ambient light)

Rust ?

7.  Colour shifts

Are there any colour shifts on the mini ? (this means, shadow or highlight colours will, in part or in total, be of a completely different hue than the base colour)

8.  Blending techniques

Do any areas require different blending techniques than usual ?

 

My standard techniques are :

For shadows : paint in the shadows, blend shadow and base colour, layer / glaze transitions

For the rest : basically a mix of layering and glazing, eventually with a colour shift produced by the glaze; edge highlighting

 

Other techniques are (there is an excellent synthesis of them on tangibleday.com)

- Two-brush blending (apply with one brush; draw out with a second brush whose viscosity avoids drawing up the paint, using saliva or blending medium).

-  Feathering (specifically use a zig-zag motion)

-  Loaded brush (a feathering technique but with colour gradient already on the brush)

-  Stippling (with either a stiff or soft brush, splayed or pointed)

-  Wet blending (apply darkest and lightest colour almost side by side, then blend into the gap)

 

 

9.  Aspect

What aspects ? (aspect is basically produced by the varnish used)

 

10.  Face

What is the face like ? (skin tone or colour; soft or pronounced; sharp or rounded; lined or smooth; plain or make-up; markings or tattoos).

Ideally, make the face the starting point for painting the mini as it is a key focal point andrequires time and patience and corrections; otherwise I then tend to leave it to last, and do it overly hastily as I want to get the figure finished and don't want to be slowed down by this small surface.