What kind of brushes do you have? |
This is very important! It doesn't even have to be a stick, it could be an old film canister, empty paint bottle, etc. - just so long as you have a "handle" of some sort to hold, rather than trying to hold the figure you're trying to paint as well! What I've done was to go to a lumber yard (Home Depot, etc.) and ask them to cut me some pieces of 1" dowel (this is round wooden sticks, if you don't know what "doweling" is) in 8 inch lengths. I put masking tape over one end to cover it, then apply white glue (woodworking, carpenter's glue, etc.) over the masking tape and set my cleaned and based figure into the thin layer of white glue and allow to dry overnight. Next day, I can prime the figure and then begin painting. Now I've got a handle to hold onto, and I don't have to worry about paint rubbing off by holding the figure while I paint. The figure doesn't wobble around in my hand and I have more control over it for painting small details. I can even hold the figure upside-down to paint under things and not worry about dropping the fig! |
For small details like teeth, you need a smaller size of brush. I would suggest getting at least the "0" brush (and this is a case where the "000" --also known as "3/0" --brush might be useful, too). Having the painting stick will come in handy here, as well. With the fig mounted on the painting stick/handle, rest the wrist of the hand holding the stick on the edge of your desk, table, etc. Holding your brush down near the metal part (the "ferrule"), try and rest your brush-hand wrist against your other hand or the painting stick. This may sound a bit tricky, but it will help stablize your hands if you're a bit shaky. You could also try holding your breath briefly, as you're applying the paint to the "detail" on the figure, breathing also makes your hands shaky. If you get "teeth" color in the rest of the mouth, try painting a dark red-brown inside the mouth after you do the teeth to get rid of the white. |
For drybrushing, you should get a "Flat" brush (the correct term). It's a flat brush, usually square at the end, rather than pointed. For a good drybrushing effect, you want to wipe almost all the paint out of the brush before you start to paint. Dip your brush in the paint, then wipe it off on a paper towel, etc. until there's almost no paint left in the brush (as if you were trying to clean out the brush). This will mean a few extra drybrushing stokes on the figure, but you'll have more control of the paint, and won't get excess paint squeezing out of the bristles when you least expect it! Drag the bristles of the brush over the area you want to paint - start at the top of the area and drag down toward the bottom of the figure. This way the bits of paint still in the brush will catch on the raised areas of the figure toward the top, looking like they are reflecting an overhead light. By cleaning most of the paint out of the brush before you start, you might have to do the drybrushing a couple of times over an area to get the color to build up enough - but you'll be able to control the effect better, rather than having (for instance) too much silver painted over black, if you were trying to do chainmail. |
(Rather than "Black-lining") Next time you want to do "black lining" try this: Make a glaze of 2 parts black paint with 1 part blue and 1 part brown. The Blue and Brown are "cool" & "warm" colors, respectively, and make for a dark, "neutral" glaze. Thin this down to the consistency of skim milk with some sort of Extender (I use "Folk Art"). Thining the paint with the Extender will give more control of where the glaze goes, rather than a wash which can go all over and offers less control. To feather the edge of the shadow, use a clean, wet brush (I find a Flat works well for this) and drag the edge of your shadow up toward the highlights. The wet brush will thin and break down the edge of the shadow glaze and give a nice transition up to the highlight areas. |
If you're having trouble with the ink wash "puddling" on the figure - here's a trick to help smooth out the wash. Into 1 Cup of water, add a few drops of dishwashing soap (what British folks call "washing-up liquid" :) Carefully stir this into the water - you want the soap mixed in, you DON'T want to make a frothy mess! Put this into a bottle or jar and keep it as your "Ink Wash Water." There's an effect called "surface tension" that keeps the ink wash from being smooth over the painted surface. The wash can pull away from high spots on the figure, creating a "blotchy" look. The dish soap helps break up the "surface tension" effect, and the ink wash should flow better over the painted surface. You can even use this "Ink Wash Water" for when you're thinning out paint, sometimes it works better than plain water. I use a product called Folk Art Acrylic Extender (available at good Craft or Art stores --in North America, anyway) mixed into water when I want to create an ink wash. The dish soap trick is a cheap alternative. |