a bucket of water
Gail Songer
I have been painting for some time now, mostly characters and monsters. Recently
I purchased a bar scene that has a bucket of water. I am at a loss on how to
paint the water and thought I would consult the collective wisdom of the net.
It is metal bucket that is 3/4 full. The fluid looks as if a pebble has been dropped
on the surface.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Gail
Andrew Beasley
If you have the time, drill out the lead 'water' and fill it with
resin. If this idea fails, try a simple silver colour that has no
metalic sheen.
Andrew
Greywolf
> I have been painting for some time now, mostly characters and monsters. Recently
> I purchased a bar scene that has a bucket of water. I am at a loss on how to
> paint the water and thought I would consult the collective wisdom of the net.
Ooo. Just out of curiosity, what company manufactures this? Is this the
"Griffin Inn" (sp?) from the Grendel Models resin-cast line, or something else
entirely?
> It is metal bucket that is 3/4 full. The fluid looks as if a pebble has been dropped
> on the surface.
I'm by no means a pro, and I've still been "experimenting" a lot lately.
However, here's just a shot:
First, I'd give the water a white undercoat, whether that means using a white
primer, or by going over whatever primer you used with some white paint. Then,
after this has had plenty of time to try, and I've made sure that it's
completely white (not just with white paint sunk into the low parts and thin on
the high parts), I'd go over with a translucent acrylic blue -- not the
concentrate stuff unless you water it down slightly. I've found that when I
use a white undercoat, I can get an interesting effect with cheap craft
acrylics by just painting the area a solid color -- The ever-so-slightly watery
paint will tend to gather in the low points (like a wash) and be a bit thinner
in the high points. This effect doesn't work so well, however, for large
relatively flat areas, but for a bucket of "water", any mottling from
application I would presume would just add to the effect.
After doing that, I think I'd try to dry-brush the highlights with a faint
silver -- The bluish tone should hopefully still show through. This is just to
give it a bit of a 'shine' on the highlights. Hopefully this would help to
spell out the surface and give a suggestion of "reflection" in the process.
Realistically, a bucket in a bar is not going to be reflecting blue from the
sky. However, "blue" still reads as water, ultimately, and since you can't
paint something "transparent", it seems to be the best step to take if the
model already has the bucket filled for you. Personally, I'd rather start with
an empty bucket, and add some of that plastic "water" you can get in beads to
melt down for model railroad scenery rivers, but that's obviously not an option
you have.
I tried this for a home-made "fountain", and all I can say is that the results
were "acceptable". I'm not sure how it could be done any better, though I
intend to make use of some glitter fabric paint for an upcoming addition to my
collection of "dungeon furniture". =) (I've found that red and gold glitter
paint can be handy as an extra touch to flames and gems ... but I've only
recently acquired some /blue/ glitter paint, which I plan to try using on some
"water" surfaces.)
If you come up with anything better, please let me know, as I'm open to
suggestions myself! =)
--
-Jordan PEACO...@cobra.uni.edu *-gw.gif files on avatar.snc.edu ..
T. Jordan "Greywolf" Peacock pub/furry/images/downloads/* .OO.
I love God, family, friends, unicorns, wolves, LARPs, RPGs, minis, O/\O
doodling, sculpting, writing, old cars, meks, and fruit pizza! =) ~~
Douglas Rockwell
off of it at all. Paint it brown (the color of the wooden bucket's
inside surface) and put a heavy coat of gloss on top.
Neat idea about the blue glitter for water that is lit up though.
Doug
Josef Ricketts
peaco...@cobra.uni.edu writes:
> concentrate stuff unless you water it down slightly. I've found that
when I
> use a white undercoat, I can get an interesting effect with cheap craft
> acrylics by just painting the area a solid color -- The
ever-so-slightly watery
> paint will tend to gather in the low points (like a wash) and be a bit
thinner
> in the high points. This effect doesn't work so well, however, for
large
> relatively flat areas, but for a bucket of "water", any mottling from
> application I would presume would just add to the effect.
Actually using a brush and painting the areas that should be dark darker
works nicely, and dosen't leave you at the mercy of chance. Inks and
washes are a good starting point, and fine by themselves when you're
mass-producing troops, but anything that you really care about deserves
closer attention. Use a fine brush and thin ink and slowly darken the low
parts.
> After doing that, I think I'd try to dry-brush the highlights with a
faint
> silver -- The bluish tone should hopefully still show through. This is
just to
> give it a bit of a 'shine' on the highlights. Hopefully this would
help to
> spell out the surface and give a suggestion of "reflection" in the
process.
Silver paint is neat stuff. Unfortunately, it tends to look like silver
paint. It reflects light in a very diffuse, non-mirrorlike way. White
highlights are best if you're going to try to make it look like
stereotypial water; a thin layer of blue or green ink over that will keep
it from looking too artificial, although it will still be a fairly
cartoony effect.
>
> Realistically, a bucket in a bar is not going to be reflecting blue
from the
> sky. However, "blue" still reads as water, ultimately, and since you
can't
> paint something "transparent", it seems to be the best step to take if
the
> model already has the bucket filled for you.
You _can_ paint in transparent; you do so by painting what you'd really
see: the bottom of the bucket, warped by the ripples, with a bit of
reflected light added. The inside of the bucket will be darker and more
intensely colored, due to its wetness. Just where the highlights will
show up will depend on where the light is supposed to be coming from--if
the light is diffuse, such as the inside of an artificially lit inn, you
won't have any.
> Personally, I'd rather start with
> an empty bucket, and add some of that plastic "water" you can get in
beads to
> melt down for model railroad scenery rivers, but that's obviously not
an option
> you have.
I wouldn't. Museums don't. It would look like melted plastic unless you
can mold some very subtle ripples into it and paint the inside of the
barrel first, making sure to represent shadow.
Plastic is transparent and shiny, but it dosen't behave like water
unless you work to control its surface and its color and translucency. If
you paint shadows and highlights on your figures, you are forcing the
light to look a certain way which will not change when the ambient
lighting does. If you depend on natural effects, they will be out of sync
with the painted ones unless the lighting is just right.
I suggest being consistent about your lighting effects. If you force
shadow on your figures, force it on everything. Note that painting water
in this way will require that you make decisions about where the light is
coming from and what color it is. This may help you to do a more
thoughtful and creative job on the rest of the diorama as well.
> I tried this for a home-made "fountain", and all I can say is that the
results
> were "acceptable". I'm not sure how it could be done any better,
though I
> intend to make use of some glitter fabric paint for an upcoming
addition to my
> collection of "dungeon furniture". =) (I've found that red and gold
glitter
> paint can be handy as an extra touch to flames and gems ... but I've
only
> recently acquired some /blue/ glitter paint, which I plan to try using
on some
> "water" surfaces.)
Pure speculation here, but I'll bet that the glitter looks like, well,
glitter. Symbolically people will look at it and say, "Oooh, it's
gleaming! What an unusual effect! I see that he intends this to be taken
as fire/water/whatever!", but it won't look like fire or water. Neither
of them have little square shiny specks in them. Water reflects light
brightly, but according to its own special rules, and we've all seen it
enough to know what looks right and what dosen't. Fire has bright embers,
but they don't shine as vividly as glitter does.
For a home-craft look and some visual pizazz without much effort,
effects like glitter and melted plastic can be neat. More carefully
rendered effects can be achieved using just your paints. Artists often
work in acrylics and can produce effects of mirrors, water, or mist
without silver or transparent paint. Using basic concepts of
two-dimensional art can go a long way, often with suprisingly little
effort.
Josef
Jim of oz
=collective wisdom of the net.
I would paint it a bluish or greenish color and top it off with some epoxy
resin or other gloss coat for the sheen. While the color wouldn't be right
for a bucket, I think the idea would get across.
Jim Kajpust - Personal Freedoms - California
Eric Loken
: Realistically, a bucket in a bar is not going to be reflecting blue from the
: sky. However, "blue" still reads as water, ultimately, and since you can't
: paint something "transparent", it seems to be the best step to take if the
: model already has the bucket filled for you. Personally, I'd rather start with
: an empty bucket, and add some of that plastic "water" you can get in beads to
: melt down for model railroad scenery rivers, but that's obviously not an option
: you have.
I'ld suggest a dark blue to correct this problem. That why you
won't have this amazingly blue water in the room. Or paint it the colour
of the bucket, thinned with blue. And then do the drybrushing and stuff.
Paul Parker
> I have been painting for some time now, mostly characters and monsters. Recently
> I purchased a bar scene that has a bucket of water. I am at a loss on how to
I had a similar problem with a cauldron. Eventually I took a small
drill and drilled the cauldron out. Next, I whipped up some slow drying
epoxy, added a bunch of prepainted arms and heads, and a small amount
of red ink. The net effect was a translucent blood soup. You could
do the bucket the same way (without parts,etc), the epoxy should dry
clear like water. If you wanted to really go for it, color the inside
a very light blue, and it should look like a swimming pool. A word of
caution, this is a one shot deal, as removing the dried epoxy is a royal
pain, and you are messing up the bucket. Maybe try a couple paint plans,
and if they fail and you have just about given up, give the epoxy a try.
Alec Habig
>Realistically, a bucket in a bar is not going to be reflecting blue from the
>sky. However, "blue" still reads as water, ultimately, and since you can't
Aha - you've obviously never seen my Invisible Stalker figure!
Grenadier sells it, as part of the "Comedy Lords" package - great figures!
Alec
--
Alec Habig, Indiana University High Energy Astrophysics
aha...@bigbang.astro.indiana.edu
http://astrowww.astro.indiana.edu/personnel/ahabig/
Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns.
Joseph Goodman
aha...@bigbang.astro.indiana.edu (Alec Habig) wrote:
> Aha - you've obviously never seen my Invisible Stalker figure!
>
> Grenadier sells it, as part of the "Comedy Lords" package - great figures!
Hey, I've got a GREAT figure of a space marine under the effects of an
invisibility potion. I'll let it go for only a buck -- let me know if you
wanna buy it.
--
Joseph Goodman
aka Hillbilly Bob
jgoo...@cc.swarthmore.edu
Editor and Publisher of The Dark Library, a magazine for 40K
Swarthmore Bolo Page: http://sccs.swarthmore.edu/~bigearl
My 40K Page: http://sccs.swarthmore.edu/~bigearl/war40K.html
....I've got a nice bridge for sale, too.....
Greywolf
> Greywolf <peaco...@cobra.uni.edu> wrote:
>>Realistically, a bucket in a bar is not going to be reflecting blue from the
>>sky. However, "blue" still reads as water, ultimately, and since you can't
>>paint something "transparent",......
>
> Aha - you've obviously never seen my Invisible Stalker figure!
Okay, okay -- Touche. You got me. =) I happen to have one, and it's one of
my favorite characters. In fact, it was rather inspirational. For a Champions
campaign I was in, in which there were two or three (I forget how many)
characters who were capable of turning invisible, I took some of the old-style
Games Workshop non-slotted 20mm bases and painted a couple of "footprints" on
each. (Well, in once case, it was "claw-prints", in the others, I did a
different color on each for color-coding purposes.) Voila! Instant "invisible
character" location marker. ;)
> Grenadier sells it, as part of the "Comedy Lords" package - great figures!
...but lousy puns! =) I still prefer Ral Partha's line of silly minis, though
-- particularly the critters: Reynard the Fox, the "Cat Burglar", Doom Bunny
the Black Rabbit of Death ... Of course, one of these days I'll just have to
pick up the "Grateful Undead" set. It's rather odd, but I saw this same set in
a local gift store in with a bunch of other "pewter" miniatures, marked up
hideously. I just never knew what "pewter" was until the big switch from lead
-- Until then, I thought that these things were actually /valuable/ or
something. ;)
Anyway, "Zoid the Pinhead Barbarian" is one of my favorites, too. =) Most of
the rest I like just because of the /names/. (The Dwarf With No Name, etc.)
John Desmond
Start by painting an undercoat of light metallic silver - 'Silver' from
the 'Gleams' line of Delta Technical Coatings 'Ceramcoat' works pretty
well, but so will many others. Let dry.
Put a coat of Liquitex Phthalocyanine Blue or Phthalocyanine Green over
the silver (or a mixture of the two). These are translucent colors -
light will shine thru them and reflect off the silver.
Hope this works for you.
Ed Sharpe
>In article <D5rG0...@lexmark.com>, gso...@lexmark.com (Gail Songer) writes:
>> I purchased a bar scene that has a bucket of water. I am at a loss on how to
>> paint the water and thought I would consult the collective wisdom of the net.
You could paint it yellow. :-) :-) :-) :-)
ed
//
// esh...@phad.hsc.usc.edu
// You keep using that word.
// I do not think it means what you think it means
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