Oil painting figures
gebhard
problem is that when I try to use dark colors like burnt umber
and burnt sienna, they don't go on smoothly like the other ones.
I can see the undercoat which btw is white. Do I just need to use
a dark undercoat? I like the way white works on other colors though.
Any suggestions?
Please email the response in addition to posting, thanks.
----
Mark
geb...@gateway.net
CSRZ28
No matter what color you use as a primer, the next color should be an
acrylic (sp) as a base. It should be as close to the finish color as possible
since oils are a bit translucent. On the flesh areas, use a fleshtone, etc.,
etc. That way you aren't trying to cover up a primer coat, the base color has
done that for you.
Another way for paint to 'flow' is to use linseed oil as an extender. It
allows you to work the paint a lot longer, it goes on a lot smoother and it
does lengthen the drying time a bit. But it also helps when blending shades
together. The amount takes a little experimentation, but what doesn't.
As for shortening the drying time, I put a 75-90 watt lamp inside my spray
booth with the figures. Most times it is a week instead of three.
Check FSM for their books on figure painting by Shep Payne and Ray(Roy)
Anderson. Both are very good.
Chuck Ryan
ArSeeEn
We have a guy down here (a grand master) who teaches, and he has us paint on a
white base a la Bob Knee and Phil Kessling. His flesh recipe is involved
(about ten colors) and the final result is based on using the white as a base
color. If anyone is interested, I'll dig up the list of colors and either post
or E-mail......
HTH
Ralph Nardone
IPMS(USA) 33984
President, IPMS/Flight 19
"Here's the everlasting rub : neither am I good nor bad.
I'd give up my halo for a horn and the horn for the hat I once had."
--- Ian Anderson
Michael Falcon-Gates
gebhard wrote in message <376C29AE...@gateway.net>...
>I'm kind of new to oil paints. I've only done a few figures. My
>problem is that when I try to use dark colors like burnt umber
>and burnt sienna, they don't go on smoothly like the other ones.
>I can see the undercoat which btw is white. Do I just need to use
>a dark undercoat? I like the way white works on other colors though.
>Any suggestions?
Track-Link has a marvelous article on painting faces with oils by Mark
Bannerman, and an active figures-painting newsgroup.
http://www.track-link.net .
-m
Steven Brown
Someone else suggested looking at an article on Track-Link. You should
also go over to the Military Modelers Headquarters at
http://www.mmhq.com. There's are discussion groups with folks who will
eagerly answer your questions.
As for burnt umber and burnt sienna, they are fairly translucent
colors and are inherently problematic. Here are a few suggestions:
Most importantly, do not use any thinner with artist oils. Use them
directly out of the tube. As Shep Paine says, "Brush it out, don't
thin it out."
As mentioned, undercoating with an acrylic helps. Try to mix the
acrylic color as closely as possible to the final color.
You can add a little bit of an opaque color to the offending colors.
Both BU and BS are quite dark out of the tube, so a little white
wouldn't hurt.
Finally, you might consider replacing burnt sienna with mars brown. I
did so six months ago, and my painting has become much easier.
Hope this helps.
Steven