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Post by Jason on Jul 28, 2014 20:11:55 GMT
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Post by Jason on Jul 28, 2014 20:12:34 GMT
This is a test piece...
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Post by gnomezrule on Jul 28, 2014 20:22:28 GMT
Coloration is awesome. The pinky tan and purply grey are awesome the white spots look great.
The only thing I would say is that because of its size it does not have deapth of shadow. I can tell it has recesses and nooks and cranies but these need to be drawn out more.
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Post by Jason on Jul 28, 2014 20:30:05 GMT
Coloration is awesome. The pinky tan and purply grey are awesome the white spots look great. The only thing I would say is that because of its size it does not have deapth of shadow. I can tell it has recesses and nooks and cranies but these need to be drawn out more. Thanks! This is exactly what I am looking for.... criticism. You are dead on with the observation about the recesses. The method is really just doing washes over white paint, wiping off the excess every so often. I was just dabbing everywhere without a care, perhaps focusing the dark grey in the recesses will fix this.
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Post by gnomezrule on Jul 28, 2014 20:42:49 GMT
Yes I think some wash will help as would exceedingly dry drybrushing of highlight.
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Post by Cyan Wisp on Jul 29, 2014 4:42:37 GMT
The colours are nice and have random variations. This helps with the natural look. I second gnomezrule's idea for a black wash - really watery, though. Maybe some gloss - are these limestone kind of caves?
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Post by adamantinedragon on Jul 29, 2014 11:51:20 GMT
Jason, I think the colors you have picked are very realistic, and the basic painting techniques look good to me. I concur that a wash would emphasize the shadows and contours, as would a bit more highlighting. Having said that, here are my thoughts about this sort of painting, something I've thought about a lot since I've got these same Hirst Arts blocks and have painted a lot of them. Most caves I've been in, especially those with lots of stalagmites and stalagtites, there is a lot of moisture, and that moisture frequently creates a sheen that makes the rocks look shiny and slick. There are frequenlty little pools of water in the rock depressions, and those pools sometimes have bright colors either createed by minerals in the water or bacteria. Then there is the queistion of how "realistic" you really want them to look anyway. I painted my first cavern blocks very similarly to how you've painted these, but after playing with them, I decided I wanted more color and so my most recent cavern blocks are painted with slight color variations between the different rocks. That provides a little contrast and helps to emphasize the rock formations. It may not be "realistic" but I like the effect better.
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Post by Jason on Jul 29, 2014 12:05:09 GMT
The colours are nice and have random variations. This helps with the natural look. I second gnomezrule's idea for a black wash - really watery, though. Maybe some gloss - are these limestone kind of caves? haha... I have no idea. They are just caves. I try not to pry into their personal business.
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Post by Jason on Jul 29, 2014 12:06:58 GMT
Jason, I think the colors you have picked are very realistic, and the basic painting techniques look good to me. I concur that a wash would emphasize the shadows and contours, as would a bit more highlighting. Having said that, here are my thoughts about this sort of painting, something I've thought about a lot since I've got these same Hirst Arts blocks and have painted a lot of them. Most caves I've been in, especially those with lots of stalagmites and stalagtites, there is a lot of moisture, and that moisture frequently creates a sheen that makes the rocks look shiny and slick. There are frequenlty little pools of water in the rock depressions, and those pools sometimes have bright colors either createed by minerals in the water or bacteria. Then there is the queistion of how "realistic" you really want them to look anyway. I painted my first cavern blocks very similarly to how you've painted these, but after playing with them, I decided I wanted more color and so my most recent cavern blocks are painted with slight color variations between the different rocks. That provides a little contrast and helps to emphasize the rock formations. It may not be "realistic" but I like the effect better. As far as the sheen, I was planning on finishing each piece off with a satin or glossy varnish. When you say bright colors in the rock depressions. What sort of colors? Can you post a pic of your stuff for me to see?
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Post by sgtslag on Jul 29, 2014 17:03:23 GMT
[Begin 'realism'.] There are "living" caves, and there are "dead" caves. "Living" caves have active water in them, forming new, and growing stalagmites and stalactites; "dead" caves have no water in them at present -- they did, millenia ago, which formed them, but the ground water has since left their level, and they are dry, and (s-l-o-w-l-y) crumbling with age, with old formations somewhat broken, by the infrequent quakes, tremors, and animals who visit them. [End 'realism'.]
It's fantasy, so exagerate the colors how you like.
If you want to go with a dark wash, to bring out the recesses, and other formations, I would suggest first sealing it with Pledge Floor Shine, full-strength, nothing added, unless you want to do it all at once, using the Magic Wash technique (risk of pigment being deposited everywhere, in microscopic holes.. then again, this could be a nice effect, too, making it look 'rougher'). I would coat it with Pledge Floor Shine, straight, then apply The Dip/Royal Walnut Semi-Gloss, or Gloss, depending upon how wet you want your cave to be. Be careful of excess pooling of the washes, though, on the floor. Cheers!
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Post by ashrothedm on Jul 29, 2014 17:30:25 GMT
Most natural formations can benefit greatly from various amounts of Burnt Umber wash applied to them. Burnt Umber is the color of mud, and the wash can help make almost every natural project look more real. I would say that a very watery coat, or several coats, will make it look nice and dirty.
Your other colors (though lighting makes it hard to tell for sure) are very well chosen. I think they look like the natural color of the rock. Adding some translucent dirty wash should help create some separation in the rock features and dirty it up.
The warmer rock color would look good with almost any cool color tinting the watery depressions with a coat of modge podge on the watery bits.
I can't stress enough just how much I love the dirty effect of burnt umber washes on things. Wash it on, dab off a little bit, and re-highlight as needed.
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Post by halloweenville on Jul 29, 2014 18:05:41 GMT
I Like The Various Colors, I think it looks great!
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