Things Get Painted: Lessons Learned from Black and White Painting

My most recent project wasn’t well thought out. At first it was meant to be a quick experiment with some skin tones and an attempt at a semi-noir look, and turned into a set of five models which I was really proud of. I also learned a lot about the process on the way.

 

 

The less colours you use, the easier this gets

The first model I did, Stone, used a total of nine colours. This was initially not an attempt at strict black and white, but I intended to try to use a pale skin tone I had heard about on Reaper Live during their Kickstarter launch, and do the rest in grey tones. As the progress went on, I started reusing colours until I only had nine at the end. It narrowed the colour range, but after a comment from a friend at PAX helping with the four-colour challenge, I decided to aim for 4 colours on the next few models, namely Dragon Black, Dragon White, Tempest Grey, and a flesh tone.

Stone, the most colourful of the group. It may not be noticeable here, but when in the group, the warmer skin tones, as well as the different grey tones used and the purple in the flesh really make him stand out like a sore thumb. 

This actually worked out to be a lot quicker! Knowing that I could only use a few colours meant that I knew if I wanted a new shade, I had to mix it from what was on hand, not go digging for the ‘perfect set of colours’. Need a highlight? Add grey or white! Need a shade, add grey or black! Working with limited colours meant that I could get a model done in a single sitting in most cases. I also realised that for the flesh tones to not stand out, they had to be muted, mixing with Tempest Grey as a basecoat. And the more I painted, the more I realise that the few core colours used meant that the theme of the mini became more obvious as well!

Just like chess…

...it’s worth thinking a few steps ahead while painting these models. Most painters go in with a plan whenever they are painting, and one of the skills you can develop when painting is to adapt when things aren’t going your way. But during this project, it became obvious to me that I needed to pay attention to what I was doing, and what I was going to be doing in the next few stages of panting. It does mean you get locked into a course in some ways, which also helps speed things up as you know what is happening next when you finish an area. And while I often paint in the old ‘inside to outside’ method which lets me know what I’m painting next, this forced me to think about how I was going to paint that area next.

 

This model is where I really started to have fun with the project. And it's a great model to paint as well. I'm looking forward to doing another version in a future project.

If I want pale hair near pale skin, then the goggles separating that area should probably be darker. That helps everything stand out. The lenses of those goggles? If they are closer to white, that helps those stand out as well. Want a black jacket and boots? Then the jacket trim needs to be different and the pants need to be something which stands out from black as well. Eventually you start to fall into a rhythm of what level of intensity you need to put where.

Draw a line

One of the techniques I will fail to use at least 90% of the time is lining. It has always stuck in my head as something which can make a model look too cartoony for my tastes. In truth, when it is done properly, it really enhances the models look as well as neatens up the overall appearance. As much as I try to avoid using it, whenever I end up using it, no matter how long it takes, I am always glad I did. So after the second model, I started lining the models a lot more. The next three models were a great incentive to use lining on models in the future.

 

The Femme Fatale outside a work-in-progress graveyard. During this blog, I realised I never took larger photos of her, so will have to rectify that in the near future. 

 

On these models, it really shows up as an obvious step which should be taken. It really shows how much a small step can define and separate different parts of the models and clean it, and helps a lot of details stand out from a distance. This is especially useful on small or fine details such as eyes and necklaces, which really benefit from the added definition.

Contrast is key

I’ll admit that I will often use really simple colour schemes to provide contrast. Red and green is key to things like my goblins, so it is an easy crutch to rely on when needed. But it’s not possible when everything is black and white in this case. It suddenly becomes necessary to make it VERY obvious that the two areas you are painting are different things. And on a model, even a simple one, it becomes obvious quickly that you cannot use a simple black/grey/white difference, as sooner or later two of those colours are going to meet, and lining still won’t make it obvious.

 

Houngan presented an interesting challenge, as I have not painted many non-white skin tones on humans before. 
And the darker skin presented me with the stance that I really needed some pale tones on the model to make it stand out.
Also, I accidentally cut the snake's head off when cleaning the model, so let's not point out my dodgy 5-minute resculpt...

But this is a really good practice exercise for learning what Terry Pratchett meant by different shades of black. A subtle difference in the mix at the right place can make two different ‘dark greys’, but the difference is not noticeable until a different colour is near them. It also shows how a small highlight in the right place can help an area stand out, or draw a comparison to a different piece of texture on the model, making parts match.

This is an excellent way to start learning freehand and NMM!

Pretty early on in this project, I started messing around with freehand on different areas of the models. Stone has some pinstripes on his trousers, the Patent Scientist has hazard strips, and the Femme Fatale has some patterns on her dress. And all of them have some form of metallics on them. Given that the colour pallet really limits you from using metallics, NMM is one of the few options you have, and freehand gives you an opportunity to make different things stand out.

 

I'm honestly torn between doing a large symbol on the back across the shoulders, or smaller ones on the edge of the coat. But either way, I'm sure it will look good!

 

I still have half a mind to go back to Houngan and the Occult Detective to add some stripes and occult symbols in places to help them stand out, but it is not urgent. For the time being, I am really happy with not just the individual appearance of each model, but how they look as a group.

 

Eventually I think some terrain such as lamppost will really help sell this look, especially with the gradient bases

And here they all are together. I really had a lot of fun with this project, and I’ve already started thinking about the next progression of this idea:

Lightsourcing!