But, it appears that the stars have aligned appropriately, as Venus ascends through Basingstoke*. Or something. The point is that time, paint, an unpainted figure and myself all appeared to find ourselves in the same place and the same time.
We decided to hang out.
This is the result:
Another chaos dwarf. This plus this and this means that I now have a unit of 10 (painted).
And, off the back of the advice I received on the 'Warhammer for Parents' topic linked above, I also experimented with inks. Or washes. Or whatever they're called. So this is a goblin, painted just in basic colours, and washed in GW brown (I forget what its called, its the new one) and then highlighted with the same base colours as before. The point of this exercise was speed. I won't lie, I'm not thrilled with the outcome, but it is better than I thought it was going to be. And, it only took about 40 minutes (not elapsed time, mind, but total) to do. So...something to think about.
This is a hobgoblin that I decided to try GW black (I forget what its called - its the new one) with. Again, base, wash and highlight with base. I think it turned out better than the brown.
Again, the point was speed - nothing else. This is a comparison with one of my Groms, which was painted without washes:
For interest, the chaos dwarf was painted using my regular layering approach, in order to maintain consistency with the rest of the unit. Assuming my other experiments go well (the two goblins above were a huge fight against my OCD first and foremost - the bases are not done because I genuinely thought they would be in Nitromors by the end of the day!), I think I could really get these washes to work.
*I don't know, but I have it on good authority that a gentleman's club may be found there, from which an especially suitable view of Venus may be appreciated. Venus appears on Fridays and Saturdays.
I have never seen that Chaos Dwarf before. Has it only got one foot or is it just hopping along? A good paint job nonetheless, how about a unit photo of all those Dwarfs up close?
ReplyDeleteI haven't used the new washes and I doubt I will as I prefer fiddling around with inks but they certainly look okay, they lack a little depth compared with your Grom though.
That is, indeed, a single legged dwarf (its a reward in RoC - half movement, unfortunately...). In the catalogue, he doesn't look like he only has one leg, so its a bit of a surprise.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right with the depth. Actually, this is one of those bizarre situations where the camera is quite forgiving - the washed figures look better on their picture than they do in real life. There is still a bit of work to get this stuff right, but the work so far is encouraging. I don't believe I'll get the same outcome as layering, though. Well, not for less time spent, anyway.
Looking good with the washes paintjob. Glad to see you're getting some time for the hobby.
ReplyDeleteThey look pretty good to me. Sometimes though, a brown wash or a black wash can wash out some of the colour, making it look more drab than you intended. With orcs and gobbo's that's a good thing though. With other miniatures, you might want to use an ink of the same colour as the base coat but in a darker shade.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't find a suitable wash, it's easy enough to make your own, especially if you make up a tub of it for a regiment or an army. Mix 3 parts water to 3 parts matt medium to 1 part paint of a shade slightly darker than the base coat.
For example, using the old old GW paints we're familiar with, if you were to basecoat the goblin goblin green, you could make up a wash for the skin using forest green. Of course, if you've still got any of the old green ink left, you wouldn't have too, but you see what I mean?
But the way you're doing it- with the brown and black washes- is how I use ink when I need to speed paint, using just one wash for the whole miniature. The trick is to choose a wash that will work well with most of the colours you've used. The black worked well on the second miniature because all the colours are dark or have deep textures like fur, hair or skin. But if you were to use black on the goblin, it would have washed out the yellows (and probably the blue)completely. So black was spot on for the second miniature. Brown was the correct choice for the goblin.
I agree that this method gives a less satisfying result than layering. But you've basically got a choice between "looks good but not my best work" and "no paint at all".
Yep the hopping dude has always been a favorite, I have him and the one legged goblin for a one legged race some time. I think the Marauder chaos dwarves whilst very fun and characterful,(I certainly want some) are not a patch on the earlier citadel ones.
ReplyDeleteAs your going for speed, perhaps just to get some armies painted the base colour, ink/wash, base colour highlight is a good approach. If you don't worry about varnish, after all you painted them quick right, you can always go back and work up the highlights at a later date in say 5 years time assuming you don't have any more little Gajs.
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ReplyDeleteWe all know that the layered approach will give a very good result. That having been said the various "speed painting" approaches have the merit of quantity over quality and honestly as long as you are neat they look just as good on the table.
ReplyDeleteThe hard part, for me, was letting go and *not* trying to do my best. Sometimes "perfect" is the enemy of "good enough".
So endeth the lesson.
I've been using washes for a couple of years and I tend to find that doing all the highlights (id est painting the model normally) before washing gives a more 'blended' appearance. I'm just about through with my final bottle of Devlan Mud and have heard rather unflattering things about it's replacement (forget the name. 'Snotling S**t', maybe?). Why can't GW just leave stuff alone! Anyway, the gobbo and hobbo look serviceable and that's the aim of the game, right?
ReplyDeleteThanks all. I guess the hardest part is 'letting go'. Presumable the rewarding feeling comes at the end when you have a fully painted army. I remember those...
ReplyDelete@Lead Legion - makes sense, now that you mention it. Also a useful formula to make an impromptu ink. I'll definitely keep that in mind.
@Gareth - I'll have a swing at that and see where I end up. So you're saying the last stage of your painting process is the inking? After that, the only thing you would do is varnish?
Yes. I used to add additional highlights after washing/inking, but sometimes the contrast was a little harsh and I'm a lazy sod at heart. Also, as you're using darker shades like black and brown (they're about the only colours I use, too), you don't need to be too heavy-handed to get decent effects. Bear-in-mind that I'm not the best painter in the world, though!
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