Re: The darker side of black (was The whiter side of white)

On Thu, 28 Feb 2002 20:40:50 -0600, Allan Goodall <agoodall@att.net>
wrote :

> On Thu, 28 Feb 2002 16:21:18 -0800, Jaime Tiampo
<fugu@spikyfishthing.com>
> wrote:
> 
> >Ok, I've been thinking on this and having never actually bothered to
try
> >I'm at a loss as how to do it. How do you give cotrast to white? You
can
> >use a light or dark grey for shadow but what do you use to reflective
> >edges?

For white, I start with a base of medium grey, and then drybrush it with
two 
lighter shades of grey, and then finally with pure white.

I've also experimented with starting with a base of white, inking the
mini with 
grey ink, and then drybrushing with white again.  This works best for
figures 
that are almost entirely white, like stormtroopers.

> Okay, here's the opposite question. How do you do black? Do you paint
in a
> very dark blue and then use black for the shadows? Or do you just
paint the
> whole figure in black and do a highlight in either some blue shade, a
grey
> shade, or a silver shade? Or is there another option?

I start with a base of black and then drybrush it with a very dark blue 
(Pthalho blue) or green, depending on which I want.  I then drybrush it
very, 
very lightly with a lighter shade of the same color as the first
drybrushing.

I've also gotten very good effects drybrushing a very pale grey directly
over 
black -- again, *very* lightly -- although this is better for something
that's 
supposed to look a little worn.

John Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
http://www.voicenet.com/~johncrim