JohnReid

The secret is out!

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Well guys I guess my secrets are now all out.In review:
-use flat paint so your chalk pastels will stick to the finished underpainted surface.
-use chalk pastels for highlight and shade
-washes? fogeta-bout-it.
-dry brushing ?use to hi-lite the hair or other surfaces where pastels may not work as well.
-painting eyes? don't bother ,especially in the smaller scales.
-mixing your own colors? avoid if possible,use tube colors and modify them with pastels right on your figure.
Like I said ,easy and fun with guaranteed results .Now please take the time to practice and try to be very soft and subtle when shading or blending your colors.
Next I will post some pictures of my work and try to explain how I got there using my methods.

For details on surface preparation and cleaning your resin or plastic figures there has been much already written.
For our purposes here I will assume that we are dealing with a dry ,clean surface that has been properly prepared.(On a very slick or shiny surface preparation may call for a little very light sanding using 600 or higher sandpaper)
In keeping with our budding artists approach to painting figures lets start with an artist type base coat called Gesso.Gesso will stick to just about any surface and just about anything will stick to it.It comes in a few basic colors and I usually pick something that is closest to the finished color.Also you may want to use something that has enough contrast to the plastic to verify an even coat has been applied. Some artists that use a lot a transparent washes may want to use white gesso to give their finished surface more life.I don't like using white for my method because it can easily contaminate a finished surface with little white specks that are very visible and hard to remove.
I add about 50% distilled water ,(that has been treated with flow medium or surface tension breaker ),to my gesso.JoSonja flow medium does have a little varnish in it but the few drops that I add to a bottle of water has not caused me any problems.
Brush on your thinned gesso evenly and let air dry.Do not use a hair dryer here to speed up the drying process, as this may cause tiny holes that are difficult to paint over.Another thing about hair dryers,be careful not to hold it too close to the surface as you may cook it rather than drying it.2-3 coats of gesso may be necessary to get a nice even surface.Be super careful not to obliterate any detail on your figure. to be cont......