Painting geometric symbols.

[Joe]

Hey all,

 

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on any tried and tested methods for painting geometric symbols on Astartes and vehicles? I've given some thought to the matter myself and the only idea that's sprung to mind is using a pin/toothpick dabbed in paint to lightly trace the lines on the armour.

 

Cheers.

[Aeternus]

A really steady hand and 10/0 Kolinsky brush are my go-tos for that level of detail :lol:  Think I tried those symbols at some point. A pin/toothpick may get the lines too thin, not sure. Otherwise you could always lighly sketch the bases of the lines with the pin then very lightly go over it with a brush.

 

Use a piece of card cut into varying sized circles as a template, hold over area, lightly paint just over the card with a tiny bit on the actual pad maybe? I'll give that a try and get back to you on if it works :/

[Aeternus]

Tried the top right design, attempts 1 n 2. The card thing didn't work, trim on pads got in way. I'd say if you were going with a white over black, first do a light grey then thinner white inside the lines (attempt 2), came out better than straight white. Practice on bases and spare models on flat surfaces, then try on curved. But really just keep trying it till you can do circles quite well, then choose where you want the lines to go. Don't think there's much of a shortcut. Brush size wasn't as much of an issue as keeping paint on tip of brush wet. 

 

http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w376/Aeternas/FotorCreated_zpsgamftvdi.jpg

[Joe]

Hm, I'll definitely give it a shot then. I guess the alternative is using a small knife to score the patterns in or looking into the 3D modelling avenue.

[Bryan Blaire]

Some tips for free hand that I have always found helpful:

 

1) Make your shape outlines with light dots first, keep to straight lines as much as possible. If you are going to do rounded shapes, make the dots close together. This allows you to concentrate on playing connect the dots, which should keep your lines straighter. Keep to short brush strokes for straighter long lines. The line is more likely to wobble if you try to paint the entire thing in one long stroke.

 

2) Never shade or highlight before you do your free-hand. It will make cleaning up afterward extremely hard to do.

 

3) Draw your free hand out on the surface lightly in pencil first.

 

4) Never be afraid to "clean up" your free hand. If your lines wobble, get a straighter one by painting the base color back over the wobbly edge.

 

Practice also helps a lot. There's nothing better than to just keep trying it. Some things may not work for you, so if these tips don't make sense for you/to you, just discard them. They've helped me though (and if you want to see examples of my free hand, check out my Stoneburners and Forge WiP threads - my stuff could definitely be better, but I've gotten good comments on it).

 

Steady your hands by bracing them together at the wrists as well.

[Major_Gilbear]

I would also add the following to Bryan's great advice:

 

Use a sharp Kolinsky sable brush, ideally a big brush. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but the crucial bits for drawing thin lines are the sharpness of the point of the brush and the smoothness of the paint. If you use a 10/0 brush or a toothpick, or such, the paint is in such tiny quantities that it dries on the tool you're using and you get nowhere. A bug brush (size 1 or 2) keeps the paint we as you paint it on, so you get smoother thinner brush strokes.

 

Make sure you paint flows well. If you're painting strong colours, consider using a little ink to thin the paint rather than water - this will make the colour more intense as well as thinning the paint. It's worth adding a little flow release (or Vallejo Glaze Medium) as well, to ensure that the paint leaves the brush in a nice smooth continuous line. I think the modern GW washes actually include a little flow release, and can be mixed with paints too - if you still feel it necessary though, you can add some flow release anyway.

 

Think about how to form the shape before you paint it. Take a Tactical arrow as an example: paint a stem, then a thick cross bar (forming a "T" shape), and then using the base colour to make the crossbar into a triangle shape - it's much easier than paining triangular arrowhead directly, and you get much sharper angles too.

 

Practice the stroke before you actually paint it. Holding the brush over the area, try mimicking a brush stroke before lowering the brush to the model and painting it. This helps on curved surfaces, because it allows you to identify whether the brush stroke will be interrupted or not - if it looks awkward, reposition your hand accordingly. Again, it really helps to ensure that you make clean deliberate strokes.

 

Be patient. Don't use lots of small sketchy lines when you can carefully paint one long smooth one. Also, don't try and paint more involved designs all in one sitting. Be patient and let the layers all dry thoroughly as you go - with thin paints, the layers are delicate and you don't want to lift them or introduce a rough paint texture by rushing.

 

Hope that helps you! :)

[winterdyne]

The last two posts I'm in full agreement with. The only thing I might add is that it's worth drawing the design on paper with a pencil or pen a few times to get the construction of it in your head. Once you can draw it on paper, you'll find it easier to draw it on a mini.

[Dosjetka]

Excellent advice. I was going to add a few things after I saw BB's post earlier today but Major_Gilbear has covered all of my points and better than I would have.. :tu:

[Hellrender]

WarhammerTV had a video on word bearers back in december. They use black lines, and it doesn't really pop. Instead of focussing on my ETL vow, I tried the technique myself a few days back. 

 

Tutorial:

 

https://youtu.be/MjQS4houOb8?t=2m20s

 

my result:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l579/UltraWaarom/Word%20Bearers/20160609_152047_HDR_zpsktah0vvf.jpg

 

Next time, i will try closed lines, instead of the open lines, but thinner. Should give a more pronounced look. Also, i will add the lines BEFORE i do my red glaze, but that is beside the point. 

 

Not sure what else i can do but practice :)