Wednesday 28 August 2019

Oily little git

I don't usually post work in progress shots on my blog, they are usually dumped on to my facebook page. This place is where I tend to post fully finished work. However, this is a completely new technique for me, so I thought it would be worth recording. This is an oily little goblin. And I mean that in the literal sense, as it's been painted in acrylic, then washed in oils. It's a technique I was vaguely familiar with, I know that it's used on vehicles and some folks use it to paint horses.

I was inspired after seeing this amazing video by Marco Frisoni. I am all for achieving effects quickly, and like grimey paint work, so I thought I would give it a try. And for a first attempt, I am reasonably happy. I can see how it could help me to speed things along with my goblins, which has to be a good thing.

I learned a few things on this first experiment. The oil paint has to be much thinner than I used. And I would not use a pure black next time, probably try a range of browns. Below you can see the goblin before he got to this stage. I primed it brown, then painted on basic tones, then smothered it in the oily mix which was too thick. Even with this blunder, it produced an interesting result - the desaturation from the original colours is quite marked. I will try again with more colours/oils for sure, there are dozens of little goblins waiting to be painted.

First stage - basic colours (acrylic)

Second stage - oil "wash" which was more a tarring!

7 comments:

Steve Williams said...

I’ve just discovered Marco Frisoni’s channel and think that his work is amazing. I’ve tried oils on a couple of Imperial Assault AT-ST, but am keen to give it a go on my orcs for WFB and WoE.

Good to see anither painter whose skills I admire try it first :)

Did you give it a coat of varnish before the oils? I know that Marco doesn’t, but I’m a little but sketchy about it.

JC said...

The goblin looks good!

That's an amazing video. This approach reminds me of a technique that Aly Morrison recommended in White Dwarf long, long ago - under 'Quickies' here:

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-igtGAoMRsq0/USNC7bXsVmI/AAAAAAAACcE/jRsJi1QdR6o/s1600/scan0018.jpg

Nord said...

No varnish used, I think that if you have a good primer and your paints are properly dry before you apply the oil paint, it's fine. But it's my first attempt, I am no expert, experimentation is the key.

Anonymous said...

Really nice effect for a minimum of effort...good work.

Steve Williams said...

Good to know - I’ve picked out a subject for experimentation...

Nord said...

A little bit of red lifted off the cap of test subject number two (not shown here because I only tried him yesterday). So I would say, when you are at the last stage of lifting off the oil, use very gentle strokes and do not use too much spirit. Make sure your brush/cottonbud/removal tool is damp, not wet.

astrochelonian said...

Discovered Marco's channel through you. His work is excellent, and his approach refreshing. Thanks!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...