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Comments
I should have asked if you painted the figures or if they came pre-painted before I ranted. Since you painted them allow me to say that they are painted neatly if somewhat shiny and monotoned...meaning it reminds me of the pre-painted figures in the way they will paint a part of the figure with one color. One way to add depth to the figures easily is to add shadows and highlights.
Let's take the lady in the dress in the last photo. Some natural shadows are occurring in the folds of her dress. Take some of the same color you used for her dress and add just a touch of raw umber and thin this to a heavy wash then paint only the folds where the shadows would occur naturally. Then take the same base color and add a touch of white or flesh, thin it, and then paint just the highlights. This easy process will enhance the depth of each figure without need to be a master figure painter, which I'm not.
Also, it is possible that what I am perceiving as a shine is the effects of dry brushing. It is a quick and easy way to accent the highlights but I have found that the lighter wash above blends better and is not as harsh.
Bryan,
It is interesting that you saw the shine on the figures. Some is real, epoxy?, and some is the effect of flash photography. I like using the on-camera flash as it lets the viewer see the hidden details and is more of a technical style of photography. I was rather chuffed (glad) that you thought they were factory painted figures. It means I was a good as full-time figure painter sitting in a factory getting paid for doing it, not some jerk who can't paint. I had tried to do the method you had described, but I guess it was too subtle. When I do the remaining 100 figures I will be less subtle at it.
I did some further weathering after I took the pictures and added some Sepia glace to bring out face features. I will add some lowlights/shadows and see how it looks then. One thing I forgot to do was to apply a Doucoat to seal in what I had done, so I can't use AI washes on them. The Vallejo paints rub off with alcohol.
I guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions.
John