Post by Jay on Jan 6, 2010 22:38:56 GMT -5
Fellow Customizers!!
Please excuse my grammer, I was never very good with english composition.
I would like to be available to answer any questions or provide any tips that can be helpful. The customs board is in the dumps right now and I'd like to see some new work from up and commers to vet's(including myself). If you would like to start customizing, want to get back into it or just learn some new techniques. Please, feel free to ask anything you might want to know. If I can't help, I'll try to find someone who can. *cough*famousj, Rozz, Rome, Gate, Gore, etc...*cough*(Yeah, I did a little name dropping there but haven't asked anyone yet. Bear with me). I wonder if a guy by the name of Baitey is still around? M2k? I like name dropping! lol! Anywho...
Materials: I use Aves apoxie sculpt(sculpting compound), Delta Ceramcoat(paint), I do use sculpey when I do full head sculpts. It's a little easier to work for facial details(for me).
Skintones: I use a lot of different colors. It also depends on the character I'm working on. You probably want to buy a lot of white paint. I use different tones of brown, red, pink, yellow, green and orange. I usually start with a table spoon of white. Then, I add a few drops of yellow ochre until I get a nice consistency of )pale yellow. I then add a few drops of burnt sienna(sienna brown). At this point, you should have a pale skin tone. This is what I use as my base. I then use the wash technique from that point on. For washes, I use single colors STRICTLY!! If you use too many mixed colors, it can turn out a little muddy. I also use transparent airbrush colors for my washes(light brown, dark brown, magenta, fluorescent orange, hunter green, fluorescent violet and brick red. Some of these colors may be a little confusing but when you practice building them up, you can come up with some very deep rich skin tones.
Sculpting: I use a small amount of Apoxie at a time. This helps eliminate a lot of wasted compound. You only have a certain amount of work time before it dries so you don't want to use too much. I keep a few flat head and round tipped brushes just for smoothing. I prefer to use vegetable oil as a smoothing agent. Also, I have a lot of different sculpting tools that i like to use but prefer the ones I improvise with( broken paint brushes, tooth brushes, Q-tips). I also have a small piece of metal with round edges. I don't even remember where I found it. LOL!
The first step to customizing is finding Good Ref Pics: I surf the internet for hours, sometimes days, looking for good ref pics. Next, look for good part choices. I am very picky about every part I use from head to toe. I will not start a custom until I have every part I need to work with. Then, I put the parts together to make sure all the parts fit well and move smoothly(a dress rehearsal of sorts).
Once all the parts are together, I begin to sculpt. Again, I use a small amount of apoxie at a time to avoid wasting any. When everything is sculpted and hardened, I wash the figure in hot water and dry with a towel to get any excess oils off. Then, I begin to do touch up sanding.
Once completely sanded and smooth, I apply the PRIMER. I prefer "Krylon" grey primer because it's not a thick as white and it's a lot easier for me to see any issues with sanding or sculpting that I may need to fix. You may want to avoid indoor/outdoor primer. It's also kinda thick.
Next, mix your base coat and apply it in thin layers. When you have a nice smooth even surface over the complete skin tone( should take 4-5 coats), let it dry and apply a sealer (I use Dulcote). Once you've given the sealer enough time to dry(at least an hour), start to apply your washes(A wash is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is very wet with solvent and holds a small paint load is applied to a wet or dry support such as paper or primed or raw canvas. The result is a smooth and uniform area that ideally lacks the appearance of brush strokes and is semi-transparent. The dry-brush technique can be considered the opposite of a wash.
A wash is accomplished by using a large amount of solvent with little paint. Paint consists of a pigment and binder which allows the pigment to adhere to its support. Solvents dilute the binder, thus diluting the binding strength of the paint. Washes can be brittle and fragile paint films because of this. However, when gum arabic watercolor washes are applied to a highly absorbant surface, such as paper, the effects are long lasting. This is the reason why watercolor is the medium most often utlizing washes.
The wash technique can be achieved by doing the following:
With water-based media such as inks, acrylic paints, tempera paints or watercolor paints, a wet brush should be dipped into a pool of very wet and diluted paint. This paint pool should be evenly mixed and dispersed to prevent uneven pigment load on the brush. The loaded brush should then be applied to a dry or wet support. Washes are most often applied with large brushes over large areas. The areas in which a wash effects can be controlled with careful application of the wash, and with the use of liquid frisket or rubber cement.) . After each layer, I normally let it dry and apply another coat of sealer. This allows for you to wipe off the new layer without ruining the previous layer.
Once you have the skin tone the way you want it, you can either work on the attire or start to work on the facial details. I prefer to work on the attire. The steps for attire are similar to the skontone. I start with a solid mixture to match(somewhat) the color of the attire I'm working with. Then apply washes of darker tones that you want to add. For example, If I were doing John Cena's shorts, I would start with a medium blue base(greyish blue), adding a coat of sealer. Then, I would add a cobalt blue wash, then sealer. Next, maybe a thinner midnight blue wash and sealer. Once those layers are washed and sealed, I do a light blue(nearly white) dry brush( Drybrush is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is relatively dry, but still holds paint, is used. Load is applied to a dry support such as paper or primed canvas. The resulting brush strokes have a characteristic scratchy look that lacks the smooth appearance that washes or blended paint commonly has.
The dry-brush technique can be achieved with water-based media and with oil-based media. With water-based media such as inks, acrylic paints, tempera paints or watercolor paints, the brush should be dry or squeezed dry of all water. The brush should then be loaded with paint that is high viscosity or thick. The loaded brush should then be applied to a dry support. With other water-based media, the brush should be loaded with paint then squeezed dry. The dry but sparsely loaded brush should then be applied to a dry support.). You should pay closer attention to the dry brush because you don't want to lose the details of the wash or the mid-toned base color.
Now, time to move into details. I usually start with the head and begin working on the white of the eyes and teeth(if mouth is opened). I usually mix a little yellow and brown into my white to create an egg shell white. Bright or "pure" white tends to make the face look cartoony so I try to stay away from it. Then, I use a mixture of the base skin tone and magenta to paint the lips and eye lids. For the eyes, I then apply a base color(whatever color their eyes are) for the iris and then I do detail painting for the eye shadows and the pupil. Lastly, I do a similarly positioned white dot on each iris for a highlight affect.
From there, I start to work on building facial shadows and color changes using the wash and dry brush technique again.
Next step, I start to work on the eye brows and hair and facial hair, if they have a full beard. Repeat the wash and dry brush technique...
If they have very low facial hair or a 5 o'clock shadow, I use different wash mixtures. I tend to use browns and greens a lot for these washes. I might also use a mixture of skin tone, green and black or brown and green, depending on the color temperature(Color temperature is a characteristic of visible light that has important applications in lighting, photography, videography, publishing, manufacturing, and other fields. The color temperature of a light source is determined by comparing its chromaticity with that of an ideal black-body radiator. The temperature (usually measured in kelvins, K) is that source's color temperature at which the heated black-body radiator matches the color of the light source for a black body source.[vague] It is directly related to Planck's law and Wien's displacement law.
Higher color temperatures (5,000 K or more) are cool (blueish white) colors, and lower color temperatures (2,700–3,000 K) warm (yellowish white through red) colors.) in that area of the face.
From there, I start to work on skin blemishes on the body(blushing, scars, etc..). Then, I work on any tattoo's the character may have, if any. I use pencils, pens and prismacolor markers to create the tattoo's.
Finally, I work on any attire details that the character might have. I generally lay out the designs in pencil and freehand paint over them.
I hope this was not too long or confusing. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Good Luck and Happy Customizing!!
Jay
Please excuse my grammer, I was never very good with english composition.
I would like to be available to answer any questions or provide any tips that can be helpful. The customs board is in the dumps right now and I'd like to see some new work from up and commers to vet's(including myself). If you would like to start customizing, want to get back into it or just learn some new techniques. Please, feel free to ask anything you might want to know. If I can't help, I'll try to find someone who can. *cough*famousj, Rozz, Rome, Gate, Gore, etc...*cough*(Yeah, I did a little name dropping there but haven't asked anyone yet. Bear with me). I wonder if a guy by the name of Baitey is still around? M2k? I like name dropping! lol! Anywho...
Materials: I use Aves apoxie sculpt(sculpting compound), Delta Ceramcoat(paint), I do use sculpey when I do full head sculpts. It's a little easier to work for facial details(for me).
Skintones: I use a lot of different colors. It also depends on the character I'm working on. You probably want to buy a lot of white paint. I use different tones of brown, red, pink, yellow, green and orange. I usually start with a table spoon of white. Then, I add a few drops of yellow ochre until I get a nice consistency of )pale yellow. I then add a few drops of burnt sienna(sienna brown). At this point, you should have a pale skin tone. This is what I use as my base. I then use the wash technique from that point on. For washes, I use single colors STRICTLY!! If you use too many mixed colors, it can turn out a little muddy. I also use transparent airbrush colors for my washes(light brown, dark brown, magenta, fluorescent orange, hunter green, fluorescent violet and brick red. Some of these colors may be a little confusing but when you practice building them up, you can come up with some very deep rich skin tones.
Sculpting: I use a small amount of Apoxie at a time. This helps eliminate a lot of wasted compound. You only have a certain amount of work time before it dries so you don't want to use too much. I keep a few flat head and round tipped brushes just for smoothing. I prefer to use vegetable oil as a smoothing agent. Also, I have a lot of different sculpting tools that i like to use but prefer the ones I improvise with( broken paint brushes, tooth brushes, Q-tips). I also have a small piece of metal with round edges. I don't even remember where I found it. LOL!
The first step to customizing is finding Good Ref Pics: I surf the internet for hours, sometimes days, looking for good ref pics. Next, look for good part choices. I am very picky about every part I use from head to toe. I will not start a custom until I have every part I need to work with. Then, I put the parts together to make sure all the parts fit well and move smoothly(a dress rehearsal of sorts).
Once all the parts are together, I begin to sculpt. Again, I use a small amount of apoxie at a time to avoid wasting any. When everything is sculpted and hardened, I wash the figure in hot water and dry with a towel to get any excess oils off. Then, I begin to do touch up sanding.
Once completely sanded and smooth, I apply the PRIMER. I prefer "Krylon" grey primer because it's not a thick as white and it's a lot easier for me to see any issues with sanding or sculpting that I may need to fix. You may want to avoid indoor/outdoor primer. It's also kinda thick.
Next, mix your base coat and apply it in thin layers. When you have a nice smooth even surface over the complete skin tone( should take 4-5 coats), let it dry and apply a sealer (I use Dulcote). Once you've given the sealer enough time to dry(at least an hour), start to apply your washes(A wash is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is very wet with solvent and holds a small paint load is applied to a wet or dry support such as paper or primed or raw canvas. The result is a smooth and uniform area that ideally lacks the appearance of brush strokes and is semi-transparent. The dry-brush technique can be considered the opposite of a wash.
A wash is accomplished by using a large amount of solvent with little paint. Paint consists of a pigment and binder which allows the pigment to adhere to its support. Solvents dilute the binder, thus diluting the binding strength of the paint. Washes can be brittle and fragile paint films because of this. However, when gum arabic watercolor washes are applied to a highly absorbant surface, such as paper, the effects are long lasting. This is the reason why watercolor is the medium most often utlizing washes.
The wash technique can be achieved by doing the following:
With water-based media such as inks, acrylic paints, tempera paints or watercolor paints, a wet brush should be dipped into a pool of very wet and diluted paint. This paint pool should be evenly mixed and dispersed to prevent uneven pigment load on the brush. The loaded brush should then be applied to a dry or wet support. Washes are most often applied with large brushes over large areas. The areas in which a wash effects can be controlled with careful application of the wash, and with the use of liquid frisket or rubber cement.) . After each layer, I normally let it dry and apply another coat of sealer. This allows for you to wipe off the new layer without ruining the previous layer.
Once you have the skin tone the way you want it, you can either work on the attire or start to work on the facial details. I prefer to work on the attire. The steps for attire are similar to the skontone. I start with a solid mixture to match(somewhat) the color of the attire I'm working with. Then apply washes of darker tones that you want to add. For example, If I were doing John Cena's shorts, I would start with a medium blue base(greyish blue), adding a coat of sealer. Then, I would add a cobalt blue wash, then sealer. Next, maybe a thinner midnight blue wash and sealer. Once those layers are washed and sealed, I do a light blue(nearly white) dry brush( Drybrush is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is relatively dry, but still holds paint, is used. Load is applied to a dry support such as paper or primed canvas. The resulting brush strokes have a characteristic scratchy look that lacks the smooth appearance that washes or blended paint commonly has.
The dry-brush technique can be achieved with water-based media and with oil-based media. With water-based media such as inks, acrylic paints, tempera paints or watercolor paints, the brush should be dry or squeezed dry of all water. The brush should then be loaded with paint that is high viscosity or thick. The loaded brush should then be applied to a dry support. With other water-based media, the brush should be loaded with paint then squeezed dry. The dry but sparsely loaded brush should then be applied to a dry support.). You should pay closer attention to the dry brush because you don't want to lose the details of the wash or the mid-toned base color.
Now, time to move into details. I usually start with the head and begin working on the white of the eyes and teeth(if mouth is opened). I usually mix a little yellow and brown into my white to create an egg shell white. Bright or "pure" white tends to make the face look cartoony so I try to stay away from it. Then, I use a mixture of the base skin tone and magenta to paint the lips and eye lids. For the eyes, I then apply a base color(whatever color their eyes are) for the iris and then I do detail painting for the eye shadows and the pupil. Lastly, I do a similarly positioned white dot on each iris for a highlight affect.
From there, I start to work on building facial shadows and color changes using the wash and dry brush technique again.
Next step, I start to work on the eye brows and hair and facial hair, if they have a full beard. Repeat the wash and dry brush technique...
If they have very low facial hair or a 5 o'clock shadow, I use different wash mixtures. I tend to use browns and greens a lot for these washes. I might also use a mixture of skin tone, green and black or brown and green, depending on the color temperature(Color temperature is a characteristic of visible light that has important applications in lighting, photography, videography, publishing, manufacturing, and other fields. The color temperature of a light source is determined by comparing its chromaticity with that of an ideal black-body radiator. The temperature (usually measured in kelvins, K) is that source's color temperature at which the heated black-body radiator matches the color of the light source for a black body source.[vague] It is directly related to Planck's law and Wien's displacement law.
Higher color temperatures (5,000 K or more) are cool (blueish white) colors, and lower color temperatures (2,700–3,000 K) warm (yellowish white through red) colors.) in that area of the face.
From there, I start to work on skin blemishes on the body(blushing, scars, etc..). Then, I work on any tattoo's the character may have, if any. I use pencils, pens and prismacolor markers to create the tattoo's.
Finally, I work on any attire details that the character might have. I generally lay out the designs in pencil and freehand paint over them.
I hope this was not too long or confusing. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Good Luck and Happy Customizing!!
Jay
I suppose it's all a matter of opinion but, I think Deen could slaughter him in a competition and even defeat Jin himself.
