This weekend the Deployment Zone podcast decided to up their
game in a different fashion. This
weekend Bryan, Josh and I all three attended one of Meg Maples of ArcanePaintworks painting classes. Meg Maples,
is an artist who has been a studio painter for companies like Privateer Press
and has won several awards for her painting, including the crystal brush award
at Adepticon for her Magneto paint job.
Ms. Maples held her two day painting class at Guardian Games
in Portland where she had a full curriculum centered around Two Brush Blending
(TBB) and its applications. Now I
normally like to think that my paint jobs are of a higher quality than you would
regularly encounter, however based on the skill exhibited during her class –
that is all now called into question!
Here is am image of one of her models:
The class involved the following training topics:
(copy/pasted from her blog)
·
Model cleaning, assembly and preparation.
·
Priming including when to use white primer, grey primer, black
primer and Zenithal Priming.
·
Basecoating
·
2 Brush Blending
·
Glazing and Layering
·
Painting eyes, faces and hair
·
Painting skin tones and how to devise skintone recipes
·
Color theory discussion occurs throughout the class at a
superficial level to explain why I am choosing to mix certain colors
together.
·
Glow effects using both day glow pigments as well as brightly
colored paints.
·
Painting Gems
·
Beginner level freehand discussion
·
True Metallic Metals
·
Sheer Fabric
If you are unfamiliar with Ms. Maples painting style or
what her techniques are comprised, she uses a blending method to create smooth
transitions throughout the model. This
technique allows for multiple effects to be integrated in the model to give a
realistic feel to the paint job and “tells a story” as you look at it.
Ms. Maples requires that her class attendees use a
specific size of brush and the Privateer Press Formula P3 line of paints in
order to capitalize on her painting style and technique. It was recommended for all attendees to
obtain a Winsor Newton Series 7 size 2 brush and a Raphael size 3 (or something
of comparable cost/quality for Sable Kolinsky brushes or acrylics were also an
appropriate alternative). The two brush
blending technique she teaches works best with the P3 paints as the liquid
pigment spreads more evenly across the model and the larger brushes allow for
better surface blending.
The class started out with Ms. Maples teaching us how to
properly prime which was something I was apparently not doing. She explained the principles behind a proper
primer (P3 formula apparently is an actual primer as it adheres smoothly and
cleaning to a model vs. other aerosol variants) and how to prime not only in
black but also using white and Zenithal highlighting. The Zenithal priming was a really good
technique to learn as I have watched Youtube videos before where you have a guy
videotaping himself doing it but you really gain something more when you have
the actual person demonstrating it and providing you instant feedback.
The Zenithal Highlighting then lead to the discussion of
the primary technique Ms. Maples would be teaching: Two Brush Blending. The technique centers on using two brushes of
different sizes, the first brush being the size 2 applies a dab of paint into
the recesses or the area where you want shadow.
Then once the paint is applied you take the second brush (generally held
in your mouth) and you start to brush paint tracks from the outside of the
paint to in, which will blend the paint across the surface and creating a
smooth transition. The second brush
which is the size 3 only uses your saliva as the mixing medium as you draw it
across the basecoat to softly blend it in.
Once you have done the shading, you apply the highlight and use same
technique to blend it down to the shade.
The technique sounds super simple however after spending 16 hours +
more, I still find myself struggling to master it to the point where I feel
comfortable making this my primary method of painting. This technique was the foundation for most of
the curriculum Ms. Maples used for her class, especially when she discussed and
demonstrated skin tones and faces. One
of the stand out lessons in between learning Two Brush Blending and how to
properly paint skin tones was the way to paint eyes. Ms. Maples tutorial on how to paint full
color eyes was simple and the results looked fantastic.
The second day centered on painting realistic hair, true metallic
metals and other realistic effects. The
True Metalic Metals tutorial was outstanding where Ms. Maples used metallic
pigments and gloss varnish to paint on a shimmering layer over the
basecoat. Then once the shimmering coat
has been painted on, a shading glaze is added followed by highlights and more
glazes. The result is a metallic paint
job that shimmers in the light between multiple colors. This was a fairly impressive tutorial and
inspired me to look at metallic pigments.
Ms. Maples also touched on Object Source Lighting or OSL which provided
us a very brief glowing eyes tutorial.
The class was a definite challenge for me as I do not
hold my paintbrush the way most people do and it was a complete departure from
how I normally paint both in form and function.
I do not normally use P3 paints, I have never successfully blended
anything before, I do not mix paints when painting often, I do not normally use
a larger sized brush and lastly I haven’t used a dry pallet in a long, long
time. So upon entrance into the class, I
was fully out of my comfort zone. I
ended up bringing multiple models to prime and paint with various techniques
and Ms. Maples was sure to walk around and provide technical assistance where
necessary.
There were several tutorials taught that had an
instantaneous effect on my paint job and I was able to pick up on them
immediately. The priming tutorial was
awesome, how to paint eyes has given me the confidence to start doing just that
on my models, and the object source lightning took very little time but was
instantly useful. Those small but
helpful tutorials will provide instant improvement to my armies.
The tutorials that I felt will take a lot of time but in the
end pay off very well were obviously the Two Brush Blending. The TBB will require a lot of my time to get
proficient with it. Ms. Maples has a
fantastic technique and the results make you want to paint better just by
looking at her models. Once I have
gotten proficient with her method, the other tutorials such as painting flesh
and fabric will easily fall in line and yield fantastic results. The other challenge I will run into will be
my color theory, using the P3 paints will be great for resolving this as they
mix well and last long. I may still use
a wet palette because I have a knee jerk reaction to hating dry palettes (never
can get the consistency right in a dry palette).
Now as far as the argument of cost vs. time investment, I
will say that Ms. Maples provides her students a bargain for what is
offered. The students receive 16 hours
of professional training in the methods that the studio painters from companies
like Privateer Press paint their models.
I look at the amount of money I spend on this ridiculous hobby and then
I look at the amount of time I spend painting to what I thought was a pretty
high standard. The time investment and
cost of this class is literally one of the better investments I could make in
the hobby as it is improving something that I have always wanted to get better
at doing. I have no problem getting
better at the game when I play a list a few times and learn the nuances but
something technical like painting requires some level of instruction in order
to improve.
As a result, I would formally recommend Ms. Maples
painting class through Arcane Paintworks to anyone who is interested in
improving the state of their hobby outside game. Just the minor techniques she taught have
already begun to have a big impact on my paint jobs. I look forward to experimenting more with
these techniques in the future.
The Deployment Zone podcast will be providing a full review of the class on one of our up and coming podcasts as well as an interview with the teacher Ms. Meg Maples.
