Monday, June 24, 2013

First crack at the "three color method"

I've been trying to follow Kevin Dallimore's examples of the three color method. See my earlier posts for details on the book I got for Father's Day. Not my best work for sure, but as it's my first go I'll cut myself some slack.





Apologies for not taking shots with just the base shade. I got a little caught up I guess.

Some key takeaways for next time:
  • Try using a successively smaller brush for each lighter color:  I've ordered a new 5/0 brush to help with this. It should be here tomorrow.
  • Lighten up my shade color. Feels too dark and not 'fleshy' enough I will mix some of my base color into my shade color. I've become inspired to mix more color after seeing this awesome tutorial.
  • Leave less of the shade color showing (on the legs especially):  I think this will resolve itself with more practice.
  • Thin the paint:  I did not thin the paints very much and I took a VERY long time to finish painting (I had to frequently consult my book). I also wanted to avoid having to do multiple coats as my brush work is a little sketchy and I figured less coats would mean less stress! I guess it's time to break out the wet palette again.
  • Be liberal with the shade color:  I had a hard time seeing some of the details with the black primer. I accidentally left some of his forehead black actually. If I go fast and loose with shade color I think I will find the edges of the skin better. I can always touch up with more primer later.
Next up the tunic. Stay tuned...

14 comments:

  1. dam I wish my first attempt had been that good,looks good not sure about using smaller brush just use the point and less paint.
    Peace James

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  2. I'm mixed about the smaller brushes, seldom use any brush below a double zero. Might give it a go myself.

    The colours look great especially if you ever run through a peat bog. Looking forward to watching you progress and as James says wish my first attempts were so clear.

    Cheers, Ross

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  3. Looks great. This looks like it will be a fun site to watch.

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  4. It does look like you've been doing this for awhile. Best, Dean

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  5. Been fun seeing your progress as a painter. Put you in my feedly rss reader.

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  6. Just followed your link on James' blog, that's some great painting!

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  7. Thanks for the kind words all and welcome to the blog. With all these eyes on me, I'd better get cracking! =]

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  8. Great work, your finish is really good!

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  9. Just followed James' link to your lovely blog and some great work here. I'm a great fan of Dallimore's work and have spent hours pouring over the same book. He has such a deft touch that he makes the whole business of skin tones look so frustratingly easy. One thing I found that helped was to switch the base colour to a more reddish hue. This as the effect of making it a four colour process, but I use less top highlight. It seemed to work for me anyway.

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    1. Thanks, Michael. I do think I need to make the shade color more 'warm.' Right now it looks more like a tree not a leg!

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  10. good start!
    waiting to see more.
    bye

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  11. Also followed James' link and you have a nice blog here. I'm a member of the small brush camp, but maybe it's because I buy crap brushes that don't hold a point. I'll be following along and maybe learning something. Might need to take a look at Dallimore's book.

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