How to Achieve Smooth Blends - HC 416
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- In this Hobby Cheating Tutorial, I take you through the full spectrum of techniques of blending and how to best succeed no matter how you're trying to blend on those minis!
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I really appreciate your explanation of the basic chemistry of acrylic paint, and why that makes it fundamentally difficult to blend. Very clear and succinct.
After watching your videos for a couple years I just want thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into these videos Vince. The content you put out is really something to be proud of. Your videos remind me of why I fell in love with the internet and what I thought it would and should become. Knowledgeable people sharing information with like minded people. Not thumbnails, clickbait, and engagement farming.
I really appreciate the knowledge you share and the example you provide.
You are so welcome! :)
Did anyone else have a couple moments where the video froze up, but the sound kept going? Frustrating because blending is the technique I most need to work on.
I think it was on purpose so he could talk about what he was going to do before doing it.
That was unintentional, I will have to look into what happened there.
Yep
@@VinceVenturellaIs it possible to re-upload the video with the corrupted footage fixed?
@derpchief9614
I can help guys
So to start the technique the whole time is glazing which doesn't change.
Firstly, hes glazing and using a brush technique called feathering with a fairly bright coulour being the highlight. This we see.
Then when it cuts out look at brush, its a darker mousie brown/red. He is applying this below the top half of each segment. Since its a midtone it sits in the middle and to be pushed away from the topend highlight but if goes into shadow its ok cause thats covered next step.
When it cuts out next we see the paint, a dark red almost wash consistency, hardly anything on the brush. Starting from the midtone, he featheres into or towards the shadow. Thus tying or "blending" each segment.
This is just like wet blending, hes only using a glaze though.
Well done. This is one of the hardest things for beginners and intermediate to effectively learn because key steps are often omitted in tutorials. It would be great to revisit this topic in even greater detail about how much paint you load your brush and on other textures - it’s so important. Thanks Vince for all you do for the hobby
Glad it was helpful!
Don't underestimate how useful using your finger to swipe away some of the paint can be for helping with the blends.
Absolutely!
Yep.
I love your content Vince, you're always the first place I look for anything I'm struggling with when painting and always give great advice.
On a totally different note, your analysis mic when painting is stellar, but I often find I need to turn up the volume a bit more to hear you when you're talking to the camera, do you think you could incorporate the other mic into the camera speaking segments as well so we, your fans, might get to hear your in depth analysis as clearly as possible? Thank you for all your hardwork in your videos!
explanation of how and why and weak points of the techniques is spot on and very helpful. Great video as always Vince. Thanks a bunch.
Glad it was helpful!
thanks vince for the suuuper useful vid - been trying to learn how to do blends but thought it was doing it wrong because it still looked too blocky. but now i know i need to look at glazing between them
When I go into ’blending mode’ i have a small eyeglass cleaner spray bottle to keep the moisture up. Sometimes I use the cloud of aerated water to keep the o2 level. I will use the spritzer for washes as well.
This is an interesting idea. Could you elaborate a bit on how you do this, examples of when to use it and when not to etcetera. Please.
Acrylic paint for blending is definitely satisfying when pulled off. Like overcoming a difficult level in a video game.
Blending acrylic paint, the first time it 'clicks' is just like the first time you're playing Dark Souls and start to notice the patterns in the attacks. You gave a great analogy.
I definitely find feathering much easier than wet blending. I feel I can control the surface texture much easier when I'm thinning the paint at the same time; my wet blends tend to get a bit chunky.
I find wet blending to be tricky even when I'm working with oils wich give you all the time in the world to blend.
@@PhthaloGreenskinare you giving the oils long enough for the solvent to flash off? Once they set up a little, they blend much easier.
I'm seriously debating doing a diorama called "50 shades of Larry" using this model and every Larry is from a different video that you've used him for.
Poor old Larry has a sore back 😂
I have started the miniature painting hobby in the past couple of months and I have found your HC videos very useful as I am learning the various techniques. A lot of times I have been binge watching many videos in one sitting (at 1.5 times speed usually).Thank you very much for making all this awesome instructional content!
Great to hear! Glad to have you along on the hobby journey!
I find it difficult to blends with acrylics and your explanation will help. Airbrush and oil paints are way easier but those have their issues. I need to get better with all tools and not just the ones I am good at.
Thanks vince it was interesting to watch. I recently tested some heavy bodies and got better results in a couple of hours than i do in 6-12 of normal hobby acrylics. The testing continues but its always good to consider other techniques. Oil paints intrigue me alot its just my laziness that stops me from testing them more.
Same. I want to try oils so bad, but then I get to the isle, think about the cleanup and wait times, and just go..... "Um. Maybe next time."
Thanks for this great explanation of these techniques!
Glad it was helpful!
You absolutely blew my mind. I never thought about blending the way you explained and the meaning of everything. I think you actually found the best balance between practicality and theory in your videos. It’s not often that I find myself speechless, but this is one of those times. Thank you very much for explaining this.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks Vince
This is such a wonderful video not only explaining why it’s so hard to blend acrylic paints and demonstrating all the major methods but also reminding everyone that the perfect blend requires multiple steps to achieve. That butter analogy is a fantastic way to explain feathering. In case anyone was confused by the term “voiding out” it simply means that Vince is wiping off excess paint on a nearby paper towel. Sometimes I wonder why I’m not using oil paints or airbrush more frequently 😂
Glad it was helpful!
Brilliant video, the sound was a struggle unlike your usual quality, but that said as usual very informative and tips taken to help my next mini, thanks Vince you nake Saturday's worthwhile on youtube.
Glad it was helpful!
The clearest explanation of blending techniques I've seen!
Glad it was helpful!
Super helpful to see the different blending techniques side by side. They all seem pretty interchangeable.
The concept of glazing after a blend was a much needed breakthrough for me. It kind of feels like you're doing everything wrong until you get to the very last step that pulls it all together. The wider scope of context for the techniques is super important, at least for me. Thanks for the level up Vince!
Glad it was helpful!
Comment for the algorithm dictator! All hail to our painting messiah Vince!
PRAISE BE 🙌
Let's not forget Larry.
@@Mikey__R Larry gave more skin for our learning of the craft then he physically could have 👏🏿
thank you !
Another vital video, Vince. Thank you for the time you dedicate to helping all of us become better painters.
Always happy to help.
I have seen a lot of vlending videos. This was the best i have ever seen, despite the freeze frames.
vince just wanted to say thanks, the amount of knowledge im getting from this videos is simply amazing, one of the most informative painting guides on yt for sure!
I appreciate that! Always happy to help. :)
Thank you for this video. I needed the reality check that these things take time and patience is key.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for another great video. If you ever find the time, I'd really to see more about oils though. There are a lot of videos out there, but very little about working an entire (or most of, I understand some smaller steps are better done with acrylic)) mini, especially a smaller, 28-32mm one. And it's usually about skin, or one big set of armour. I'd really like to see what the work process would be for just one, "normal" mini...
Great suggestion!
Awesome video as always Vince. I've been painting for years and smooth blends with acrylics still intimidate me and I find myself trying all kinds of tricks to avoid brush blending. Thanks again!
Extremely Helpful!!! Thank you! I love these complete fundamental teaching. You do it so well
Glad it was helpful!
Glad to see Larry back from vacation. Must've had a visit to a health spa with that smooth looking skin of his.
Timely video, i have just progressed to my first forays in blending.
I like this!
Smooth blends for smooth brains
Best painting guides out there. Cheers Mr V.
Thanks 👍
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
Thank you 👍
0:50 Yes, those two things are important features, but I think that misses a key reason - it is non-toxic and it doesn't require solvents - that is actually the main reason acrylics displaced enamels.
Thanks Vince!!!
Another cracking video! The only blending technique I've been struggling to find much information on is 'glaze stippling', which I'm told is what some well known competition painters use as a final step (notably, Albert Moreto Font, whose blends are crazy smooth). I'm guessing that it does exactly what it says on the tin, but would love to hear some Vincy V wisdom on it!
Glad it was helpful! But yep, it's exactly what it sounds like, just small stipples of very thin paints for perfected blends. I will have to do a video on it eventually.
yo, love your content and watch it every week! This video is marked as 414 when it should actually be 416, just so you know
Thanks
Welcome
Great video, Vince. One question. How do you deal with the potential of texture buildup when applying the thicker paints as a foundation for the blend? Is it just a matter of loading less paint than you would think to put on your brush and spreading it from there?
You want lots of paint and you want it thick. THe trick is you need to really aggressively spread it out on the model. You shouldn't see any build up or texture if you're working quickly with a large brush and spreading it out, you'll end with a nice, thin, well blended layer.
Hey Vince, great video as always. I’d love if you could do a video on painting in red (particularly armour) and highlighting without it either looking orange, or pink… but instead a true (ideally blood) red. It’s an issue I come across often, but have yet to see a good video explanation.
I did a video on just that thing actually a few times, the most recent was with a space marine
@@VinceVenturella ah ok excellent. I’ll check them out. Thanks!
Thank you !
You're welcome!
These blends smooth like my brain.
Another great video, thanks Technomancer Vincie V!
My pleasure!
Yaay, Larry! 😁
Great video
Thanks!
great video
Glad you enjoyed it
Such a good vid! Perfect, comprehendible amount of info while covering a LOT of ground.
Sometimes when I glaze, particularly red, it goes very shiny, often not the texture I want. Is the best solution to glaze as normal then hit with a matte varnish, or maybe I’m doing something wrong haha???
Thanks a lot Vince!
Glad it was helpful! Red is very likely to go satin or glossy when thinned, it's the pigment and additives. You're not doing anything wrong, you often just need to matte it out afterwards.
Hey vince- love your work, great as always.
Please look into mastering your audio to a more listenable level on youtube, your stuff runs far too quiet. Look into some gentle compression and normalise to a youtube standard. Much love!
Thanks, will do!
This is cool to know
The way you described blending techniques was perfect. Thanks! Any reason to or not to add a paint retardant for blending acrylics?
You have to be careful, it will thin the paint as well. That means it will make the techniques like wet blending harder, so it can actually work against you at the same time it's trying to help .
If the blends aint 'moist' they aint smooth.
Now I'll watch the video.
I know it makes 0 sense for tabletop painters, but I’m curious why competition painters don’t switch to majority (90-95%) oil paints for their work?
Just harder to control often in the small spaces we usually need to work. I often use oils (and oviously beldning with oils isn't a thing), but there is also the need for more toxic elements, taking long to dry and so on.
Surprised you didn't mention sponging or stippling. Super easy way to get a gradient going although you cant really use it on surfaces like skin unless you're painting something a dragon or earth ganasi.
I would love to see a show using the cheapest louseyest paints as many new modelers start with.
Which paints specifically? You could do this with most any miniature paint you're going to use.
Once again an excellent video! That’s a neat wet palette, is it homemade? If not, what brand is it? Keep up the good work!
It's from Game Envy, I love it, I will have a full video coming soon.
Do you prefer mediums in addition to water for thinning down paint into a glaze? Sometimes I use water, but it seems like Vallejo's glaze medium helps prevent water marks a lot better. But the darn glaze medium gets little partially dried specks in it that have to be pulled out >.
Honestly, I mostly use water only, occasionally I will use some flow improver, but mostly water.
My issue is consistency of the Glaze.....my glazes can easily become washes with Acrylics....Inks are so much easier to work with I have found.
Yeah, it definitely depends on the paint. There are a few S75 that glaze wonderfully, and a few Vallejo that really need a lot of help to get transparent enough.
Inks can be a little strong, in my experience. I love them through the airbrush, but brushed on I find them very tricky to control.
May i suggest you to:
- try different paints, some brands are easier to control than others
- assuming you already use a wet palette, use less water in it, or try different membranes/parchment papers
- if you still have problems, try some glaze medium instead of water
If you've been using water, try a medium? Vallejo sell tiny pots of matt medium and glaze medium.
+1 for the medium. Vallejo's Glaze Medium doesn't just have a clever name. It makes Vallejo paints behave a little bit more like S75 or Warcolours, it might work on other brands but I did hear that it causes Citadel paints to bead up weirdly.
That's what I meant when I wrote they need a lot of help.
So I have some videos that deep dive specifically on glazes. If you're getting a wash effect, then you still have too much liquid in your brush. When you create a glaze, that dab into a paper towel to wick off the excess liquid is very important.
How do you get your wet palette so wet? My paints don’t behave the way they do on yours 😢 I’ve seen some other painters have a similar effect
It can vary with the paper and local humidity, but always fill your wet palette all the wya up with water, like to the top edge of the sponge.
You mentioned feathering with blending. When would you use stippling?
It's another final step option instead of glazing, it doesn't tend to be my go to, but it's a solid plan for finalizing the smooth blends.
👍👍
Good video on the blending techniques. I also find the glaze consistency challenging to get it right without using some sort of medium. Will you be making a new/updated video on glazes? Or still the same?
I made one fairly recently, but it's still the same technique. Thin, rinse the brush, dip, wick off the excess liquid, apply.
Great video. I appreciate your HC series. Quick question...
Is there a good way or process to pick these stark contrasting colors some of you masters use?
I see pics of folks going from extreme colors likes bright pinks and greens to high skin tones and I can blend decently or above average in some cases but I don't seem to get the hue or color contrast at the level I see others do no matter how much color I put in my shadow or how far my highlight goes. Some use subdued classical colors and still get that huge contrast between their colorful shadow and high highlight.
Not looking for recipes just trying to find a good rule of thumb on experimenting with new tones and schemes for those great stark contrasts I see you guys pull off.
Note, I paint armies but really just am a painter at this point I don't really play, I just dig listening to an audio book and painting in my free time so for me time saving is not an issue just better quality.
It's really just picking a broad spectrum. It's hard to say exactly, but I often start with something that will go down to a dark pink/blue and then up to ice yellow with all the steps in between. So make sure you're running that gamut.
@@VinceVenturella thanks. I will keep on trying. Thats the fun of it.
Hello Larry! 😅
How many larry the ogres Do you have? Or do you strip him every time?
Just one, he's never been stripped ever since the beginning of the series. Proof that you don't need to strip models.
Hey Vince. Once you've torn a glaze, is there any way to fix it? In the past, I've hidden any tears under weathering or battle damage. If you really want that area to be smooth, is there an easy way back?
Once you have texture, it's basically accept it or sand that whole area down, there aren't many other ways out. That being said, if it's a small area and the project isn't for competition, who cares? I say push through a get it done and move on. :)
@@VinceVenturella excellent advice! Cheers Vince!
Would scale 75 artist acrylics be a good option for this? Because they have similar properties to oil? Or am I just justifying getting the whole set haha.
In the end, they aren't that much thicker than most undiluted miniature paint. BUt yes, they can certainly do this well.
Hi Vince, I just had a question: do you have any idea how to get a nice, smooth warm white color? Like vanilla ice cream or custard shade.
I have several videos in the playlist on how to paint white (both warm and cold), but something like AK Vampiric Flesh, Buff, Deck tan or similar would be nice, Ivory is also great from them.
Could doing this potentially leave more brush marks or textures? I guess if you don’t work it in enough or maybe too much? Edit: The first wet blending style I mean.
It should theoretically result in less, as working and smoothing the paint like this should hopefully eliminate most brush strokes.
@@VinceVenturella righto! I’ve lined up some spare minis to practice new techniques on this weekend and will give it a go!
would you suggest using retarder medium to increase drying time?
Also interested in the answer to this question
So it's tricky, It can help some, but you have to be very careful, because it will also thin the paint, which works against you and you won't extend the dry time by that much in most cases. So the answer is yes, a tiny amount can do something but it's easy to go wrong and won't give you that much additional time.
@@VinceVenturella thank you very much for your time to answer me:)
for the wet blending part, what about using a retarder medium? how would that go do you think? I've not tried it too often, it... thickens? kind of? the paint for me I've found and I dunno how to work with it. But maybe in the interest of skin tones it'd b e worth trying to learn to work with?
So retarder medium will generally thin your paint and won't give you too much additional working time. If you're talking about thicker, then you've tried vallejo retardent, which is a terrible product. The issue is you're adding "not paint" to your paint, and it makes it actually a little harder to wet blend properly. So it can work, but you want to use a little bit of it and it won't give you that much additional time.
@VinceVenturella ahh kk ty! And yes was Vallejo lol suddenly it makes sense
Can a gel medium make it wet blend more like oil paints?
Not really, because it ends up thinning it too much, a little small amount of dring retardent can get there, but you need a minimal amount.
is glazing what some people call layering?
Nope, but they are related. I have videos in the playlist all about paint consistency. In short, layering is when you’re using slightly thinned layers to build up opacity and create transitions of color. Glazing is when you’re paint is quite thin, and you are simply attempting to modulate the colors underneath rather than change the color or cover the area.
so youre essentially mixing + thinning the paint while its on the model instead of before?
Correct. Exactly right.
So, if you are painting for tabletop, a non-smooth blend will look like a smooth blend, at a distance, no?
Sure, it's just a question of finish and time you want to put into things.
How do you prevent texture or losing detail when working so thick?
You saw here, I didn't have any texture. People are much too afraid of thick paint. You spread it out on the miniature and work it down to a thin layer, you're just mixing it on the miniature instead of on the palette.
Vince, would you kindly clear something up for me? You often talk about "pushing volumes" when it comes to painting. Does this mean the act of physically moving a quantity of paint from one area to another or does this speak more to the saturation of color created by distributing layers of pigment over an area? Thank you in advance and Majestic 13 is an amazing addition to my collection.
Glad you enjoyed the game. Now, volumes just generally means paying attention to the highlights and shadows on the shaped surfaces of the miniature. So consider the highlight in the hair, the hair is one volume, but we then have the size of the highlight. When I say push the highlight in that volume, that is referring to the size of the highlight in that volume.
@@VinceVenturella ah I understand now. Thank you so much.
A question to your airbrush-setup: On how much PSI are you running which nozzle? And: Are you running all nozzles on the same setting??
18 PSI, and yes, always the same PSI.
@@VinceVenturella Thanks you so much. Can't believe you're answering really every question and in such short time. You are definetly the best way into the hobby of miniature-painting. Thank you so much for being here!
I take the job of teaching seriously and I am always happy tohelp. :) @@adraxagatone8480
Hi vince. I love watching your videos. I have recently tried to airbrush my first model but after i tried to put a wash on it, all my paint stripped away. Any idea what could be happening? My research has said maybe i didnt let the paint dry long enough or shake the bottle enough?
So there are several different potential explanations, the paint from the airbrush could have been overly thinned, so it wasn't able to set properly. It could have been an an ink or something that reactivates easily. It could have been too fast where it didn't fuly cure. In any event, the answer is always give it enough time to fully dry and if you want to be sure, a quick varnish layer through the airbrush will keep everything in place for future work.
@@VinceVenturella thanks for this Vince. I didnt turn on my notifications! So the paint I used was straight out of the bottle Vallejo air. I tried to let it different sections dry and then tried the wash over different days (up to 4 days) with the same effect. I guess I may have concentrated my spraying too much and not letting it dry between layers. Thanks for your help. I love your vidoes
Awesome video Vince! One piece of feedback, the volume level was very very low. I had to crank up the volume in my laptop to max level.
Thanks for the tip!
What about using a drying retardant? Does that make it easier?
Some, but not as much as you think. You are thinning the paint with the retardent, so that makes it harder to wet blend, if you thin it. The other challenge is if you only use a little so you can still effectively wet blend, it won't extend it that much. So the answer is it can do something, but not much.
what do you think about using retarder medium to make the drying time work a little more in our favour?
The issue is it doesn't extend the working time very much and it thins the paint, which is the opposite of what we need to you end up often with something that doesn't wet blend as well because it has been thin. So it can be done, but you need a very small amount which will have a minimal effect.
@@VinceVenturella that explains why every time I try it I feel like I'm doing something wrong! thanks for the explanation :)
As always, love the video, but the sound levels are quite low.
I just use oils :0
❤
Does this mean Larry is back?!
Woohoo! Not only is Larry back, but Larry's back is back!
We love Larry. I think Larry and Daryl need a spin off buddy cop series. Diesel could be the villain, who turns out to be the good guy all along.
Larry never really left 😂
8 months later and the video still freezes in in certain points :-(
Yeah, something processed wrong in the original source video.
Has Larry the Ogre ever been stripped? Has to have been, you've had him for years.
Nope, never once. THis is why you don't need to strip your figures. He has been painted and reprimed so many times.