Painting for Dummies -- Outlining

Posted by Ranillon on 10. April 2009 22:14

This time I want to talk about something related to layering, but not quite the same thing – namely Outlining.

Whereas layering is about mimicking the shades and highlights you would naturally see in an object or person, outlining is more about distinguishing one part of the painted model from another.  To take a look at what I mean check out the two pictures that accompany this post.

The first is of the right hand of my new commander sans anything but the basic first covering of paint.  It’s not just bland, but as many of the parts are the same color – fingers from palm, razors from supports – they tend to blend together.  Where does one end and the other begin?  One way to tell the two apart is to use layering to give different parts different looks, but often that by itself isn’t going to be enough.

Now check out the second picture.  It’s of the left hand and here I have only done outlining (there is still a lot of layering to do).  Note how I have used washes to fill in the deeper portions of the model but also to “outline” the various parts of the gauntlet.  Yes, in the case of the icon and wreath the washes also serve as the first layer before highlighting, but just as importantly they serve to make it clear how one part is different from another.

That is the whole point of outlining – to make the various parts of the model distinct.  It’s related to layering, but is not quite the same thing as the aim of outlining is to literally outline a particular bit of model.  Once you’ve outlined something that’s it.  You don’t add in more layers of outlining.  As part of layering you can easily outline as well using the same washes (and sometimes paint).

This may sound a bit of an odd add-on to painting, but remember that we are talking about a comparatively tiny figure.  What is easy to see on the full-size equivalent can disappear on its miniature cousin.  Outlining aims to exaggerate the placement of items on the model so that the viewer can see it easily.

More to come...