Painting for Dummies -- More Outlining

Posted by Ranillon on 14. April 2009 22:57

I went over the basics of Outlining (it really is a pretty simple idea) last time, but I want to take this opportunity to show you another example – and, also, a nifty way of cutting down painting time.

Take a look at the image at right.  It is of a Landraider Crusader that I am slowly working on.  The picture shows both sides of the tank.  Notice how sharp the corners and different levels on this side seem?  Compare that to the other side (bottom half of the pic) – see how flat it looks?  That’s the benefit to outlining.  It makes the individual bits far more distinct.

What’s cool about this example is what I used to do the outlining.  To see it just click here.

It really is just as easy as drawing a line.  This is especially true for a vehicle as the sizes are large (for miniatures at least) and the corners often sharp.  Using typical outlining techniques – usually a wash put in place with a paint brush – using an art pen is not only far faster, but even neater.  The lines are solid and straight, only requiring touch-ups if and when you slip.

Even better is that the art pen can at times be used on figures as well.  When this is a suitable choice depends on the model in question and how sharp the portions of it may be.  The most likely problem is that the lines the pen leaves will be just too thick and therefore look too artificial.  However, with a .005 width art pen you can often get the lines thin enough to work.  You can even use different colored pens! 

With something as irregular as a figurine more touch-ups are apt to be needed than with vehicles.  Still, it is faster than usual painting methods and at times better, especially if your natural painting ability isn’t that great.  Fortunately for us non-gifted painters it doesn’t take that much talent to outline sharp angles with an art pen!

More to come…