Painting Vikings and Saxons

[Krobrawlg]

@Primarch Yes, the yellow is one you gave me, but no worries, the rest are in pretty good condition. Thanks for the advice!

[Konrad]

I sometimes use yellow designers' gouache instead of regular acrylic figure paint. Gouache is much more densely pigmented and is much more opaque. It does have a slightly grainy texture once dry, so if I were trying to paint diaphanous silk or glossy panzee topaz I wouldn't use it, but for most stuff it would not be a problem. As I am usually painting dusty, greasy, rusty, gritty Gorkamorka figures, it is perfect.

[Krobrawlg]

@primarch- By the way, with the light-brown-under-yellow technique, you would not apply another wash after the yellow coat, correct? Is this because the darker areas from the earlier wash show through?

@Konrad - Diaphonous! A beautiful word I don't think I've ever heard before. Where do you get your gouache? Is it something they have at your run-of-the-mill art supply store?

[The Other Dave]

Also for yellow in particular you might find it worthwhile to shell out for the GW basecoat (Averland Sunset?). Their base series are more heavily pigmented than regular paints, so they sit better on black undercoats. I have a pot and it's made my yellow-painting life much much easier.

[Primarch]

@primarch- By the way, with the light-brown-under-yellow technique, you would not apply another wash after the yellow coat, correct? Is this because the darker areas from the earlier wash show through?

Yeah, just the one wash should be enough. With the yellow layer you can leave the wash showing in the recesses. A second yellow layer on the highest points will help bring out the colour even more. The Dark Ages weren't known for their spotlessly clean clothes and brilliant colours. (Well, not to my knowledge anyway).

[YellowStreak]

Also for yellow in particular you might find it worthwhile to shell out for the GW basecoat (Averland Sunset?). Their base series are more heavily pigmented than regular paints, so they sit better on black undercoats. I have a pot and it's made my yellow-painting life much much easier.

Agree with this. Averland Sunset is a great yellow base.

[Konrad]

@primarch- By the way, with the light-brown-under-yellow technique, you would not apply another wash after the yellow coat, correct? Is this because the darker areas from the earlier wash show through?

@Konrad - Diaphonous! A beautiful word I don't think I've ever heard before. Where do you get your gouache? Is it something they have at your run-of-the-mill art supply store?

You made me go look it up to make sure I used it right....... I got mine at Volks, but most any art store will have it. It is in a tube, so is stiffer than what you get out of a GW pot, if it makes a difference. Once it's on the pallete, it handles just as easily as any other paint.

[The Other Dave]

Agree with this. Averland Sunset is a great yellow base.

And I should say: If you're in Nagoya, Yodobashi Camera in Sakae carries the whole GW paint line. Their shades are also highly regarded, and Nuln Oil in particular is pretty much a 24ml bottle of painting talent.

[Krobrawlg]

Thanks for all the information.

By the way, I found this site talking about colors they might have been able to produce in the dark ages.

http://1000footgeneral.blogspot.jp/2012 ... ettes.html

It's based on the work of some lady who tried to recreate dyes from materials that would have been available in England at the time. She's a dye-er and not a historian, so it seems like mostly speculation and experimentation. I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.

[Primarch]

Thanks for the link. I've browsed through some of that blog before, but I hadn't seen that particular article. It was quite interesting, though I'm not altogether sure that there is any benefit into having seasonal palettes except for as an arbitrary aesthetic theme.
For my own forces, my Saxons are mainly dressed in light grey or beige tunics with a strip of colour along the edges. My Vikings are more colourful in red and blue tunics. This was mainly to aid in visually identifying them at table height rather than any research based decision.