The Hawk Lords' Wood Elf Army

[kojibear]

The first of the cliff dwelling elves is a dryad.

In fact my real first painting attempt.

Problems encountered so far:

1.) How much to dilute paints with water?

2.) Highlight or drybrush or both?

3.) Dryads are terrible to try and highlight. There are not enough flat surfaces and the blending is too hard.

Well, here is the dryad! Truly a naughty little minx, giving the finger and all!


You can always go to this url to have a look too

http://winterspringtale.weebly.com/dryads.html

[kojibear]

Hmm...how do you upload a photo?

I wish I was more computer savvy

[Primarch]

To attach a photo you'll need to use a website like Photobucket (100% free by the way).

The dryad looks great , a nice pale wood tone. Good job. You could maybe give the skeleton a wash of devlan mud/badab black to make it stand out more.

1. Diluting paints can be tough. Too much water and the paint will run right off or wont cover it properly. You only need to add a tiny drop in most cases. As a rule of thumb, shake the paint pot vigorously and then open it so the lid is at 45 degrees. If the paint pours out of the lid into the pot smoothly, you should only add a little water. If the paint oozes out, you need to add more. Sorry that's not more helpful, but the consistency of the paint is something you will learn to judge as you go.
For drybrushing, DON'T thin the paint.

2. That's really up to you. Drybrushing brings out sharp, raised edges whilst highlighting allows you to decide where the highlights go. For armour, drybrushing is better I think.

3. You dont need to blend colours together and flat surfaces make highlights look strange. The dryad you posted looks good just the way you've done it.

[kojibear]

Thanks Primarch




I will try my hand at a glade guard next and see if I can have a better go at highlighting and shading.

I found the webpage that MiJ recommended to Seb so hopefully that will help too.

Funny thing is I did wash the skeleton once with Delvan Mud. Is it common to need two coats or did I just not apply it correctly the first time?

[Primarch]

If you've already washed it once, its probably just the exposure on the picture you took. No worries.

[Seb]

Great job mate,
I really like the highlighting and the blue around the eyes. Are you painting with GW paint?
Keep up the good work!

I would recommend you to use some sand on the bases too though.

[jus]

mate, thats awesomeful. The colors are very subtle, and I like how the darker color and the lighter color work together. mmmm subtle.

[Konrad]

Nice stuff, don't worry about drybrushing/blending, just keep doint what you are doing. There is some good stuff going on on the base. I second the suggestion of getting some sand down in the spaces between the logs before you paint it. It will make it look natural.

[kojibear]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the support so far!

Well, I have started painting the glade guard but have a few questions:

1.) I feel that I am watering down the basecoat too much. Usually, do you just dip the brush into the water pot once and then mix it in with the paint?

2.) What do you reccommend for elf faces? Elf flesh and something? The models are going to be grey and brown so I think a darker flesh tone maybe more suitable?

Thanks for the help guys!

[kojibear]

Well, here it is, my second painting attempt and the second in the Hawk Lords' army project.

The Glade Guard.

Thanks to all for your help and inspiration. Not a perfect job but I am satisfied that I achieved mostly what I set out to do. Onwards and upwards!

Front




And Back





I wanted a colour scheme that matched the varied colours of rocks which is why I choose greys, browns and beige.