Painting Jam - Priming Question

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Recieved some minutes ago via comment by Anonymous:

"Hi,
i donn´t know if this question fits in here but i have to ask.
Bevor you started to paint the mini was covered with white primer. Than it looked liked it was primed in black and "zenital sprayed" in white.
Later on it seemed to be primed in ochre in some of the upper parts. Can you please give me some enlightening word to this kind of priming.
Yes - i have read the artikel in the knowledgebase about priming with black and white (by the way - i love the tutorial section - than you VERY much for opening your treasure chest for us). But i still don´t really understand why i should prime with black and white. Okay, it is easyer to imagine where to set shadows and highlights bevor i start painting. But having the first two or three layers of color painted on the mini the difference between black and white is gone and also the advantage of this kind of priming.
Sorry for my bad english - particularly to the english native speakers - i hope it dosn´t hurt to much.(Here should be a smiley.)
Thank you - ouh - i almost forgot to say - great Mini - as always! (Perhaps the puppie needs more color in his face but of course it is still work in progress.)"

What i did will be explained now in a timeline order:

- first black priming... everything was black, i don't see much detail of the places i want to paint.

- white primer stops this problem as i now can see more details just because of the colour contrast. Now there are surely some serious moments where i just look at the miniature. I often hit some more white from one angle to get an more intense light situation sketch of the light i will paint on the miniature later on. Staring and thinking now... some kind of sketchful imagination going on deep in da misty jungle while thinking about colours, looking at the white how it throws light on my scene... i try to keep that in my mind while painting later on, even i do overpaint some spots i still feel this thought in me and remember where i got to puts my lights at.

- Next i did first colour sketches by using the aribrush with some ochre as i wanted to know where the colourful light hits and move myself into the direction of which colours to choose... just a sketch, but this is the sart of the basecoat that will kill mostly all of my white primer light situation. It is still there, not good to see at the miniature but deep in my brain...

- Now i start working out every single area, that is where i am right now... it simply helps me as a sketch for the later work...

Hope my answer does your question justice? Thanks a lot for your nice words!
Keep on happy painting!
Regards
Roman