Creating a dungeon display base - part 2

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Hello again to the Dungeon Display base.
Some days ago i did explain on how i start a bigger display base - you can read the first explanation here.

Today it is about the start of bringing colour to the base and before i start give you further information i want to let you know that i often start like this. To some this might not be their own way - it is just my own and maybe this explanation might help you find your own. Again i recommand reading my following explanation to understand what i have done in this step.

To the video:
I finished sanding the base to plain areas on the left, right and back using a sanding machine. You can use muscles therefore too but you will get mad. A casual sanding machine is not very expensive, i did pay 15,00 € for mine and since i got it i really love to work with it. Then i've primed the base black and white.

I now prepared my basic colour work like i most time work. I did explain it here (english) and here (german) on a miniature and will quote myself out of the article as it is actual kind of the same procedure.

At a base with so much area i mixed most of my colours up on the base itself. I did not really need my wet palette but placed a spot of pure Ivory on it to maybe use it later on for going really bright. Also i was a bit lazy and did not clean it, just turned it upside down. Still ok if you are working in such an early state of progress.

Having in mind that I want to paint the models and base with a zenithal light source i've placed the colours already in order from light to shadow. Every colour you choose for a basic/main colour on your model changes when it comes to work with light, it changes its appearence due the light/shadow activity which hits the model. First it is important to me to find the colour i like to have as the main colour on my base with basic light and shadow plannings. I did choose some brownish, greenish grey with some warm touches in it. I hit the base with the colours out of the pot and mixed an amount of water to it to get it more liquid. Take care not to take too much water as this ruins the next steps. It should not be as thin that you could look through it, just a bit of water that it is all liquid and has a better flow. I do not clean my brush during this work as working with the same brush provides a better control of mixing the colours, no water failures (for example too much water) and some really joyful painting. It is best to do this in such a seize with a big brush first. I did work with Acrylics here, no Oil yet.

After the main areas are all full with colours they are still wet but they start to dry. No it is the time where i do use the colours out of the pot, mainly dark and bright ones to mix them into the base, for example to intense my plan of light and shadow on a single stone. Therefore i am using a smaller brush. The brushes are getting smaller the further i go and also my brush swinging comes with more control. After this wet in wet basecolour is applied and dried mostly i did hit the socket and paint it black to have a better view on the scene when it comes to detailed painting, which will be the next step and next video.

I know this way of painting is not for everyone - to me it gives freedom, exctasy and full control to create whatever i want to in the first minutes without too much thinking and getting mad. It makes your first colour choices way more happier and the your light/shadow sketch easier to work further when it comes to colour transitions. I love to paint on canvas and i use such big things like this base the same way :) - Now there will be hours of detail work to come so the next video might take a while - here comes the video:



So far - next time with further painting stories and yes in this video i am just painting, no rules, no borders, no thoughts, no hurries, no worries - just painting :)

Keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes
Roman