RCH
Been Nothin' Since Frisco
I hear that, David! Man, the large scale stuff would be outta sight to work on. The best part about Rich's site is that most of the people there have only been doing the weathering thing for a short time. Their progress is inspiring. And humbling, since I've been doing this stuff for 15 years and I see stuff that blows my work away!
I mentioned above that I primarily use artists oils for weathering. I think people tend to be shy of trying them, maybe because they can be expensive, the selection of paints and oils and thinning and thickening mediums is vast, and many people seem to be intimidated by them just because they don’t consider themselves an “artist.” Well, they really aren’t that expensive once you realize that they don’t dry up before you’ve used half the tube and one tube will last you forever! Brushes are one thing I wouldn’t skimp on, but a good brush will outlast five cheap ones, so over time it’s not very expensive to acquire a few good brushes. I use odorless mineral spirits to thin oils and clean my brushes and a bottle of that stuff is cheap and will also last for quite some time, too.
If anyone wishes to give artists oils a try, I suggest using the following colors to start your palette off:
Titanium White 200ml tube $12.70
Yellow Ochre 37ml tube $5.20
Cadmium Red Hue 37ml tube $5.20
Cadmium Yellow Hue 37ml tube $5.20
Ivory Black 37ml tube $5.20
Burnt Sienna 37ml tube $5.20
Burnt Umber 37ml tube $5.20
Raw Sienna 37ml tube $5.20
Raw Umber 37ml tube $5.20
Virtually any rust, mud, grease or dust color can be created with these colors. I use Windsor and Newton “Winton” oils, which are relatively inexpensive. Even when I paint on canvas, I’m under no illusion that I’m painting a masterpiece that needs to stand the test of time, so any money spent on oils that will last 500 years is wasted. The prices shown are the list prices, but you can get a substantial discount buying them through an online outlet like DickBlick.
One thing I really found useful about oils is the “undo” time you get. They don’t dry right away, so if you don’t like what you’ve done, you can just wipe it off. I make plenty of mistakes, so this is probably the one characteristic of oils that sold me. They also go on any surface pretty well, too, unlike some other mediums which just won’t stick to certain finishes. When I was in college, I usually painted on canvas or masonite, but I also painted on sheet steel and aluminum with great success.
Here’s something a friend of mine (and modeling guru) suggested the other night, which I have yet to try, but it makes perfect sense: if you paint with acrylics, seal the model then weather with oils, that way the weathering process will not adversely affect the finish underneath. If you paint with solvents, weather with acrylics. I usually paint with solvents, but this logic is what’s going to push me to the “dark side” and force me to start using acrylics. That, and the fact that nearly all my solvent paints are dried up.
For brushes I have a selection of small brushes, medium brushes and large brushes. I like hogshair brushes for large brushes and I use dense sable hair watercolor brushes for my small and medium brushes. They hold their shape, keep the paint on the outside of the brush instead of loading it and they seem to last forever (and believe me, I am the destroyer of brushes).
I tend to use the large brushes for applying the paint to the models, usually by stippling the model’s roof to get really irregular patterns of rust. I use the medium brushes (flat, chisel style brushes) for blending, like when I’m trying to mute the overall color of the model and I use the small brushes for detail work.
Really, though, there are no hard and fast rules. I came up with my techniques by experimenting and just messing around. I’d just like to suggest to anyone who is curious about using oils that you jump in and give them a try. You can even start as minimally as buying four tubes – the umbers and the siennas – a brush and some mineral spirits. The freedom you’ll have to do rust with those four colors is really exciting and will likely get you back into the store to grab the other colors and maybe a few more brushes.
Anyway, I hope some of you find this informative at the very least.
Happy Weathering!
I mentioned above that I primarily use artists oils for weathering. I think people tend to be shy of trying them, maybe because they can be expensive, the selection of paints and oils and thinning and thickening mediums is vast, and many people seem to be intimidated by them just because they don’t consider themselves an “artist.” Well, they really aren’t that expensive once you realize that they don’t dry up before you’ve used half the tube and one tube will last you forever! Brushes are one thing I wouldn’t skimp on, but a good brush will outlast five cheap ones, so over time it’s not very expensive to acquire a few good brushes. I use odorless mineral spirits to thin oils and clean my brushes and a bottle of that stuff is cheap and will also last for quite some time, too.
If anyone wishes to give artists oils a try, I suggest using the following colors to start your palette off:
Titanium White 200ml tube $12.70
Yellow Ochre 37ml tube $5.20
Cadmium Red Hue 37ml tube $5.20
Cadmium Yellow Hue 37ml tube $5.20
Ivory Black 37ml tube $5.20
Burnt Sienna 37ml tube $5.20
Burnt Umber 37ml tube $5.20
Raw Sienna 37ml tube $5.20
Raw Umber 37ml tube $5.20
Virtually any rust, mud, grease or dust color can be created with these colors. I use Windsor and Newton “Winton” oils, which are relatively inexpensive. Even when I paint on canvas, I’m under no illusion that I’m painting a masterpiece that needs to stand the test of time, so any money spent on oils that will last 500 years is wasted. The prices shown are the list prices, but you can get a substantial discount buying them through an online outlet like DickBlick.
One thing I really found useful about oils is the “undo” time you get. They don’t dry right away, so if you don’t like what you’ve done, you can just wipe it off. I make plenty of mistakes, so this is probably the one characteristic of oils that sold me. They also go on any surface pretty well, too, unlike some other mediums which just won’t stick to certain finishes. When I was in college, I usually painted on canvas or masonite, but I also painted on sheet steel and aluminum with great success.
Here’s something a friend of mine (and modeling guru) suggested the other night, which I have yet to try, but it makes perfect sense: if you paint with acrylics, seal the model then weather with oils, that way the weathering process will not adversely affect the finish underneath. If you paint with solvents, weather with acrylics. I usually paint with solvents, but this logic is what’s going to push me to the “dark side” and force me to start using acrylics. That, and the fact that nearly all my solvent paints are dried up.
For brushes I have a selection of small brushes, medium brushes and large brushes. I like hogshair brushes for large brushes and I use dense sable hair watercolor brushes for my small and medium brushes. They hold their shape, keep the paint on the outside of the brush instead of loading it and they seem to last forever (and believe me, I am the destroyer of brushes).
I tend to use the large brushes for applying the paint to the models, usually by stippling the model’s roof to get really irregular patterns of rust. I use the medium brushes (flat, chisel style brushes) for blending, like when I’m trying to mute the overall color of the model and I use the small brushes for detail work.
Really, though, there are no hard and fast rules. I came up with my techniques by experimenting and just messing around. I’d just like to suggest to anyone who is curious about using oils that you jump in and give them a try. You can even start as minimally as buying four tubes – the umbers and the siennas – a brush and some mineral spirits. The freedom you’ll have to do rust with those four colors is really exciting and will likely get you back into the store to grab the other colors and maybe a few more brushes.
Anyway, I hope some of you find this informative at the very least.
Happy Weathering!