Do You Need More Contrast in Your Painting?

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Күн бұрын

Atom talks about his love/hate relationship with contrast, as it relates to painting tabletop wargaming figures. Think like the painting pros think as we go through the different styles of contrast.
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Пікірлер: 108

@TheTrashball 8 жыл бұрын

I love how you ramped up the contrast of the picture of you in the thumbnail of this video

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

+Kritarion I love that you caught that. Good show, and thanks for watching!

@zpqkids 8 жыл бұрын

your channel is heaven. You literally go over all of the problems I come across in miniature painting. You got a new subscriber

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Wow, thanks for that. I'm glad you're liking it. Thanks for watching!

@FrostandFists 8 жыл бұрын

Great tips, Atom! I love the example with the theatre make-up. Very spot on!

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Thanks, I'm glad it got the point across. Thanks for watching!

@jakepiekarski1715 7 жыл бұрын

You can also make your black areas look much darker by mixing a cool tone into your shadow, and a yellow/white into your top highlights. This can fool the eye into seeing much more contrast between light/shadow.

@tabletopminions 7 жыл бұрын

+Jake Piekarski That's a good tip, because of the contrast between warm and cool. Thanks for watching!

@CliftonHicksbanjo 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot, Boss! I just got back into historical figures this summer after about 20+ years hiatus and had NO idea where to pick it up. As a kid I made some beautiful terrain but never learned these principles of painting. Videos like this are a big help to me. Like, I just need the damn basics in plain English and you're giving it to me RAW, dude. Thanks a lot. If

@CliftonHicksbanjo 6 жыл бұрын

... you want to spice up your audio collection with some archaic American banjo music I'd be honored to mail you a CD (or vinyl, mayhaps?)

@izrador2264 8 жыл бұрын

Atom, very good stuff. I'm a long time mini painter but without any formal art background or training I found this video incredibly informative. I'll certainly try to start putting some of these concepts to use. One criticism, when making videos primarily about visual topics such as this, more example pics in the corner would be very useful. Always looking forward to the next video!

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

I have found over the years that people generally *listen* to my videos more than they watch them (because they're usually painting their minis themselves while they run the video). Therefore, I don't usually push too much in the way of extra visuals unless it's easy or unless I have to. Thanks for watching!

@prjonc 8 жыл бұрын

I sometimes game in 15mm and note that this is even more important for that size. Don't be subtle! It won't look great 2 inches away, but when you play it looks so much better. (A lot of classical paintings use a lot of contrast.)

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

+Jon Christenson Certainly, as you get smaller and smaller models, you need more and more contrast. Thanks for watching!

@hazemangames 8 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the videos! Keeping me company at work while I paint through the night!

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Happy to help. Thanks for watching!

@JohnWestIV 8 жыл бұрын

The color theory with warm vs cool has warm coming outwards and cools being more receded/relaxed. You would generally wouldn't want that balance to be the model vs the base, but on the model itself. If it has a dominant warm theme, you need to balance it with some cool tones somewhere to help ground it and pull it back a bit. Same with if it's too cool... the warm accents will help it come forward more. Example being like the Seraphon with a blue skin and then some orange markings on their tops. Complimentary color and a warm balance to the cool tone. If you're highlighting and balancing your model out... the base won't ever be an issue. I think you understand the idea, just wanted to kind of point out that the base isn't where you want that focus to be.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

+John West IV The whole concept of 'warm in the foreground, cool in the background' generally translates best to 2D art, doesn't it? If the piece is already three dimensional, then I've always felt that that trick doesn't work as well anymore. It's a good question. Thanks for watching!

@s2korpionic 7 жыл бұрын

What's the point of having a balanced composition of warm and cool colours? Are there are any actual effects?

@JohnWestIV 7 жыл бұрын

Kalsonic Yes, the effects are that when you have a dominant color scheme... the counter color will stand out or "pop" as some would say. This has the effect of depth and drawing the viewers eye around. Picture this... a painting that's all various shades of dark blue and purple... (cool colors)... it becomes kind of flat and all looking the same. You put a few points of red in there... or one center area with red and some oranges... and those colors now stand out dramatically against the cooler blues and purples. They draw your eye to them and give the picture depth. One classic example is Van Gogh's "Starry Night" joanjustis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/starry_night-300x239.jpg. Even this painting you can see the line in the center is warm and helps break up all the blues s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/92/24/c8/9224c886d40e26cb8a34f52900772722.jpg. or here afremov.com/image.php?type=P&id=18249 So if you paint a model and the model itself is all one tone of color... it tends to look kind of bland. It doesn't draw the eye anywhere and an army of them appears very muddled. Sometimes something as simple as a warm flesh tone against all cool armor will break that up. Or vice versa. When you know more about this, you can see in even more realistic paintings how the tonal composition (color and light contrast) is played out to draw your eye around the picture: willkempartschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Titian-Bacchus-and-Ariadne-will-kemp-artist-1024x940.jpg I hope that helped answer your question.

@leavemealoneyouprick 8 жыл бұрын

hit the nail on the head man, best thing i ever did at college was to staple a colour wheel into my art box so that i could stare at it for inspiration when im stuck about how to define something within a painting or play with focal points. maybe i should put one in my hobby box too! textures however, they have become an obsession of mine for years! from painting, to sculpture, to sound, to photography and now to miniatures and video! help me!!! its easy to get too hung up on this stuff though, as important as it is!

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

I think Sam has one in his hobby box. Just sayin'. Thanks for watching!

@floaterfans 6 жыл бұрын

Always great content!

@gildedbear5355 7 жыл бұрын

I had never really thought about it before, though I should have, but this explains why I gave my black and dark green space marines squad and company markings which are mostly high value and saturation hues ("bright" colors) and gives me ideas of how to improve the ones I don't like so much and for future expansion.

@tabletopminions 7 жыл бұрын

Glad to help. Thanks for watching!

@eXileLies 8 жыл бұрын

A good way to learn how to effectively use contrasts in your painting is to draw (with pencil, coal etc.) things. Firstly, it gives you a lot of brush control since the mechanics are pretty much the same & your brain can adapt the specific hand-eye coordination that is needed for painting minis - the only difference is the medium. Secondly, it teaches your eye & brain how effectively to shade objects; If a flat surface looks three-dimensional an actual model can look realistic but also vivid & eye-catching. And lastly, everyone can Draw - you can learn it, you can draw anywhere (on the bus, in the train, in school doodling around etc. pp.) and makes your conversions look better if you're good at it.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

I found that learning to paint miniatures helped my in UI design. Learning how to add highlights and shadows to minis helped me to add them to buttons and other graphical elements, too. Thanks for watching!

@MeGaShaHeS 8 жыл бұрын

great insight man , something to think about .

@Chrisbo123 8 жыл бұрын

Great Vid again, thanks Adam!

@davidnorth6670 3 жыл бұрын

Turns to Donny and Walter, "You really want those models to pop, man."

@redhorse7458 8 жыл бұрын

I tend to go more for color contrast than anything else precisely because it does make the viewers eye move around the model. Don't forget to factor in black, white and gray into your contrasting approach. White is a great contrast with almost any color and if its used on key highlights on your model it really makes the viewer look over the whole model. After color contrast I focus my attention on highlighting details and, when needed, shading the flesh tones on models that have it. With respect to the base, yes you should always pick a medium that contrasts your color scheme. My Marines are metallic gray and black with red and gold highlights so I flocked my bases in a sand colored medium from railroad scenery. They look like they are standing on desert sand and it really contrasts great so that the subdued colors of their armor don't just blend into the black color of the bases.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Sounds cool. Thanks for watching!

@adamrivali3527 7 жыл бұрын

Great video!

@SuperDuperHappyTime 8 жыл бұрын

This is less about a contrast of colors, like a green and a red, but I recall with some 80s/90s cartoons and my own writing that sometimes it's about contrasting different colors with another (like a green and red, but also orange and red)

@TheManAmongAll 8 жыл бұрын

Awesome topic :D

@Unehru 8 жыл бұрын

Well... I must say that it's the best advice on the youtube about painting. Whole contrast topic taken from so many dimensions is crucial if you want to make your miniatures look cool even at tabletop standard! Well done Uncle! Very important video :)

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

+Unehru I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!

@IDICBeer 8 жыл бұрын

Great tips

@comradezy 8 жыл бұрын

Hey! I watch your videos and have a suggestion. One thing I would love to see is a little "Starting an X army..." and just talk about a few units you could get to start an army and maybe some suggestions on where to go. 1,000 or 2,000 points would be fine, but a lot of people don't know where to start, or they are like me and got the wrong stuff and don't have any battleline and still can't start!

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

I'd suggest two KZfaq channels that talk way more about that kind of stuff and know way more than I do about that kind of stuff: Mc1gamer and Vince Venturella. They do more in-depth stuff for players of Age of Sigmar. As I've said in the past, I'm more of a 'hobby hero.' Thanks for watching!

@haroldblack2123 8 жыл бұрын

I enjoy incorporating a lot of high contrast in my work. I was kind of hoping you would elaborate more in different types of contrast but I did enjoy regardless

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Well, it wasn't a real deep video, more of an 'intro to contrast' sort of thing. Thanks for watching!

@credoimperialis 8 жыл бұрын

Interesting video, I think if you want to make contrast in your minis without taking eons painting it, you just may the contrast between the mini and its base. Without a great paint job on the mini you can create a really great contrast in this way. I think. Great job with your channel.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Yes, I usually like contrast between base and model, at least. Thanks for watching!

@lofrothepirate 8 жыл бұрын

To this point my paint schemes have been very based on SCA-style heraldic rules (the biggest one being "no color on color, no metal on metal.") It creates an interesting, if different, kind of contrast - my current batch of space marines is green, silver, and gold, and the chaos guys I'm planning to do next will be red, silver, and black. So a lot of colors contrasted with neutral tones and shiny metals.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Metallic vs. non-metallic seems almost like another kind of contrast. Thanks for watching!

@bretmcdowall2224 8 жыл бұрын

Yea I've been using blue on the all the cables of my yellow armored orks without really thinking too heavily on it. I always thought GW put too much black on the Bad Moon orks and the yellow and blue definitely stands out better.

@RotoRooster 8 жыл бұрын

Like you I prefer to examine a miniature up close and so tend to paint in a more subtle manner. It's proving to be a hard habit to break as I try to improve the standard that I paint at. Colours I'm fine with it's the values that get me.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

You only need to change if you want to, unless you're trying to paint for competitions. Thanks for watching!

@schemesof40k 8 жыл бұрын

I'm doing a battle company with Vallejo Metallic Black has main color for the armor. And think it would be a great Contrast idea to have orange bases. So how I do a MARS landscape, so my Adeptus Mechanicus Astartes Space Marines Chapter looks like their standing on MARS.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Games Workshop makes a Martian soil technical 'crackle' paint that you might want to consider. It looks pretty Martian. Thanks for watching!

@kjhammer120 8 жыл бұрын

When I think contrast, I think Necrons. Silver/grey/black with bright greens or blues on weapons or in eyes. They always look cool to play against.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

+kjhammer120 They are pretty cool models, I agree. Thanks for watching!

@zoukatron 7 жыл бұрын

I've been away from wargaming and mini-painting for many many years (e.g. quit 40k back in 3rd edition), but I've gotten back into painting display pieces. Really enjoying your videos. Something that I think it's worth being people being aware of is that the traditional colour wheel that everyone is familiar with (i.e. red, yellow and blue as primaries, orange, green and purple as secondaries) is something of a fallacy (it has value, doesn't show what people think it depicts). A much better depiction that shows what colours are truly complimentary to each other takes the form of a horseshoe from red through green to blue, and then a straight line of purples. There is a good image here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamut (just scroll down about a third of the way through the page). This element of colour theory is very difficult and complicated to understand, but it is worth being aware of.

@jonathondaniels2127 8 жыл бұрын

Interesting video Atom. always a toss up between having your miniatures looking good from 3' away on the table and also 6" away from your face.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Everybody's got their preference. Thanks for watching!

@codelicious6590 5 жыл бұрын

The lighting in this video is on the extreme cold end of the spectrum. As is the content, thumbs up.

@cory7328 8 жыл бұрын

I also enjoy your vids. You should do audio books

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

I think it's harder than it seems, but thanks. Thanks for watching!

@Boggerdansken 8 жыл бұрын

This sounds all good and well until you realize that you play necrons ._.

@gutterrunner3013 8 жыл бұрын

Just paint the green glow bits in a different color. What i seen that works well (At my local shop anyway)... - Black Necrons, Pink Glow - Silver Necrons, Yellow Glow - Maroon Necrons, Blue Glow

@Boggerdansken 8 жыл бұрын

Gutter Runner This was supposed to be a joke :) I'm actually painting my necrons in gold/bronze with blue/turqoise details

@eXileLies 8 жыл бұрын

Give your miniatures an Eye-catching / Eye-candy feature. Necrons, especially Warriors have this Coffin on their Thorax. Make this 'pop', a bright yellow-green or even candy-tone pink. It stands out and catches the eye of anyone looking at the mini. The easier the overall paint-scheme the easier to make something pop out.

@p_serdiuk 8 жыл бұрын

You can paint parts of them different kinds of metallics (like silver, gold, copper and bronze), weather them (put some "warm" rust onto their "cold" silver), base them (with coarse sand/dust/ash of different colors as opposed to smooth metal, some contrast-colored crystals or something thematic like colorful Eldar helmets), and play with the colors of their glowy stuff. And don't forget that in Warhammer there exist, say, blue sands and yellow rivers. Alien worlds don't have to be boring. That said, the Newcrons are a lot better fluffed and sculpted, so you can do whatever you want with them. I, myself, play Raven Guard, who are totally black with white details and of stealthy demeanor. Now they're a bit of a challenge - gotta use a lot of undercoating and converting to put more details on them and their bases, and some layering and drybrushing to bring out detail.

@TF2BluSoldier 6 жыл бұрын

I also play Necrons. I painted mine a bright and shiny silver, almost like an aluminum metal. This is nice and polished, so I give my gauss flayers a solid black, with the metal parts being darker metals, like unrefined iron. The weapons stand out to their bodies.

@kingklose7622 8 жыл бұрын

I feel like contrasts are important for specific war games though. Fantasy and future games are given more leniency and games like bolt action or black powder should have a good worn look and be more drab. I have been working on a mix of different contrasts to give my army some life.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

It's all personal preference, of course. But the type of model (or subject matter) can certainly help drive it. Thanks for watching!

@DavidRosillo 8 жыл бұрын

Nice video, and great tips. Thanks! A little constructive comment: I think it would have been even more helpful if you added some visual examples to illustrate what you are talking about. I think that would have helped me a lot :)

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

I have found over the last three and a half years that most people listen to my videos while they're painting rather than watch them, so I don't dump a ton of extra graphics into my videos, and I try to explain more with my voice. Thanks for watching!

@tetsujin_144 7 жыл бұрын

I'm grappling with this issue a bit right now. I'm trying to work more figures and scenery into my scale modeling work (and AFV modeling in particular tends to favor a really exaggerated style of shading and grime) and also toying with the idea of getting into wargaming... And, I understand the need for visual clarity when viewing the models from a distance - but I don't want to go for that exaggerated style. Perhaps I'll change my mind over time...

@wallofsoundandmusic345 5 жыл бұрын

I mean, some people (like my self) paint miniatures and models for fun and the artistic value. I don't play any of the table top games but I love the sculpts/molds that are made for such games. So I think the contrast vs non-contrast argument is a little bit less valid in my case. I tend to like to put as much detail and contrast in my painting to get the model to look as good as it can up close and a reasonable distance (but not table top distance)

@Axe-of-Boniface 8 жыл бұрын

I'm kind of amused that your podcasts get more views than some of the political podcasts that I watch. I guess that is humbling and positive.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

+Draconian1 Well, maybe it's because my videos are in a pretty small niche, and politics is a pretty wide subject. Thanks for watching!

@rodline9027 8 жыл бұрын

I know you have mentioned it before....but what dull coat do you use? Thanks. Great video....brings me back to my art school days

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

My favorite is Testor's Dullcote in the little spray cans. Thanks for watching!

@rodline9027 8 жыл бұрын

+Tabletop Minions Thanks for the information

@TheRunesmythe 8 жыл бұрын

My style of painting is (I'm guessing based on your description) pretty much like yours; I tend to more subtle shading and highlighting and I almost always stay away from light-dark contrast; which probably explains why I'm not a huge fan of certain techniques like extreme edge highlighting and certain styles of painting like the ramped up "Standard GW" style where you have very little blending/smooth gradients and everything is about extremes. My biggest pet peeves are seeing someone just skip any sort of actual highlighting and replace it solely with edge highlighting and someone using straight silver/white metals to highlight gold tones (bronze, brass, gold, etc) instead of mixing said white metals into the gold tones. I just tend to bite my tongue though because so much of this hobby is about personal preference and if the person painting the miniature/model is happy with the end result then its a win.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

True, it's all personal preference. Thanks for watching!

@davidcashin1894 6 жыл бұрын

Tried a lot of these, but not sure how to increase - decrease saturation paint wise???

@Solaxia 7 жыл бұрын

thx info

@antytrend 8 жыл бұрын

Please please please tell me what you use for the gloss and Matt contrasts!

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

For matte I use Testors Dullcote. For gloss I use the GW gloss coat. 'Ard Coat, I think it's called. Thanks for watching!

@thewaaaghproductions2285 6 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah uncle!

@coopergriffitt7490 7 жыл бұрын

If I have a power sword I love to go all out because it gives the best contrast

@tabletopminions 7 жыл бұрын

I always enjoy a good power sword paint job. Thanks for watching!

@j1g2w3 8 жыл бұрын

Maybe give examples of your ideas to liven up the video? Otherwise very good a usual :)

@Axe-of-Boniface 8 жыл бұрын

I had an episode idea: How to apologize to your wife when she bought you a big ticket item for your army, but then you change factions years later and sell the item. ??? lol

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

+Draconian1 Yikes, that's a tough one. I'll think about it. Thanks for watching!

@coolsskin 7 жыл бұрын

ooow men you are such a funny man!!! the part of the colour wheel XD nice vid sir!!!

@tabletopminions 7 жыл бұрын

+coolsskin Thanks, I appreciate it. Thanks for watching!

@skavanker 8 жыл бұрын

You popped in this video

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

I try not to. Thanks for watching!

@jespercarlsen3976 8 жыл бұрын

If you do not like to pop, you can try standing out

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

That sounds deep. Thanks for watching!

@jespercarlsen3976 8 жыл бұрын

just an attempt at humor :)

@gregbezanson3205 8 жыл бұрын

So that's why orcs look so zazzy in red.

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

Complementary colors. Learning color theory will open your eyes to a lot of interesting stuff. Why are those plastic baskets they sell strawberries in at the grocery store usually green? It makes the red in the berries pop. Thanks for watching!

@darrinscott6612 5 жыл бұрын

Uncle Atom posts a video about contrast the day after Warhammer TV does. Coincidence? No, probably aliens.

@cromcraft3494 4 жыл бұрын

Half naked elven lady is definitely something I want more of in my models.

@MichaelWhismanACBA 8 жыл бұрын

@jakepiekarski1715 7 жыл бұрын

The trick to popping your models is to use a bb-gun. It makes short work of your disaster-pieces.

@cromcraft3494 4 жыл бұрын

Pro tip (totally not pro.) Check your contrast by photographing your models in grayscale. If they don't look good. Practice painting in grayscale.

@CronusandRhea 8 жыл бұрын

Hey, I've requested to join your facebook group but I haven't been added yet. You're most likely busy, when you get a chance add me please. Adam Hooker

@tabletopminions 8 жыл бұрын

+CronusandRhea ZeusandHera All set. Thanks for watching!

@AgentPedestrian 5 жыл бұрын

Short answer to this video title? Yes Long answer: it depends lol I would however always say to shade with a colour rather than a value and the contrast suddenly looks a lot better... but having a speck of true black somewhere would contrast pure colour in general but I would make the black look unfinished which is why you wanna have a dark colour that can masquerade as black in contrast to the light.. which can look white but should also be a color. Art school changes people.