What's Been Learned Cannot Be Unlearned

Sometimes learning new painting techniques can be awesome because it helps me grow as a painter. And then there are the times where it drives me nuts because I feel dirty for painting any other way.
Allow me to explain. I LOVE using washes with zenithal highlighting. So when I looked at the studio scheme for some Cygnar Long Gunners, I looked at all that tan and figured I could grab some Sepia and knock out the basecoat in a few minutes. But as I got ready to grab my grey and white primers, my painter's conscience started nagging at me.

Washes are easy, but I knew it wasn't the best way to go. I've been studying up on improving my shading and highlighting techniques. I'd started working on them with a single color shade and highlight, but I found myself wanting to get better at varying degrees of shadows and highlights. So I gave in, put away my primer and got out my airbrush. I've spent most of the day getting the shadows just right, and now I'm finally finishing up the highlights. And this is just the tan

While it's taking me longer, I really like the effect over washing. Don't get me wrong, using a wash has its place, but it doesn't beat personally creating the depth of a miniature. But that's why I love learning - it usually puts an end to doing things the easy way, but it also pushes me to become better and learn even more techniques.

I'm hoping to finish everything but the flesh and hair tonight, but I'm not confident. Things are moving a bit slow because I'm not used to adding that second highlight or shadow. However, I'm creating something that's going to look fantastic, and the extra time is definitely going to be worth it in the end!

See you tomorrow!