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Painting Experimentation. . .


Thanks to those of you who offered the benefit of your painting experience and suggestions via your comments on yesterday's posting.  While finishing the final nine Minden hussars, I've allowed my mind to wander -- always a dangerous thing -- and think ahead a bit. 

I've decided to conduct a painting experiment of sorts and returned a short while ago from my local arts and crafts supply store.  My small purchase included a small bottle of Speedball super pigmented acrylic ink in Scarlet Red along with a tiny tube  of Cotman watercolor pigment in Cadmium Red.  I already had a tube of Winsor and Newton Griffin alkyd oil in Cadmium Red here in Zum Stollenkeller in my box of oil tubes.  

So, onto the experiment.  This evening after supper and Young Master Paul's bedtime, what I'll do is basecoat three of those RSM musketeers with Liquitex acrylic white paint (two coats).  Tomorrow, once dry, I'll begin.  One figure will get a wash of the watercolor, once will be treated with the acrylic ink, and the third will get a wash of the alkyd oil.  I'll post a photo update here once I'm done for your perusal while I then think about which of the three treatments I'm most pleased with.  As for the other colors applied to these Luebecker Musketeers, to the best of my ability, I'll try to use thin washes of acrylic color here too.  

What I hope to emulate, ultimately, is that wonderful, Peter Gilder-like porcelain figure appearance.  Big painting shoes to fill certainly, so we'll see how thing turn out together.  My painting experimentation should be kind of interesting, at least from my vantage point.  I've never varied all that much in how I go about painting my figures, save for changing to black basecoats about 25 years ago and the application of washes of brown oils over Humbrol undercoats for horses a year or so ago.  So, here's to a figurative return to the (painting) experimentation* of one's youth!


*Before any of you Stollen regulars get any ideas, I was actually pretty tame in my youth despite the long hair and loud music and enjoyed a fairly stable, gentile upbringing.  I learned much later on -- from good ol' Mom no less --  that my parents were actually pretty wild by comparision during their university days in the early and mid-60s, before settling down a bit once my sister and I arrived.  I'll leave it to you to fill in the blanks.  ;-)

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…
I look forward to seeing the test results.


-- Jeff
2:16 PM
Conrad Kinch said…
Are you enjoying a stable gentile adulthood ?
4:53 PM
DC said…
For a red wash i'd recommend an orange undercoat - it'll give you a much richer end result than a white undercoat.
7:01 PM
Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said…
There's alot to be said for Gilder like painting and for experimentation and variety.

But there is also a lot to be said for a consistent look for all the troops in one project. ( Something I've only rarely achieved due to the experimenting thing! )

-Ross
10:10 PM
marinergrim said…
I would agree that a different basecoat would give a richer depth. Gilder had a style certainly but not all the massed ranks were to the same standard (I may be seen to be speaking heresy in some quarters no doubt). The effect was in the masses with some delightful figures mixed in.
11:10 AM
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