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What is the most difficult PYO to paint, and why?

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  • #501938

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    #831640

    Just a question I had been mulling over the past few days after having painted 3 different types of PYO’s so far. I searched the forums and couldn’t find anything like this (although I’d be surprised if it hasn’t been discussed in some shape or form in the past), so I thought I would ask.. What PYO has proven to be the most difficult for you to paint and why?

    Keep in mind as well that I am writing from the perspective of a paintbrush artist – I have never used an airbrush so I have no idea where the difficulties lie for airbrushing. I’d certainly love to hear about it though! Also keep in mind that in no way am I trying to say that any of these statues are NOT difficult to paint! Every single one is difficult, just given the sheer detail included in every piece. I’m just rating my own experience as far as “most” and “least” difficult – but difficult indeed!

    My own answers kind of surprised me. I find negative space to be a tough spot to paint – what I mean by that is, for example, the space between the Griffin’s wings and haunches – the space where there is little or no texture, but is still visible and must be painted in a nice way somehow.

    I also had difficulty with the small Dragon’s feet area – behind the coiled tail and between his legs is a hard place to reach with any detail when you’re holding a brush! And not to mention the amazing detail of the scales themselves – they give so much room for creativity in color schemes, but can prove difficult when you’re trying to paint them for sure.

    For those reasons, my list so far is:

    Most difficult – Small Dragon! It’s easy for me to get carried away trying to make everything on this guy look perfect, and that area at his feet is definitely a high point of difficulty for me. The scales also push the difficulty up a notch – there’s so much to do with him, and if you choose a design that is high on detail, there’s little room for error when you get down and dirty with those scales so to speak!

    Less difficult – Phoenix. I struggled with wondering if the Dragon or the Phoenix was harder to paint given that they are around the same size and have nearly the same amount of textural detail to work with, but the sheer fact that the Phoenix has no real “tight” spots on it made it easier, in my mind, than the Dragon. I noticed this a lot when I was painting it, that there was no spot that felt like it would lose any detail or authenticity of design just because it was hard to push my brush into it.

    Least difficult – Griffin. The negative space gets me because it is very hard to get my paintbrush in there nicely, and nearly impossible to give it any real “design” – I just have to work to blend it in well. It’s forgivable to me though simply because it is a place that isn’t crucial to the overall look of the piece. The Griffin is also big enough to be able to detail fairly easily, and the design of the piece lends itself to sincere creativity on the part of the painter.

    What do you think?

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    #831641

    I think it depends on the person, for my my list would be much like yours, although I have not tried the phoenix yet, I would probably put the Kirin there, but thats because i have problems painting scales, others dont like feathers/fur very much.

    But for hard to get to spots, the Griffin and the Small dragon both have some of those, the Kirin not so much, and the keeper has a few as well.

    #831642
    Lokie
    Participant

      We had discussed this way back when, but we’ve gained many new painters since then 🙂

      Currently, I’m having a hard time distinguishing between a sculpt being physically hard to paint and a sculpt feeling hard to paint because I’m not that enthusiastic about it. Executing something feels harder if I’m not exactly enjoying it.

      I’ll try to put my bias aside. I both airbrush and brush paint. When I airbrush, I dislike any overspray or muddiness, so every area except for the section I’m painting gets taped off, so the little dragon and kirin probably have the most sections to be taped off and airbrushed (so I guess that makes them more difficult), and the uni and wolf the least.

      The Muse and phoenix I’m brush painting entirely. I’m having trouble antiquing the feathers on the phoenix in that tight space in the back. I must have ginormous fingers 😆 And I find the Muse pretty difficult because he’s got so much going on texture wise, I have a hard time preventing him from looking “busy”. :shrug:

      #831643
      PurpleTurtle
      Participant

        Well I have to say that the dragons and keepers are the most ‘difficult’ for me to paint, and the most time consuming. I also have a hard time with the toes of the little dragon. Keepers’ size makes it very tricky for me to handle while painting.
        Griffins are next on my list. They are not necessarily difficult for me to paint, but again, they are a rather large sculpt so it makes them a bit unwieldy.
        I usually find wolves, kirins and unicorns take the least amount of time for me to paint. Especially if I just ‘dry-brush’ them. But if it is a rather elaborate design or pattern they can take as long as it takes me to paint a dragon.
        I haven’t painted a phoenix or muse yet….

        #831644

        i apparently can’t paint a rock. 😆 otherwise the phoenix has been pretty easy so far for me. i would say the most difficult for me is the Keeper. why? because i’ve only started on one and its taken me a year to finish it. just too darn big. too much room for fine details.

        #831645

        I can’t paint rocks either! That’s why I opted to treat them more like blank canvasses for pretty designs rather than try to paint them realistically 😆 I’ve been painting night skies for as long as I’ve had paints and paintbrushes, so I figured that would be the best look for me XD

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        #831646
        Kujacker
        Participant

          Not in terms of what you’re asking, but the wolf is the worst for me because I have absolutely zero inspiration when it comes to that sculpt.
          I’ve also never painted a muse, and never plan to.

          #831647

          I feel the same about the muse – I think the only time I would paint one is by request or possibly for a swap. As far as the wolf, he’s actually at the bottom of my “want” list specifically because I have no idea how I would tie the wolf’s fur and the wings together.

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          #831648

          Never tried the phoenix (one *should* be in the mail…) and never plan on painting a muse (I just… can’t like them…), but my ranking would be:

          Most Difficult: Little Dragon – that stupid spot behind the tail. I HATE IT!!! LOL 😆 My paintbrush just won’t fit, so it always looks cruddy.

          Moderate Difficult: Griffin – I have difficulty with the belly feathers. I like feathers, but not belly ones. Just have so much difficulty tying it into the piece.

          2nd Least Difficult: Wolf – I have trouble antiquing the fur, to be honest, and getting the wings to match the body, meh, it sucks, sometimes.

          Least Difficult: Kirin – I have no real troubles with these….. to be honest. I LIKE painting them. 😀

          #831649
          dragonmedley
          Participant

            So far, I have to say I find the little dragon the hardest to paint because of all it’s nooks and crannies. The easiest for me is the Kirin, probably followed by the unicorn.

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            #831650
            Jennifer
            Keymaster

              For me, the hardest is the keeper. Not only in terms of painting trickiness but the textures and placement of the textures makes me anxious and I always struggle to make it look nice. The big outlined scales on a field of tiny pebble scales drives me NUTS.

              The worst to paint though is still the griffin. I love griffins. I just got seriously burnt out on PYO griffins when I was helping Windstone develop them and for the most part I’d sooner toss one out the window than paint it.

              The easiest for me is the PYO wolf. It nearly paints itself.

              The most fun is the PYO phoenix. Very time consuming but fun.

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              #831651
              Grayfire_artz
              Participant

                most difficult to easiest…..i grumble a lot more while painting wolfs though…. i love painting them i do i just sometimes get lost in the detain and then have to walk away for a bit, same with the griffins oh lord am i pill while painting a griffin.

                griffin
                unicorn
                kirin
                wolf
                keeper
                dragon

                #831652
                drag0nfeathers
                Participant

                  Most difficult is most definately griffins for me. They require so much time and dexterity for all the individual feathers… the more I paint, the more I hate painting them! 🙄 I’m sure I’ll have a similar issue with Phoenix after I get bored of them. Maybe it’s just feathers I hate to paint.

                  Easiest for me (in order from easiest to hardest) are Kirins, Unicorns, Wolves, Small dragons, Keepers, Muses, then at the top of the hard list is Griffins like I said. I’m guessing the Phoenix will be right between the muse and the griffin.

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                  #831653
                  pipsxlch
                  Participant

                    My ‘most to least’ difficlut would look just like Greyfireartz’s, except that I have never painted a kirin or unicorn (nor phoenix or muse for that matter). I never had a real inspiration for the unicorn, and have only recently developed one for the kirin. Besides, all the model horse artists doing amazing jobs on the unicorns intimidate me- I’d be most tempted to do real horse colors, and I couldn’t approach their skill. Couldn’t really tell you why the kirin didn’t inspire me much, looks kind of fun. The muse tempts me some, but with money tight just not yet. (wanted to join the muse swap…) I’m not feeling a huge need for the phoenix at this time. The rock is scaring me. Not too sure of all the feathers either.
                    The griffin fought me some, I like it when the cat and bird parts really blend and harmonize and that wasn’t so easy for me. Think feathers aren’t a favorite either. Plus that void area in front of the wings…The wolf was pretty easy, I’ve painted lots of dog sculpts so the wolf part just flowed. The wings were more work, but not horrible. I found both dragons a blast to paint, even though the behind-tail area on the small one is a pain. The size of the keeper wasn’t a problem for me, though all the big scales with the outlines down the side did throw me some. Wasn’t sure if I wanted to paint them different from the surrounding scales or not.
                    I remember the previous thread on this subject, but I don’t remember it going into the ‘why’s so much. Neat to hear how what makes something work for one of us is what makes it not for another!

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