Amstaffs PYO Thread– "Fire and Ice" Kitsunes, finished pair

I haven’t used the Golden GAC 100 medium, but I have used the Liquitex Iridescent medium. I don’t know if the mediums work similarly or not, but my experience with the Liquitex seemed to make the paint I was mixing it with more of a translucent version of the color pigment I was using.

I also paint with the Liquitex Basics paints, and I mix about 1/3 part medium (1 part medium with 2 parts paint). I haven’t tried using any retarders because I paint in sections, a somewhat quickly. The paint will dry a little darker than what it looks like when you first apply it wet. Since it is a little more translucent, so you may need to apply more coats until you are satisfied.

My colors didn’t get duller, just were more translucent and slightly shinier than flat paint when dry, but that might also be because I was using the Iridescent medium, not a regular one. When initially mixed with my paint, it was just a touch milky but not much, and it dried clear. I tend to ‘blend’ more with overlaying colors overtop of other colors, so I like the way this medium works for me.

OK, so I took some pics… the 1st one is my first coat of the orange, 2nd pic is after the 2nd coat, then you see my initial coat of purple. Lastly is what the paints look like when I have been applying them… so does anyone know why they are coming out all washed out looking? Is the base coat interfering with the new layers adhering properly? Or maybe Im using too much medium in the paints….although they look good BEFORE its applied….. OR maybe its supposed to look like this? Looks crappy to me…. I wanted a solid color… not this… 🙁

Any tips ?

I am not an expert at hand painting, but the paint that comes in tubes usually has a thickening agent in it to make behave like oil paints. This kind of paint may not cover as evenly as the “fluid” acrylic paints.
If you are trying to make it fluid by adding transparent medium, that will reduce the amount of pigment you are putting on. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing! This way you can build up layers of color slowly and have more control. Using thinned transparent paint is also good for feathery or hairy areas where you want the paint to flow into the details to make them show up better, though it can look blotchy on large smooth scales.
There are types of acrylic paint that go on as more of a solid opaque color… I am not sure of the brands, I think “Ceramcoat” is one of them. ( Does anybody know?)

I think these layers look good so far!
You can’t ruin a muse.

Hey! As I mentioned in my earlier post, I build up my colors to get them up to what I feel they need to be. As the translucent layers start to build up your color will get more solid and even – it takes time and patience. As you do paint subsequent layers, that’s when you can start to add detail shadow, or accent, colors and build/blend them with your base color, that’s what I did with my first Keeper Dragon PYO.
Look at some of the other members’ PYO threads and you’ll see some of their ‘in progress’ layering. The first stages are what many call ‘The Ugly Stage’ and for good reason. Don’t get discouraged, you’re doing fine, believe it or not… you’ll see. 🙂

Looks like a perfect start to me.

The Golden brands have a crazy amount of concentrated pigment, so I often work 1-2 drops paint to 10 drops medium, but the Liquitex is less concentrated.

Hardly the best thread, but scroll down on this thread, and there’s a painting progress description of one of my first pieces with several in-progress shots. http://windstoneeditions.com/forum/maplecarvers-pyos-wolfey-page-2 The poor girl horrified me at first, but turned out pretty well.

IMO your muse will turn out quite nicely.

So the issue you’re having on your muse right now is the paint is diluted down to a point of being very translucent, more layers will help, or just not worry at all about diluting the paint down…

Mine are painted with Liquitex Heavy Body and Liquitex Basics, and the only time I ever put retarder in my paint is to extend dry time on my paint, which I only ever need when getting a really smooth blend, otherwise I actually like the short dry time… The way I handle my pieces while I’m painting, fast dry time keeps me from landing my hand in it and fingerprinting the snot out of my Windstones, lol! – The only time I put Liquitex medium/extender in my paints is if the paint is super pigmented (I rarely find this, though I have a Heavy Body orange that is extreme on pigment) or if I’m adding in a bunch of Pearl Ex powder in it and it needs a lil extender to keep it from being a dry texture (That’s hard to explain but makes sense the first time you do it, lol)
Otherwise Heavy Body and Basics will not clog up the details on a dragon if you apply small amounts of paint with the brush at a time and spread it finely and evenly.. Details get clogged when you lather on the paint without spreading it out nicely.
If you’re not getting the desired amount of opaque color, let your layer dry fully (Without retarder, I let my layers dry for about an hour, but I also live in a dry climate, so this might vary in your region) and apply another fine layer and repeat until you get your desired color tone. I have a Heavy Body brown that just refuses to apply nice and opaque on the first run, it takes 3-4 layers before the color is nice and even.

Another thing to keep in mind, not all paint (even the same brand) is created equal. I’m not sure where it says on the small Basics tube, but look around on it for someplace that says “Opaque” or “Translucent” that will tell you a lot about the paint you’re about to use! and as before mentioned, I have an orange Opaque that is chalked full of pigment, it’ll cover black without thinking twice about it! I often dilute it down just to make it like the other paints, lol… and I have a couple Opaque browns that require several layers to look even… what’s nice is the meet in the middle ones, where a coat or two creates a real nice color… I haven’t worked with a translucent paint yet, so I don’t really know its behavior

Now to address your worry of clogging up the details, these guys can take more than you would think! My most recent post, Desert Sunset (link below), has at least 3 full base coat layers on him, due to having no idea how to get the affect I was looking for, with each base coat layer, a lil bit of detailing went over it as well, to the point of realizing I wasn’t getting the effect I wanted and started over… and then on the final run, I’d try all sorts of things, realize I didn’t like it, paint over it and try again with a new idea… the end result is lots of layers and no detail even remotely lost! 🙂 and they’re not diluted down layers… So, I think you’ll be fine.. plus, as scary as it is, you gotta try things out and figure out how it all works, I have yet to clog one up myself though… It gets a LOT easier once you get some time in on actual painting, a friend of mine has just started painting too, and watching her with her first piece and how she handled it with baby gloves, and now watching her handle them (she’s finished two and working on her third) there is a huge difference in comfort!

Here is Desert Sunset: https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t1.0-9/10559840_10152722108415774_2247135744212500639_n.jpg (Also found in the PYO section of the forums)

I recommend trying dry brushing effects, a lot of people here do antiquing, but I just base coat in the darker color and do a dry brush effect over… but if you chose to do an antique instead, *always* clear coat your piece first to avoid wiping off the paint you worked so hard on! (I found that out the hard way the first time I did antiquing) I’ve tried both styles, the dry brush is what I am happy with, you should try both styles to find what you like best for your work 🙂

And most of all, don’t over-think these guys! They’re meant to be fun! 🙂 and they really are fun! I have 7 pieces with paint on them right now (work in progress pieces), and another 5 waiting for paint 😀 lol

Oh wow bayou! I never even saw that thread of all your progress shots with Mambo! That’s awesome!