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Okay, so this might sound odd, but I’d like to paint a pyo dragon inspired by a favorite humanoid cartoon character, but I have no idea how to go about it. While I have painted a few things before on canvas and pottery, I’ve never painted a pyo before. I read the tutorial under the PYO info, but I’m still a bit lost because I’m basing colors off a cartoon character vs a living thing like a bird (which for me personally seems like it would be easier to do). My pyo has been sitting naked on my shelf for months waiting for me to figure out a color scheme! Now that I have one, I’m too afraid (naïve actually) to try. I’m not sure what to do so I made a list of a few questions below in a effort to get to the heart of the worry.
1. Can you use gesso as a base coat on a PYO or is gesso only for canvas?
2. Should I paint a white base coat on the PYO or layers of the character’s color? Example: If red was one of the characters main colors…should I paint a red base coat, let it dry, then paint another red layer or two to get a full rich red? I will be using Liquitex heavy body acrylic paints.
3. I don’t think a peach humanoid skin tone will look good on the pyo dragon. It’s easier to get rid of the skin tone on the arms and legs, but how can I get around this problem (mainly on the face/muzzle of the pyo) and still make the PYO look like it was inspired by the character? Am I making sense with this question? :~
These are probably “Well, duh!” questions, but I tend to overthink things and confuse myself.
Anyway, thanks in advance for any help.
I think gesso would probably not work terribly well on a PYO, but I’m certainly no expert. I really only paint for the swaps. LOL
If you’re using a heavy-body acrylic, I’d also recommend using a thinner – otherwise you might end up with too thick of paint and lose detail. I think Jennifer (she’s a forum member who eventually became an official Windstone painter and is really good) recommends using Golden fluid acrylics because they allow you to layer without losing detail. Liquidex is also excellent paint, but any heavy-bodied paint might be better off thinned.
I haven’t done many PYOs based on a character versus an animal, but I did do one a couple swaps back. My swapee wanted a PYO based on this character: http://s54.photobucket.com/user/gothicbull/media/full.png.html
Basically, I just used their costume/hair as a basis for the color pallette and tried to apply them in a way that made “sense” with the sculpt.
Here are my photos:
I know drag0nfeathers has done several PYOs based on characters from anime so she will probably have some great tips. But, even as someone as inexperienced as me CAN do it so I’m sure you can too!
Okay, so this might sound odd, but I’d like to paint a pyo dragon inspired by a favorite humanoid cartoon character, but I have no idea how to go about it. While I have painted a few things before on canvas and pottery, I’ve never painted a pyo before. I read the tutorial under the PYO info, but I’m still a bit lost because I’m basing colors off a cartoon character vs a living thing like a bird (which for me personally seems like it would be easier to do). My pyo has been sitting naked on my shelf for months waiting for me to figure out a color scheme! Now that I have one, I’m too afraid (naïve actually) to try. I’m not sure what to do so I made a list of a few questions below in a effort to get to the heart of the worry.
1. Can you use gesso as a base coat on a PYO or is gesso only for canvas?
2. Should I paint a white base coat on the PYO or layers of the character’s color? Example: If red was one of the characters main colors…should I paint a red base coat, let it dry, then paint another red layer or two to get a full rich red? I will be using Liquitex heavy body acrylic paints.
3. I don’t think a peach humanoid skin tone will look good on the pyo dragon. It’s easier to get rid of the skin tone on the arms and legs, but how can I get around this problem (mainly on the face/muzzle of the pyo) and still make the PYO look like it was inspired by the character? Am I making sense with this question? :~
These are probably “Well, duh!” questions, but I tend to overthink things and confuse myself.
Anyway, thanks in advance for any help.
All advice is with a grain of salt, I’m no expert after all! 🙂
1. I have never used gesso but as I understand it…it is supposed to be like a primer for surfaces that won’t readily absorb paint (at least originally). PYO Windstones do not need a primer unless you want to limit their paint absorption (which you can do with just a standard base coat of paint). So I wouldn’t suggest using gesso.
2. Doing a base coat is preference (and depends on your method of painting). For example, when I first started painting, I would put on a base coat of a light version of the color I wanted. That way I could build on top. Because as the paint FAQ has said, it’s simple to go from light to dark and almost impossible to go from dark to light. Now though, I use thin washes to paint so I don’t bother with a base coat at all. There are exceptions though. If you use metallic paints as your main colors you may want a black base coat because that will make the metallics pop out better. Also, it helps to plan out your colors and patterns before hand. Like on a photo or other reference to give yourself a better idea of what to do as you paint.
3. This question makes perfect sense. I understand what you’re trying to get at. You want a paint scheme inspired by a particular character, but not necessarily copy his/her color scheme exactly/directly onto your PYO. For that you might have to go a bit abstract. Use the colors of his outfit in a pattern that is pleasing to you (maybe only using skin tone for accents if you must use skin tone color). OR you might also take what you know of the character (personality, likes, dislikes etc.) and apply that to the pattern. After all, you want something inspired by the character for yourself. As long as you know and are pleased with the results, it shouldn’t matter if it’s not readily apparent to someone else. Not everyone is going to be as familiar with the character as you are. So it should be something that makes you happy.
You can check out my work on dA & Redbubble!
https://prezaurian.deviantart.com/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/prezaurian?ref=artist_title_nameGesso is strictly used for canvases, dear. PYOs, from what I understand, already have a paintable base.
Finding happiness again.
I’m an anime buff and I particularly am a huge Naruto fan!
I have painted several in schemes from the show
This is Shukaku
http://drag0nfeathers.deviantart.com/gallery/14483632/Featured?offset=24#/art/Shukaku-Dragon-209651351?_sid=6a0475cdThe 6 tailed version of the 9 tailed fox
http://drag0nfeathers.deviantart.com/gallery/14483632/Featured?offset=24#/art/Naruto-6-Tail-JinchuuriKeeper-OOAK-199721644?_sid=314e0ca3This last one will probably be the most helpful for you. I did sort of use a skin tone, but it’s pretty embelished. I blended it into the colors of his clothing in a sort of natural fashion and used his hair color as accents. I painted his mesh sleeves on the armor plates of the arms and used his wings as the gourd that the character carries. So he isn’t painted so much AS the character as he is painted inspired by the character. Otherwise I thought he would look kinda goofy looking.
This is Gaara of the Desert (he was a human character I turned into a dragon)
http://drag0nfeathers.deviantart.com/gallery/14483632/Featured?offset=48#/art/Gaara-of-The-Desert-Keeper-143182898?_sid=6eb59de4I have plans to do a Naruto and Sauske Foo Pups in the near future as well!
As far as the paints and base coats, seems like everyone else pretty much covered that. I don’t base coat too often myself. The way I paint required many layers of paint as it is. Sometimes I will base coast depending on what I’m going to do, but it’s usually for when I’m painting with metallics.
Got a busted Windstone?
drag0nfeathersdesign@gmail.com
*OPEN for repairs**SEEKING GRAILS*
Arc-en-ciel Emperor
Siphlophis Male Dragon
Calypso Hatching Empress
Ivory Moss Sitting Baby Kirin
Tattoo Mother Kirin
Emerald Tabby Male Griffin
Tie Dye + Orion Hatching Royalty
Indigo Rockfish + Flame Tabby Little Rock Dragons
Dragon Quail + Obsidian Frost Old Warriors
Betta Sun Dragon + Male Dragon
Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry Dragons1. I think ghesso is just for canvases. I never remember using gesso for painting paper mache or ceramic stuff.
2. I’ve asked this question myself and got kind of mixed answers. After experimenting with a foo pup, I would say that unless you’re planning to work primarily with metallic and/or the interface colors that you don’t even need to worry about a priming layer (and if you’re working with the aforementioned stuff, you probably want a black base). The gypsum is white to begin with of course and as long as you’re working with some paint retarder, you should (probably) be fine with it not drying up too fast.
3. I would say maybe avoid the flesh color all-together and just think of colors, patterns, or elements that are symbolic of the character.
For example (and exposing myself as a giant nerd) if I was going to paint a dragon based off of Sailor Moon, I would probably pick a lot of different pinks, maybe, and a little bit of deep red and some pearly colors. I might try making a nebula / star field with it, or just a general interesting but more traditional scheme based around the scales. Or I could go the route of trying to use her sailor uniform for scale colors, paint a crescent moon on the forehead, perhaps a gold band of scales on her forehead, etc.
Thanks for the advice everyone. It really helps clear the fog.
Kiya – Your swap pyo looks great. You definitely captured the characters essence with the colors.
Drag0nfeathers – Oh, can’t wait to see the Naruto pyo! Your other character based pyo’s look amazing too. Like with Kiya’s swap pyo, you did great transferring the colors from the characters. I can definitely see Gaara. 🙂
Lasohaney – I hope you post your sailor moon inspired pyo when your finished. I agree with avoiding the skin tone all together. I tried a skin tone on a ceramic sample with character inspired colors. Yuk! Glad I didn’t try that with my pyo.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to start on my pyo soon. Waiting for the liquitex medium to arrive in the mail. 🙂
On this thread (http://windstoneeditions.com/forum/pyo-swap-pictures-1), second swap from the bottom is the PYO I did based off the same character as Kiya. If I had known the rest had yellow in them, I would have incorporated it too, I think. But my philosophy was geared more towards painting with a cohesive look.
I’d love to paint another PYO based off a character (never considered it before the swap). So many ideas about that now.
On this thread (http://windstoneeditions.com/forum/pyo-swap-pictures-1), second swap from the bottom is the PYO I did based off the same character as Kiya. If I had known the rest had yellow in them, I would have incorporated it too, I think. But my philosophy was geared more towards painting with a cohesive look.
I’d love to paint another PYO based off a character (never considered it before the swap). So many ideas about that now.
You did a great job too! Hey, if you’re ever lost on what kind of pyo paint scheme to do for fun, look up favorite cartoon character for color inspiration. I personally have two in mind I’d like to try before trying a natural paint scheme.
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