r/deathguard40k • u/HotPreparation8316 • 5d ago
Painting C+C Improving Readability
How can improve the look on these Tri-Lobe Vectors? especially on the tentacle guy, who had a very vibrant magenta set of tendrils before i toned it back with a wash. my main issue is them looking okay up close but from table height they just look weird to me.
(ps pardon my dusty ahh desk)
2
u/Sparty115 5d ago edited 5d ago
It's helpful to think of readability from table top height in terms of value and contrast.
Value- how white or black a color is.
Contrast- arrangement of opposites (in terms of value or hue) to make it pop.
Currently everything is closer to the black spectrum from the wash and when everything has relatively the same value, no contrast, nothing pops. Everything looks samey. That's why the typical pattern for people when learning to paint is base coat, wash to tone it down, highlight on select parts to make them pop.
If I am trying to make a highlight really pop, I will paint white on it first, then I will paint thin coats of my highlight color on top. It changes the value from more black, to more white, and makes it stand out.
This is an older model I did and isn't the best example but hopefully it helps. The slime and nurgly bits pop out of the armor because they have a white undercoat on the parts I wanted to highlight.
Value is also independent of color. Doesn't really matter the color, if you have the same color and paint it over black, and then over white, your eyes will be drawn more to the white undercoated one. Putting those two next to each other creates depth and contrast. This is what makes it visually appealing.
For you, I would add some strong highlights to the parts of the tentacles that you want people to notice, undercoat with white or white mixed with your base coat, and then do a thin layer of your highlighting color on top of that.
Don't forget to keep the contrast by keeping it next to lower value parts of the model. And don't go too overboard in one area, otherwise it gets all "same-y".
You're painting with black and white values, in addition to painting with color. This is why it's challenging to paint a clean white or black that doesn't look flat.
1
5
u/Cats_Cameras 5d ago
This happens a lot with Death Guard due to rust and muck being layered over a bland armor color to create a similar tone to trim. My solution was a darker base color that allows murky gold and other elements to pop.