Forum newbie here that is looking for any good videos/tips to get going on a 2018 rehaul. I have watched so many that I think I’m overwhelming myself now. I am self taught in SFX and a very artistic person that just wants to learn,I just don’t know where to start. I am clueless as to which exact colors to choose and also not familiar with how to do some of the techniques, like washing. I saw this post and realized you all seemed very knowledgeable in this. Any and all help will be more than appreciated.
Washes is when you lay the paint down on the surface, wait a few seconds, then wipe it away. Depending on the paint, it will leave a thin transparent layer. I’d test it out first.
I just use the regular acryllic paint from the dollar store, I just mix and makeup the colors it by eye
Basecoat is grey paint and black to darken it
regular White paint with 3-5 drops of grey to dull down the white
the sienna and browns people use I just use yellow paint and mix medium brown in to make that dijon mustard color
The only straight white paint I use on the mask is when its 97% done, I use it to drybrush the highlights eyebrows etc
The thin yellow grimy washes the same start with basic yellow and slowly add drops of light/dark browns
It took me about 3 or 4 of these before I finally got one to come out well. A lot of patience with it is all I can say and making sure you educate yourself and have the right materials to work with right away as I was kind of stupid and rushed into this initially lol
Sandpaper works well to take all of the paint off, but it might be a pain in the ass depending on the paint on the mask. I used a dremel for parts as well, it worked fine just take your time. Be careful of catching it in the hair by mistake though as it’ll snag all of that up.
A wash is usually acrylics mixed with water and you paint that on the mask, then you take a paper towel and get the extra water off of the mask. It will slightly alter the color of the mask and depending on how many times you do it you can make it lighter or darker, it works great for the last step of the H40 as you can blend the weathered areas with the rest of the mask better.
The cool thing about the H40 is you can do it however you want with the weathering as it’s completely different in almost every scene depending on the camera angles and lighting.
I’m curious though, has anyone tried airbrushing techniques on this mask? I was curious about doing another H40 once the Halloween season is over so I can test out my new airbrush lol
I have found out that this is completely trial and error if you’re a mask painting newbie like me lol. It was a pain to remove the original paint and I did get the dremel caught in the hair at least once; I know, or at least hope there’s an easier way to remove the paint that takes less time. My original base coat ended up getting washed off since the mix I used dried too chalky and cracked. The second time around seemed to be much better, but ended up coming off when I did my wash. I used a mixture of acrylic craft paint, rubber cement and mineral spirits. I’m thinking it was because the paint was water-based that it came off??? I did the wash by painting an area with black acrylic, squirted it with some rubbing alcohol and wiped the excess; Both the black paint and base coat ended up rubbing off. The rest of the base coat is coming off way too easy when I put some warm water on it too, even with it being mixed with rubber cement and mineral spirits.
I’m going to try to substitute the water-based acrylic with an oil-based paint and water the black acrylic down slightly tonight. I’m getting antsy about finishing this since it really is a fun process, at least it is for me.
Is airbrushing a hard technique to learn? I’ve heard it can be but have always wanted to try it.
I use oil paints, rubber cement, and thinners as my paintI like to start mine by doing dark base coats of black, brown, and some yellows. I let this dry completely for a few hours. Once it’s dried I take a rag with some thinners on it and give the mask a good wipe down which removes most of the paint I just put on with the exception of all the cracks and details. Then I start dry brushing white over most of the mask followed by some minor dry brushing with browns, blacks, and yellows in certain areas. This is my end result and I’m happy with it.
I’m thinking of doing the cover art one once I get a new mask. I just finished a TOTS 78 half 78 half h18… But the mask on the cover looks so bright and white , so thinking bout doing one just black base and then white drybrusking over it.
I don’t think you always need to use the liquid latex mix. I have been using rubber cement paint for all the mask I’ve been painting and have found that it adheres far better than the liquid latex and acrylic paint mix. On top of that I feel you get a smoother finish. I think the key is to build up your layers very slowly. I pretty much dry brush the entire thing which takes forever but you don’t have to worry about any of the paint coming off. Everyone has their own methods though! Do what works for you!
