Feeling the blues (and blue whites, and the oddly purple)

The week was blue cloak week.  I needed a break from white and also wanted to see how the blue would end up before trying to finish the white surcoat.  Ideally I want the two pieces to match at a tonal level.  Or at least not clash.  Originally my range for the blue cloak was

VGC Magic Blue
VMC Sky Blue
VGC Dead White
VMA White

but the Magic blue didn’t shade down very well at all.  I tried VGC Flat Blue but that ended up looking purple next to the very light blue.  Thanks Josef Albers for that.  At least I know now why a totally flat blue can look purple sometimes.  On a side note I would recommend reading “Interaction of Color” as it’s one of those interesting color books about why blue sometimes looks like purple and orange looks like brown.  So I swapped out the Magic Blue for VGC Night Blue which worked much better.

I found I have one tide mark on the blue/white transition that I will need to work back down.  I’m working with super thin/watery paint so you need to be very careful as you aren’t painting as much as moving around puddles of dirty water.  You can’t let a puddle of water dry and leave a paint ring.


I’ve also started on the back of the shield, spear and helmet.  Still not sure I will use the helmet but I’m 75% there so might as well paint it.  No idea on what I’m going to do with the shield front.  I’ve been looking at some heraldry pictures but haven’t found something I like that I think I can paint.  So I’ll work on the back of the shield for now.

I also purchased the Tool rack from Miniature Scenery to replace one of the corner paint racks.  It's a standard mdf laser cut job that comes flat packed that you assemble yourself with PVA glue.  Lots of lovely storage for all those paint brushes and odd bits that I have packed away but keep having to get out.

Now I just have to wrestle my painting area off the wife who is painting up the resin gears I made for her steampunk outfit.  Lots of metallic paint (at least someone is using them) and washes going on there.