Thanks Poxy, once again I really love that Bayou so much.
Here's another single card commission of Link on a Llanowar Elves. He had a specific image in mind that he wanted replicated, so this was fun to work on since I was drawing Link in a style that I am not used to.
Hey guys, hope you're all having a Merry Christmas/wonderful holiday season. Some work from the past few weeks.
Sliver Queen based on Alphonse Mucha and Ron Spencer's original Sliver Queen artwork.
Klug your Nouveau style cards just continue to rock, this Sliver is stunning. It's amazing what you do with detail and clean painting at such a small scale.
I recently did my first altered card (which I posted a page or so back) and I took it up to a friend of my fiance and I who runs a magic shop and always attends the tournaments in the big cities and whatnot. He pulled it out of the sleeve, put his thumb and index finger in the middle of the card and slid his hand out toward the edge of the card. He said my card was too thick and wouldn't be legal in tournaments because he could feel a difference in the card.
I didn't think that the card could get much thinner than how I had it, but then he proceeded to pull out several other altered art cards and had me feel them the same way he did and they were literally paper thin. You couldn't tell there was paint on them at all unless you looked closely. He gave me the contact information of the person who did those cards to see if she could help me out with getting my altered cards thinner, but she hasn't bothered to respond to my e-mails. (She probably doesn't want to help me cuz I'll "take her business" or some crap).
I know that the ability to play altered cards is determined solely by the head judge at tournaments, but if I'm going to be altering cards, I want them to also be tournament legal. I erase the outside borders and use lots of water with my acrylic paints. I don't know what else to do to make my cards thinner, and I was hoping one of you talented artists could possibly give me some tips on what to do.
I erase the outside borders and use lots of water with my acrylic paints. I don't know what else to do to make my cards thinner, and I was hoping one of you talented artists could possibly give me some tips on what to do.
Thanks! <3
Maybe you are using low quality paint? Cheap paint requires you to paint more layers, which will make your card thicker.
Maybe you are using low quality paint? Cheap paint requires you to paint more layers, which will make your card thicker.
I've thought about upgrading my paint and a few people I've spoken with have suggested using Warhammer paint because it dries really thin. So I might try that, but I want to make sure that the paint IS actually the problem before I go out and spend the money on it. ;^^
Paint quality is definitely *one* problem. There are a few different factors in getting your paints thin.
As mentioned, paint quality does play a big role. I'm definitely a big advocate of wargame paints (I generally prefer vallejo and Reaper to Citadel, but mostly for bottle design rather than paint quality). Though I know there are a number of incredibly talented artists who prefer golden liquid acrylics which are naturally a bit thicker and still get good results.
Second is your water. You mentioned that you're putting lots of water in your paints. Most paints don't take anywhere near what I would refer to as "lots" of water to get to the right consistency. There is definitely a sweet spot between "way too thick" and "watery" to keep your paints at when you're working with them. Learning this varies with brand and just takes practice.
The third thing is just technique. Just putting too many coats of paint will thicken a card up too much pretty quickly. You need to try your best to minimize the number of coats you use. Try not to have to re-paint areas often and minimize mistakes. This also has a side-perk of speeding up your overall paint time.
Hope that helped a little! Good luck with your paining, and I can't wait to see more of your stuff in the future!
As mentioned, paint quality does play a big role. I'm definitely a big advocate of wargame paints (I generally prefer vallejo and Reaper to Citadel, but mostly for bottle design rather than paint quality). Though I know there are a number of incredibly talented artists who prefer golden liquid acrylics which are naturally a bit thicker and still get good results.
Second is your water. You mentioned that you're putting lots of water in your paints. Most paints don't take anywhere near what I would refer to as "lots" of water to get to the right consistency. There is definitely a sweet spot between "way too thick" and "watery" to keep your paints at when you're working with them. Learning this varies with brand and just takes practice.
The third thing is just technique. Just putting too many coats of paint will thicken a card up too much pretty quickly. You need to try your best to minimize the number of coats you use. Try not to have to re-paint areas often and minimize mistakes. This also has a side-perk of speeding up your overall paint time.
Thank you for the advice! I'm probably going to be switching paints as soon as funds allow. But as for the other stuff, I never thought about too much water. Everyone I've spoken with kept stressing "make sure you use a LOT of water". Even on some random tutorials on how to alter cards said so as well, so I would try to use as much water as possible. But I HAVE noticed that the more water I use, the more times I have to re-paint over something.
Also, when altering cards, do you usually do a base coat? I've been told to do that as well but I definitely notice it's a bit thicker around the edges when I do that. The next few I'm going to probably avoid the base coat around the edges, just to see if it helps.
But here's my latest alter. I'm starting out just extending borders until I'm comfortable with the thickness of my card, mixing paints, etc. Then I'll start doing my own artwork on them and REALLY altering them.
I do use a base coat. I just lay down a single, very thin layer of a light-medium grey, just to cover over the areas I'm going to paint. I don't erase so it helps to give an even tone to everything I'm painting. I also find that the first coat of paint never wants to stick to cards well, so doing a base coat and then letting it dry helps the rest of the paint stick to the card better while I'm working.
Everyone I've spoken with kept stressing "make sure you use a LOT of water". Even on some random tutorials on how to alter cards said so as well, so I would try to use as much water as possible. But I HAVE noticed that the more water I use, the more times I have to re-paint over something.
Sometimes this gives the desired effect (Aka working on a card by guay. Water color is hard to replicate for me, unless I water down my paint significantly).
But as others have said, there is a sweet spot. once you find it, it's is absolutely heavenly to work with.
Also, when altering cards, do you usually do a base coat? I've been told to do that as well but I definitely notice it's a bit thicker around the edges when I do that. The next few I'm going to probably avoid the base coat around the edges, just to see if it helps.
Trust me, it is worth the base coat. Unless you're going to be painting with an incredibly dark purple or black, the borders will probably show through the first couple of layers if you don't. I learned this the hard way a few times.
A thin layer of a mild gray usually is good. the gray is opaque, which solves the border problem, And, As blackwing said, Gives a neutral backing to work with.
the biggest thing I see with the alter posted along with this, is that it looks -really- warped. A lot of water will do this. D:
the biggest thing I see with the alter posted along with this, is that it looks -really- warped. A lot of water will do this. D:
Yeah, it definitely didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. >< It honestly isn't TERRIBLY warped, but it does have a slight curve to it. And that was the last one I did a solid black base coat on. I've been doing my cards a little differently using the information that was given to me here, and not only am I able to crank them out faster, I think they look a little better. Here's my latest work.
My favorites turned out to be the black cats. My least favorites were the Ancient Grudges. Apparently I can't paint fire to save my life. Granted I painted these while half asleep. I'm going to try another set of them today.
I have one last question though! What do you guys use as a finish over the paint? I've been told to make sure I do that and we bought some spray finish that works well, but it STINKS SO BAD! I know the smell will probably go away, but I'm going to be selling some of these (as I get better and stuff) and would like a spray that doesn't stink. It's a glossy finish and I'd like a spray on finish so that it won't ruin any paint job I've done. Any ideas? ;^^
I have one last question though! What do you guys use as a finish over the paint? I've been told to make sure I do that and we bought some spray finish that works well, but it STINKS SO BAD! I know the smell will probably go away, but I'm going to be selling some of these (as I get better and stuff) and would like a spray that doesn't stink. It's a glossy finish and I'd like a spray on finish so that it won't ruin any paint job I've done. Any ideas? ;^^
Get a good matte spray. It stinks very little, dries near instantly, and looks the same in a sleeve anyway.
But I HAVE noticed that the more water I use, the more times I have to re-paint over something.
Well that's just a natural thing. The more water you add, the less pigments will be in your mixture, requiring you to paint more layers. What BWS means is that for every specific type of paint there is an ideal mixture of paint and water that is ideal for altering and will results in flat paint layers.
The formula "as much water as possible" simply doesnt hit the point...
Can I please get some advice from some of the amazing artists in here?
I'm just starting out, and I'm using Golden Fluid Acrylics, which I've heard are among the best you can use. But I've got a few problems:
I can't figure out the balance between paint and water - it seems like my paint is either too thick or too thin no matter how slowly I increase my amount of water.
I also keep getting little grains stuck in my paint somehow. I don't know what this is and it is really frustrating me. Is it pigment or something? I've tried cleaning my brushes, palette, and card to make sure it isn't dust or something, but I can't get rid of these little tiny bumps.
How do I make the paint transitions look so smooth? Not in terms of color matching, but in making it not look like paint. No matter what I do I can always tell it is paint and not card, and some people make it seem so easy.
What am I doing wrong here? I really want to get into altering but this is frustrating me to no end. Do I need matte medium or something?
I don't claim to be an awesome artist however I have been struggling along side of you with these things and might offer some advice to help you along your artistic journey.
Consistency: For myself I tend to find a good middle ground for opaque coverage where the paint spreads smoother than without water but keeps its opacity.(does that make sense?) Not to say its watered down (transparent) form doesn't have its merit in toning and tinting.I would put that at a much more thin and transparent level for that.
Grain Clogging: Ahh ive had this happen many a time, I'm not quite sure what it is exactly. Either it is the pigment separating from the binder (in that case I suggest using Distilled water), paint coagulating to a clumpy state, perhaps your pallet is dirty or has fibers that are sticking to the paint/brush?
Blending: This one can get tricky, I haven't quite mastered this one by any means myself, though lots of water added to the paint and finger tapping (while the paint is still wet) create wonderful effects that defuse and saturate sharp, stark lines and transitions.
I hope those help, oh and (I work at an art supply store) I test many items and have found GAC-500 to be an excellent product to extend your hard-to-mix colors so you have more to work with, also Holbein makes an Acrylagouche that is out of this world awesome if you are looking for premixed colors (their color selection is incredible!) at a middle-high price.
Here's another single card commission of Link on a Llanowar Elves. He had a specific image in mind that he wanted replicated, so this was fun to work on since I was drawing Link in a style that I am not used to.
Source is from here.
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Klug your Nouveau style cards just continue to rock, this Sliver is stunning. It's amazing what you do with detail and clean painting at such a small scale.
BTW, Poxy, I am just always floored with what you can do with a paint brush. I always look forward to seeing your duals. Keep up the good work!
Or as always, you can find me on twitter @BlackWingStudio or DeviantArt
I love Ferguson, great job man.
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GBU The Mimeoplasm Combo EDH
Really digging the solemn. Great job!
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Wow..this just pops SO MUCH. Really nice work here!!
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I recently did my first altered card (which I posted a page or so back) and I took it up to a friend of my fiance and I who runs a magic shop and always attends the tournaments in the big cities and whatnot. He pulled it out of the sleeve, put his thumb and index finger in the middle of the card and slid his hand out toward the edge of the card. He said my card was too thick and wouldn't be legal in tournaments because he could feel a difference in the card.
I didn't think that the card could get much thinner than how I had it, but then he proceeded to pull out several other altered art cards and had me feel them the same way he did and they were literally paper thin. You couldn't tell there was paint on them at all unless you looked closely. He gave me the contact information of the person who did those cards to see if she could help me out with getting my altered cards thinner, but she hasn't bothered to respond to my e-mails. (She probably doesn't want to help me cuz I'll "take her business" or some crap).
I know that the ability to play altered cards is determined solely by the head judge at tournaments, but if I'm going to be altering cards, I want them to also be tournament legal. I erase the outside borders and use lots of water with my acrylic paints. I don't know what else to do to make my cards thinner, and I was hoping one of you talented artists could possibly give me some tips on what to do.
Thanks! <3
Maybe you are using low quality paint? Cheap paint requires you to paint more layers, which will make your card thicker.
My gallery of altered cards
I've thought about upgrading my paint and a few people I've spoken with have suggested using Warhammer paint because it dries really thin. So I might try that, but I want to make sure that the paint IS actually the problem before I go out and spend the money on it. ;^^
As mentioned, paint quality does play a big role. I'm definitely a big advocate of wargame paints (I generally prefer vallejo and Reaper to Citadel, but mostly for bottle design rather than paint quality). Though I know there are a number of incredibly talented artists who prefer golden liquid acrylics which are naturally a bit thicker and still get good results.
Second is your water. You mentioned that you're putting lots of water in your paints. Most paints don't take anywhere near what I would refer to as "lots" of water to get to the right consistency. There is definitely a sweet spot between "way too thick" and "watery" to keep your paints at when you're working with them. Learning this varies with brand and just takes practice.
The third thing is just technique. Just putting too many coats of paint will thicken a card up too much pretty quickly. You need to try your best to minimize the number of coats you use. Try not to have to re-paint areas often and minimize mistakes. This also has a side-perk of speeding up your overall paint time.
Hope that helped a little! Good luck with your paining, and I can't wait to see more of your stuff in the future!
Or as always, you can find me on twitter @BlackWingStudio or DeviantArt
Thank you for the advice! I'm probably going to be switching paints as soon as funds allow. But as for the other stuff, I never thought about too much water. Everyone I've spoken with kept stressing "make sure you use a LOT of water". Even on some random tutorials on how to alter cards said so as well, so I would try to use as much water as possible. But I HAVE noticed that the more water I use, the more times I have to re-paint over something.
Also, when altering cards, do you usually do a base coat? I've been told to do that as well but I definitely notice it's a bit thicker around the edges when I do that. The next few I'm going to probably avoid the base coat around the edges, just to see if it helps.
But here's my latest alter. I'm starting out just extending borders until I'm comfortable with the thickness of my card, mixing paints, etc. Then I'll start doing my own artwork on them and REALLY altering them.
I do use a base coat. I just lay down a single, very thin layer of a light-medium grey, just to cover over the areas I'm going to paint. I don't erase so it helps to give an even tone to everything I'm painting. I also find that the first coat of paint never wants to stick to cards well, so doing a base coat and then letting it dry helps the rest of the paint stick to the card better while I'm working.
Or as always, you can find me on twitter @BlackWingStudio or DeviantArt
Sometimes this gives the desired effect (Aka working on a card by guay. Water color is hard to replicate for me, unless I water down my paint significantly).
But as others have said, there is a sweet spot. once you find it, it's is absolutely heavenly to work with.
Trust me, it is worth the base coat. Unless you're going to be painting with an incredibly dark purple or black, the borders will probably show through the first couple of layers if you don't. I learned this the hard way a few times.
A thin layer of a mild gray usually is good. the gray is opaque, which solves the border problem, And, As blackwing said, Gives a neutral backing to work with.
the biggest thing I see with the alter posted along with this, is that it looks -really- warped. A lot of water will do this. D:
I'm a Lurker.
Yeah, it definitely didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. >< It honestly isn't TERRIBLY warped, but it does have a slight curve to it. And that was the last one I did a solid black base coat on. I've been doing my cards a little differently using the information that was given to me here, and not only am I able to crank them out faster, I think they look a little better. Here's my latest work.
My favorites turned out to be the black cats. My least favorites were the Ancient Grudges. Apparently I can't paint fire to save my life. Granted I painted these while half asleep. I'm going to try another set of them today.
I have one last question though! What do you guys use as a finish over the paint? I've been told to make sure I do that and we bought some spray finish that works well, but it STINKS SO BAD! I know the smell will probably go away, but I'm going to be selling some of these (as I get better and stuff) and would like a spray that doesn't stink. It's a glossy finish and I'd like a spray on finish so that it won't ruin any paint job I've done. Any ideas? ;^^
Get a good matte spray. It stinks very little, dries near instantly, and looks the same in a sleeve anyway.
Gallery
PM me for Commissions
GBU The Mimeoplasm Combo EDH
Well that's just a natural thing. The more water you add, the less pigments will be in your mixture, requiring you to paint more layers. What BWS means is that for every specific type of paint there is an ideal mixture of paint and water that is ideal for altering and will results in flat paint layers.
The formula "as much water as possible" simply doesnt hit the point...
My gallery of altered cards
the solemn is referenced from the Disney movie Wall-E. The snapcaster is the character Mirror Kirby from the Kirby video game series.
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BMachina III: The Machines of Geth
I'm just starting out, and I'm using Golden Fluid Acrylics, which I've heard are among the best you can use. But I've got a few problems:
I can't figure out the balance between paint and water - it seems like my paint is either too thick or too thin no matter how slowly I increase my amount of water.
I also keep getting little grains stuck in my paint somehow. I don't know what this is and it is really frustrating me. Is it pigment or something? I've tried cleaning my brushes, palette, and card to make sure it isn't dust or something, but I can't get rid of these little tiny bumps.
How do I make the paint transitions look so smooth? Not in terms of color matching, but in making it not look like paint. No matter what I do I can always tell it is paint and not card, and some people make it seem so easy.
What am I doing wrong here? I really want to get into altering but this is frustrating me to no end. Do I need matte medium or something?
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/trading-post/details/4209-lots-of-modern-for-sale-below-tcg-price
I don't claim to be an awesome artist however I have been struggling along side of you with these things and might offer some advice to help you along your artistic journey.
Consistency: For myself I tend to find a good middle ground for opaque coverage where the paint spreads smoother than without water but keeps its opacity.(does that make sense?) Not to say its watered down (transparent) form doesn't have its merit in toning and tinting.I would put that at a much more thin and transparent level for that.
Grain Clogging: Ahh ive had this happen many a time, I'm not quite sure what it is exactly. Either it is the pigment separating from the binder (in that case I suggest using Distilled water), paint coagulating to a clumpy state, perhaps your pallet is dirty or has fibers that are sticking to the paint/brush?
Blending: This one can get tricky, I haven't quite mastered this one by any means myself, though lots of water added to the paint and finger tapping (while the paint is still wet) create wonderful effects that defuse and saturate sharp, stark lines and transitions.
I hope those help, oh and (I work at an art supply store) I test many items and have found GAC-500 to be an excellent product to extend your hard-to-mix colors so you have more to work with, also Holbein makes an Acrylagouche that is out of this world awesome if you are looking for premixed colors (their color selection is incredible!) at a middle-high price.
http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j375/Vexitor/ (photo bucket)