I am painting a cloak , and for the first time I am using vallejo acrylic paint and am confused about how to blend. the highlights with the shadows.

i have used medium blue as a basecoat
dry brushed a very light blue for the highlights followed by a dark blue wash.
repeated 4 times so far so good.

now i need to blend the highlights with the shadows using a glaze so as i understand it. I make the glaze thinner than the wash and apply 6-8 coats.
But what color do i use for the glaze the medium blue ? the same color i used for the base color ? or do i change the color either lighter or darker with each layer of glaze ?

any advice greatly apreciated thanks

Hi,

Well welcome to the acrylics group
I recommend a good tutorial from a master of acrylic,
http://www.timelinesforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=432
I know it's not maybe your time historical but it's give a lot of advices.
And practice a lot and use test figures.

Thank Jome ortiz

Hi Martin.

Looks like you are going in the right direction in terms of shadowing and highlights with acrylics. In order to blend the two together you need what some call a 'mid-tone' or 'transition-tone'- this is one or two colors applied in the areas between the shadows and highlights that blend them together so the stark and un-natural contrast between the two is eliminated to give a natural finish- a natural transition if you will.

You don't have to use glaze medium for it either- I tend to use glaze medium to apply highlights and I sometimes use it to help darker colors flow easier into recessed areas- like a sharp fold in a jacket for example. I also doubt you'd have to use as many as six to eight coats to achieve a transition.

Basically for the first transition you want a tone of blue that, if we are going from the highlight edge, is a color somewhere in between the highlight color and the base color. Then, from the shadow edge you want a color that is in between that color and the base color. There's no stopping you using glaze for this if you so wish.

Here's Calvin Tan's example of painting a face- it has some good information about shadows and highlights and it also talks about transition tones:

http://zyclyon-tutorials.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/1_28.html

I would also suggest checking out the Tutorials over on Historicus Forma and Planet Figure - particularly their 'Articles' section.

I hope this helps you out a bit. Good luck with your painting!

Karl, thank you very much .

No probs. Good luck with the painting!