I need to up the contrast for the OSL; for now, more shading. Given all the nooks and crannies in the sculpt, I thought I was going to regret my decision not to use an all-over wash, but I really don’t. It’s been pretty chill with the slider open, listening to the city breathe. Bark. Vomit. Curse. Protest. She’s many things, but she’s never boring.
Hard to match the translucency of Speed Paints with anything else, so I didn’t try. Several (dozen) levels of dry brushing and a lot of shading and dark lining and the texture was looking messy but better. I wasn’t making a huge effort to blend, so much as build some opacity with the greys. There is still some of the golden undertone peeking through, but its a lot more muted than I’d like. Damn I hate the murky middle.
Unfortunately, turns out a couple weeks still isn’t enough time to fully cure SP 1.0. The few times I tried to rinse away paint ended up lifting all the opaque acrylics, and in one place, down to the primer. I should have varnished first, but I got all motivated and jumped the gun. Still better than letting it gather dust on the shelf.
The Grex continues to pulse is a really irritating way. I did another breakdown and used teflon tape on all the threaded connections, but I didn’t feel like wasting more time. Maybe I damaged the threads the hold the fluid nozzle after all. If I can’t figure it out this weekend, I may just send it in for service. It was a dream for about 2 days, but it’s been a bloody mare since.
The backup beast, on the other hand, chewed through everything I tossed at it with no wobbly bits or fiddling. The grip is still less comfortable, but with the dual action I don’t have to worry about pulling the trigger by degrees. Makes it easier to leave the air on. I may have to rethink some things. I also should have ordered quick release valves a lot sooner. That was a well spent $6.
Since the compressor was out anyway, I did a few blend coats first to try to bring back some of the original contrast without losing the texture. Undershot with Dark Wood to deepen the shadows and Sand Golem from above for golden higlights, regardless of the color on the label. Hopefully it’s enough for the sigils to play off of. Once I reline them and then potentially screw everything up airbrushing for OSL. Good times.
