Friday, March 20, 2009

Figuring out what color to use


A while back I decided I needed swatches of my paints to help me plan future projects. I've found that more often than not, paint doesn't look quite the same color wet as they do dry. Therefore, I've found it immensely helpful to have a painted surface with the color I want right on it, for easy reference.

So I took a piece of posterboard, drew out a bunch of squares, and started filling it in with all the colors. I did this over time and somewhat haphazardly, but the result has turned out to be an invaluable reference for me--whenever I about a new paintjob, the first thing I do is grab this thing and pore over it, comparing it to miniatures I've painted, or swatches of cloth (for example, camouflage patterns) whose colors I want to try to match.

Next, I may make two of these swatch boards--one for colors painted over white, and another painted over black, to help with deciding what color primer to use for the effect I want to achieve.

3 comments:

Odie said...

That is a great idea. I may have to make one of those myself.

Tristan M said...

Definitely an awesome idea. I will be doing this myself now for sure.

Jack Badelaire said...

I do think you need to use that "new color" that has shown up at your house lately. Grandfather Nurgle would be proud...