The blending looks basically non-existent, and super splotchy. Is this a result of too much water on the brush, and too much paint too? I was looking to create a glaze by thinning the paint super far down, and testing it on my nail before the model, but I think I must have left too much paint in the mix and the brush might’ve been too wet.
I’m curious if you blocked out defined shapes in a few different shades before trying to blend. I’m far from an expert but I’ve found my best NMM success coming when blocking out shapes deliberately first (stages 1-4 of the pic). It should with just blocking already roughly read as reflective.
I ask because I’m noticing a lot of irregular shapes in yours that don’t seem entirely planned out. The armor on that mini is full of really complex shapes which definitely requires a game plan before the blending stage.
As for blending, I might suggest you get a paint retarding medium to increase your working time. You can put the paint you intent to blend onto the mini at a normal consistency and then work to thin and pull it around as you go, slowly removing some and thinning it.
I know some people do final ink based glazes all over with a very weakened ink mix to draw everything together at the end. That’s something I’d say to look for tutorials on, though I myself can’t do it.
I did block out some shapes! But I’m sure I also freeballed areas of it, too - and my stage 3 is a bit smaller, and there’s no real stage 4 in my process. I could certainly do a better job, I think I’ll aim to do that on the next model :) thanks for the suggestion!
I have thought about mediums too, but I want to get a better understanding of how glazes work and I feel like I should be able to do it with water before spending more money!
Ahh yeah, I’ve seen those sort of overall ink washes and glazes before just to tie the colours together and smooth bits out. Interesting idea, I’ll look into it. Thanks for the tips 👍