Freehanding made simple and effective.

Freehand can make or break a doll – If it looks nice then it’ll really take the mini to the next level, whereas poor freehand will make the mini look like it has been ambushed by orkish graffiti painters.

Here is my ‘secret’ receipt for making freehand simple, and effective:

Look at the image you’re about to paint freestyle – Find the centre-line and search for the geometrical figures that it is made up of.

In my example I’m going to paint an airborne badge on the shoulder pad of a storm trooper.

The airborne badge is made up of several geometrical shapes. The parachute is a triangle with a centre line and half a circle. Painting the centreline of the triangle would be a good way to start to position the badge on the shoulder pad. So I start with the triangle to position the image.

Then I paint the half circle, and fill it.

Then I paint the sides and top of the wings, that’ll help me position the feathers nicely and ensure that they are parallel with the top and that the length is correct.

Finally all remaining feathers are painted, and the freehand is now done.

This technique can also be used for writing – In my example I want 102 on the other shoulder pad. So I start by painting the 0 in the centre of the shoulder pad, and then use that to guide the two other numbers.

Another trick is to use a pencil to draw some guide lines and the paint on top of that if the image is more complex than the one shown here.

/Nicolai aka Atoom